Reassembling the Strange (eBook)

Naturalists, Missionaries, and the Environment of Nineteenth-Century Madagascar

Thomas Anderson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
250 Seiten
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-4985-7606-2 (ISBN)

Infos

This book examines how Western naturalists and missionaries understood the environment of Madagascar during the nineteenth century.

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This book examines how Westerners understood and processed Madagascar and its environment during the nineteenth century. Madagascar's unique ecosystem crafted its reputation as a strange place full of unusual species. Westerners, however, often minimized Madagascar's peculiar features to stress the commonality of its fauna and flora with the world. The attempt to understand the island through science led to a domestication of its environment that created the image of a tame and known world capable of being controlled and used by Western powers. At the heart of the exploration of Madagascar and its transformation in Western eyes from a strange world to a cash crop colony were missionaries and naturalists who relied upon global experiences to master the island by normalizing the peculiar qualities of Madagascar's environment. This book reveals how the environment played a dominant role in understanding the island and its people, and how current environmental debates have evolved from earlier policies and discussions about the environment.

Autor

Thomas Anderson is assistant professor at Merrimack College.

Inhalt

Chapter OneIntroductionEnvironmental OriginsMalagasy OriginsFramework of the BookChapter TwoSeeking the StrangeThe Tropical Eden and a Scientific TurnExploration and the Malagasy The Man-Eating Tree and Scientific DiscoveryFinding the StrangeLegitimizing FolkloreConclusionChapter ThreeInterpreting the Strange: Global Scientific TheoriesThe Case of the AepyornisNormalizing FaunaFrom Lemuria to BiogeographyConclusionChapter FourThe Scientific Community of the LMSProtestant Missionaries as NaturalistsThe Antananarivo Annual and the Scientific CommunityA Global and Scientific AudienceConclusionChapter FiveDefining the Malagasy: Language and Race on MadagascarLanguage as a Civilizing ToolDifferentiating the MalagasyMissionary ExperiencesSpreading the Racial WordThe Slave Trade and the Merina KingdomConclusionChapter SixRedefining the EnvironmentThe Tropical Becomes FamiliarWresting Control from the MalagasyReshaping the EnvironmentA Plantation Once MoreConclusionChapter SevenA French Colonial WorldCreating a ColonyThe Creation of Forest ReservesA New Scientific MadagascarConclusion

Produkt-Details

• Zusatzinfo: 22 Illustrations including: - 22 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
• Schlagworte: Africa • African Enviornmental History • African History • Antananarivo Annual • deforestation • Environmental history • Environmental Studies • History of Science • London Missionary Society • Madagascar • Malagasy
• ISBN-10: 1-4985-7606-0 / 1498576060
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4985-7606-2 / 9781498576062