Before the breakthrough of postcolonial studies, British science-fiction authors already saw the opportunity to discuss political and ethical issues of imperialism by projecting human history and behavior onto the alien 'Other.' In this thesis, the case studies of 15 novels of alien-encounter science fiction illuminate the treatment of colonial and postcolonial concepts - such as colonialism, neo-colonialism, Empire, paternalism, hybridity, mimicry and science and technology - as a means of conquest and resistance. The analysis also shows that the Empire is still a vital background for...

This study explores Thackeray as an allegorist rather than a mere satirist. In doing so, it also enriches and extends current debates on allegorical theory. Allegorical Thackeray demonstrates that his major novels Vanity Fair, Pendennis and The Newcomes go beyond the satirical and parodic techniques used in his early works and can be interpreted as secularised successors of traditional reader-based Christian allegories. With this human-allegorical focus Thackeray stands against an excessive emphasis on the culturing of the individual self, society and the nation which can be perceived in the...