＂Far Away in Mysterious Darkness of Distance＂: Science, Travel, and Elizabeth Gaskell’s ＂Wives and Daughters: An Every-Day Story＂

This paper seeks to examine how Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) extends her vision abroad and looks upon the geographical location of Africa as an ideological landscape that contributes to the physical dimension of empire in ”Wives and Daughters: An Every-Day Story” (1864-66). Through scientific and imperial discourse, the paper first investigates the impact of evolutionary science on the imperial nation at home. It then goes on to explore how the pursuit of science is intimately related to Britain's imperial activity and development overseas, focusing specifically on the African tour of Roger Hamley, a scientific traveler in the novel. It undertakes to address the intriguing issue of scientific imperialism and its practice in Africa, arguing that British imperialism is located in a specific colonial setting and merges with natural science through the culture of exploration. Gaskell's casual references to osteology and the Royal Geographical Society are exemplary in this respect. The questions of blackness, language, and racial identity are also considered in a discussion of how Africa and the imperial enterprise are constituted in the Victorian imagination. The significance of this paper, therefore, is to locate Africa within the scientific and imperial context so as to invite further reflections on the representation of the Victorian Empire, the common imaginings of the ”Other,” as well as the production of scientific knowledge linked with imperial power and cultural superiority.