Forskare, jägare, kolonisatör
(2013) ILHM05 20131Division of History of Ideas and Sciences
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Forskare, jägare, kolonisatör examines Tierleben, German naturalist Alfred Brehm's magnum opus, with the purpose of discussing the work's relationship to colonial attitudes towards Africa prevalent in Europe at the time of its writing. The focus has been in examining how the nature of Africa, the European colonial presence and the relationship between European, African and animal are depicted in the text. For the purposes of this, a twofold theoretical strategy has been used: one level of textual analysis has used Quentin Skinner's theories of interpretation to discuss Brehm's intentions in writing, whereas the wider interpretation of the text has been influenced by cultural semiotic concepts of Ego and Alter.
The analysis of the text has... (More) - Forskare, jägare, kolonisatör examines Tierleben, German naturalist Alfred Brehm's magnum opus, with the purpose of discussing the work's relationship to colonial attitudes towards Africa prevalent in Europe at the time of its writing. The focus has been in examining how the nature of Africa, the European colonial presence and the relationship between European, African and animal are depicted in the text. For the purposes of this, a twofold theoretical strategy has been used: one level of textual analysis has used Quentin Skinner's theories of interpretation to discuss Brehm's intentions in writing, whereas the wider interpretation of the text has been influenced by cultural semiotic concepts of Ego and Alter.
The analysis of the text has focused on the descriptions of a number of animal species or groups loosely defined as ”charismatic megafauna”, with the majority of attention being paid to the descriptions of animal/human relations, from hunting to taming. The thesis has also focused on the description of non-European groups of people, such as Africans, Arabs and Ottoman Turks, and how the relationship between these, the Europeans and the animals are portrayed. A major part of the analysis is dedicated to the fluid nature of the Other, and how identity and status as the Other are subject to constant re-negotiation depending on circumstances and relationship to third parties. Whether the Turk, the African or the animal is perceived as an Other or not is context-dependent, not absolute. Although firm tendencies can be observed, the boundaries between groups are not as clearly delineated as might be expected, and in need of a more nuanced depiction than a clear Self/Other binary. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4145692
- author
- Sjöström, Lukas LU
- supervisor
-
- David Dunér LU
- organization
- course
- ILHM05 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Africa, Brehm, Colonialism, Cultural semiotics, Imperialism, Natural history, Scientific racism, Skinner, Tierleben, Zoology
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 4145692
- date added to LUP
- 2013-11-20 09:30:36
- date last changed
- 2013-11-20 09:30:36
@misc{4145692,
abstract = {{Forskare, jägare, kolonisatör examines Tierleben, German naturalist Alfred Brehm's magnum opus, with the purpose of discussing the work's relationship to colonial attitudes towards Africa prevalent in Europe at the time of its writing. The focus has been in examining how the nature of Africa, the European colonial presence and the relationship between European, African and animal are depicted in the text. For the purposes of this, a twofold theoretical strategy has been used: one level of textual analysis has used Quentin Skinner's theories of interpretation to discuss Brehm's intentions in writing, whereas the wider interpretation of the text has been influenced by cultural semiotic concepts of Ego and Alter.
The analysis of the text has focused on the descriptions of a number of animal species or groups loosely defined as ”charismatic megafauna”, with the majority of attention being paid to the descriptions of animal/human relations, from hunting to taming. The thesis has also focused on the description of non-European groups of people, such as Africans, Arabs and Ottoman Turks, and how the relationship between these, the Europeans and the animals are portrayed. A major part of the analysis is dedicated to the fluid nature of the Other, and how identity and status as the Other are subject to constant re-negotiation depending on circumstances and relationship to third parties. Whether the Turk, the African or the animal is perceived as an Other or not is context-dependent, not absolute. Although firm tendencies can be observed, the boundaries between groups are not as clearly delineated as might be expected, and in need of a more nuanced depiction than a clear Self/Other binary.}},
author = {{Sjöström, Lukas}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Forskare, jägare, kolonisatör}},
year = {{2013}},
}