ABSTRACT
The Survey contains narratives which are at odds with its articulation of colonial categories. For example, the category of race is strained in the Survey. The place of English in the Survey is also not as dominant as it first appears. Moreover, Grierson’s frequent illnesses and impaired eyesight signal how the Survey is rooted in a personal narrative of vulnerability and fragility, rather than mastery. This partly reflected his complex subject position as Anglo-Irish; Grierson was a cross-border figure and it is this which enabled the Survey to take place.
