Enlightenment Or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German CultureEnlightenment or Empire is a crucial contribution to our understanding of the culture of European colonialism. The book opens with a bold reconsideration of the relationship between the Enlightenment and colonialism, at the heart of which is an examination of two parallel texts—Captain James Cook’s and Georg Foster’s accounts of Cook’s voyage of 1773. Berman then examines geography, religion, gender, and fiction in the writings of nineteenth-century travelers in Africa. He concludes with a discussion of the alternative anti-colonial traditions of Germany and France. Berman’s book is a provocative contribution to current debates about the Enlightenment and its political legacy. In opposition to contemporary critics who argue that the Enlightenment is fully implicated in structures of domination, including colonialism, Berman argues for a more subtle, complex understanding of the political and cultural consequences of the Enlightenment. |
Contents
The Enlightenment Travelogue and the Colonial Text | 21 |
Gerhard Rohlfs and Geographic Writing | 65 |
Henry Stern and Missionary Space | 104 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
Englightenment Or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture Russell A. Berman Limited preview - 1998 |
Enlightenment Or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture Russell A. Berman No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Africa alternative anticolonialism appears argument authority becomes begins British Bülow century character Christianity claims colonial discourse concern consequences construction context continent contrast Cook Cook's course criticism critique cultural dark depends direct discussion Dreams Dusky Bay emancipation empire encounter Enlightenment equal establishment Europe European evidence experience exploration expression Fabri fact figure force Forster Freud gender German human imagine imperialism implies important intellectual interest internal Interpretation Jews later least less literature male material matter means ment metaphor mission missionary narrative nature object particular passage perhaps political population position possibility practice precisely present presumably psychoanalysis question rationality reading reason reference regarding relations represented rhetoric Rohlfs Rohlfs's Sartre scientific sense sexual social solely sort space specific Stern structures suggests sure takes theory tion transformation treats turn understanding universalism voyage women writing