THE VESTIGES OF IMPERIALISM IN ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BRAVE NEW WORLD: RECONSTRUCTING A HIDDEN HISTORY BEHIND THE WORLD STATE

This article analyses Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, particularly the Savage Reservation, comparing the text with contemporary anthropological discourse. It aims to disclose the significance of this novel in regard to imperialism. At first glance Brave New World seems to be irrelevant to imperialism because it depicts a twentysixth-century World State, which is based on the unification of all regions, namely the "completion" of Western imperialism. However, there still remain vestiges of imperialism in this future. By observing these vestiges concerning the Reservation, this article reconstructs a hidden history behind the World State. It demonstrates that, while Brave New World relies on anthropological representations of American Indians, the novel provides some significant images that conflict with, deviate from and resist them. Brave New World not only addresses some realities of imperialism, including the destructive violence of "civilization," but also questions settled notions underlying this ideology, such as identity and culture.