Hegemony as Philanthropy: Colonial Discourse in Doreen Ingrams’ A Time in Arabia

This paper is an attempt to analyze the colonial discourse in Doreen Ingrams’ A Time in Arabia (1970), in the light of postcolonial theories of Edward Said, David Spurr, with reference, when necessary, to their roots in poststructuralism. I would argue that in Ingrams’ book colonial discourse is implicitly and perhaps unconsciously expressed, for she is very humanitarian and sympathetic with the natives in the southern areas of Arabia, basically in Hadhramaut. Her frequent pioneering journeys into un-trodden primitive Bedouin tribal areas, villages and towns are not merely of a western female wanderer. Rather, they are official and formal colonial assignments to report information of both people and their environment to serve the ultimate goal of the Empire, which is hegemony. Besides, the way she expresses friendliness, sympathy and gratitude is not a deviation from the colonial track as it might appear to be, but rather a basic component of the colonial strategy.