A Little Book with a Wide Perspective: Stevenson’s A Footnote to History

Stevenson is generally remembered as the undisputed master of the adventure romance and for his original re- elaboration of the theme of the double in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. However, he can also be numbered among the first European writers who subverted the myth of Western imperialism in his late Pacific writings. Not only did he dismantle colonial literary clichés but, unlike most of his contemporaries, he also acknowledged the viewpoint of the indigenous “other” and the legitimacy of indigenous resistance to imperial power. Using the instruments of postcolonial criticism, my article will focus on Stevenson’s study of Samoan contemporary history, A Footnote to History : Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1892). In this essay he denounces the fight for supremacy of the three Western powers in the archipelago (Germany, Britain and the USA) and sides with the Samoan rebels, led by local chief Mataafa and opposing the puppet king chosen by the Germans, Tamasese. His scientific method of research by cross-examining different sources, including the Samoan ones, testifies to the seriousness of his scope and is also found in other texts written in this period, for example his letters collected in the volume In the South Seas. Stevenson is willing to listen to “other” narratives and takes account of the cultural reasons behind the choices and behaviours of indigenous people. As well as being a militant text, which caused great embarrassment in the British Foreign Office and almost cost him deportation, this study shows Stevenson’s open-mindedness and ability to envisage issues of great relevance to the present global world.