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independent by joining with the new state of Malaysia, which came
into existence that year (Lloyd 1996: 360–361).5 This political de-
velopment is clearly felt in Jenkins’s Borneo stories, where the
problematic change from colonial dependence to self-government is
made explicit. While the newly independent country is taking ten-
tative first steps in self-government, the British expatriates por-
trayed are faced with a new and ambiguous set of circumstances:
having previously represented the governing party, they are now
subject to the power of current rulers, yet the expatriates still hold
power over the natives due to both their relative affluence and su-
perior social position, on one hand,6 and the fact that many natives
are still uncertain of their position in their relationship with their
former masters, on the other. This means that Jenkins’s treatment
of racial prejudice and cultural conflict is also interlaced with an
interrogation into the meaning of class and material divisions
within a foreign context.7
The foreign fiction clearly suggests that Jenkins was sympa-
thetic towards natives and colonies subjected to British rule,8 as
throughout the moral value of imperial appropriation and exploita-
tion of colonies’ resources is questioned. Simultaneously, Jenkins’s
treatment of racial difference emphasises and criticises British expa-
triates’ Eurocentric arrogance and prejudice towards natives. In
many of Jenkins’s foreign narratives, we see the imposing of a
British imperial “truth” upon the natives of countries like Borneo
and Afghanistan, where British expatriates (and former colonialists)
5 The British gained influence in Sabah in 1877 when a private syndicate obtained land grants from
the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu. After Japanese occupation during World War II, Sabah was
granted British crown colony status in 1946, but became independent in 1963 by joining with
Malaysia (see “Sabah”, Encyclopedia Britannica).
6 It is made clear in Jenkins’s stories that while living in Borneo, the expatriates hold a social posi-
tion which they would not maintain in their home country. This is a major reason why Borneo is
such an attraction for them.
7 It should be noted here that other prevalent themes in Jenkins’s fiction are the effects of class divi-
sion and the injustices of capitalist ideology, of which he is highly critical.
8 In my correspondence with Jenkins in December 2000, I asked Jenkins about his opinion of the
British Empire. His reply was ambiguous and non-committal. Nevertheless, it clearly indicates
his deeply sceptical, if not critical, views of the imperial mission: “As for my views on the British
and their empire I’d have to think longer than I wish to dig them out. Recently I was offered an
O.B.E. and swithered mightily about accepting it. I couldn’t see myself as an Officer of the British
Empire, but in the end I decided the honour – if it was one – was for Scottish Literature and not
really for me. All my life I have had an instinctive sympathy for the underdog” (Robin Jenkins,
letter to the author, 14 December 2000).
SURRENDER AND SACRIFICE