In this Book
- Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of Minnesota Press
summary
In this first book to study Portuguese texts about Africa, Moorings brings an important but little-known body of European writings to bear on contemporary colonial thought. Images of Africa as monstrous, dangerous, and lush were created in early Portuguese imperial writings and dominated its representation in European literature. Moorings establishes these key works in their proper place: foundational to Western imperial discourse. Attentive to history as well as the nuances of language, Josiah Blackmore leads readers from the formation of the “Moor” in medieval Iberia to the construction of a full colonial imaginary, as found in the works of two writers: the royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara and the epic poet Luís de Camões. Blackmore’s original work helps to explain how concepts and myths—such as the “otherness” of Africa and Africans—originated, functioned, and were perpetuated. Delving into the Portuguese imperial experience, Moorings enriches our understanding of historical and literary imagination during a significant period of Western expansion.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Note to the Reader
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Introduction: Into Africa
- pp. xiii-xxiv
- 1. Encountering the African
- pp. 1-32
- 2. Expansion and the Contours of Africa
- pp. 33-104
- 3. The Monster of Melancholy
- pp. 105-154
- Works Cited
- pp. 175-196
- About the Author
- p. 205
Additional Information
ISBN
9780816666300
Related ISBN(s)
9780816648337
MARC Record
OCLC
318219319
Pages
224
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No