White hunter
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Great White Hunter is a phrase coined in the late nineteenth century as a reference to white men who explored the remote lands of those times, typically in pursuit of big-game hunting in Africa and Asia.
Their exploits were romanticized in adventure novels that became the so-called "Lost World/Lost Race" genre. Perhaps the first fictional Victorian adventure hero to appear was Allan Quatermain, a great white hunter who appeared in books by H. Rider Haggard. A string of authors produced many stories in this genre since such as Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel Rogue Male featuring a great white hunter going after Adolf Hitler. It was later filmed as Man Hunt (1941 film) and Rogue Male (film). Some famous real-life great white hunters were W.D.M. Bell, Bror von Blixen-Finecke , Denys Finch Hatton (chronicled in "Out of Africa"), Frederick Selous (remembered as the namesake of the Selous Scouts), Frederick Russell Burnham, John A. Hunter, Philip Percival and Frank M. "Bunny" Allen whose safaris with Ernest Hemingway led him to write Green Hills of Africa, True at First Light, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro the latter two being filmed. Bunny Allen also led many film companies on safari to enable location filming for such films as King Solomon's Mines (1950 film) Mogambo and Nor the Moon By Night.
Because these men typically displayed great determination, bravery, cleverness and physical skills, their demeanor often had the stamp of educated and privileged backgrounds, and (if these qualities failed to impress), not the least of their resources, firearms, their presence induced local indigenous individuals to attend them in their pursuits. The phrase - though often used in parody or jest - came to symbolize the discourse of colonial power and dominance of western colonial powers over other parts of the world before the dismemberment of these powers after World War II.
The phrase Great White Hunter is commonly despised by professional hunters who work in Africa. A similar expression, White Hunter, although less commonly used today, is given to professional guides (regardless of race or national origin) who lead clients on hunting expeditions in Africa.
References
Herne, Brian. White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safari 1999 Henry Holt & Co New York
Comments by Jess Nevins on Victorian Archetypal Heroes: http://www.ultrazine.org/ultraspeciali/UM015/nevins/nevins_english.htm#1
Karen Blixen Information Site: http://www.karenblixen.com/finchhatton.html
Works by Ernest Hemingway
Works by Peter Hathaway Capstick
External links
- Lost Civilizations and Great White Hunters - Imperialist Adventure Literature article in Voyages Extraordinaires series by Cory Gross