Moorings : Portuguese expansion and the writing of Africa / Josiah Blackmore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blackmore, Josiah, 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Africans in literature.

Historiography--Portugal--History--16th century.

Historiography.

Historiography--Portugal--History--To 1500.

Imperialism in literature.

Muslims in literature.

Portuguese literature--History and criticism.

Portuguese literature.

Africa--Description and travel.

Africa.

Africa--Foreign public opinion, Portuguese.

Africa--Historiography.

Portugal--Colonies--Africa.

Portugal.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

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

Contents:

Introduction: Into Africa

Encountering the African

Some medieval formulations

The African in-between

Expansion and the contours of Africa

Routes, histories, and chronicles

Strangeness under the imperial sun

Africa and the imagination

The monster of melancholy

Adamastor melancholicus

The masculine ship

The devil's map.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-195) and index.

ISBN:

0-8166-6630-X

OCLC:

318219319