Shaping natural history and settler society : Mary Elizabeth Barber and the nineteenth-century Cape / Tanja Hammel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hammel, Tanja, author.

Series:

Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Barber, Mary Elizabeth, 1818-1899.

Barber, Mary Elizabeth.

Natural history--Africa--History--19th century.

Natural history.

Colonies.

Manners and customs.

History.

Great Britain--Colonies--Africa--Social life and customs--19th century.

Great Britain.

Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)--History--1795-1872.

Cape of Good Hope (South Africa).

British colonies.

Africa.

South Africa--Cape of Good Hope.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxii, 360 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, [2019]

Summary:

[E]xplores the life and work of Mary Elizabeth Barber, a British-born settler scientist who lived in the Cape during the nineteenth-century. It provides a lens into a range of subjects within the history of knowledge and science, gender and social history, postcolonial, critical heritage and archival studies. The book examines the international importance of a marginalized scientist, the instrumentalisation of science to settlers' political concerns and reveals the pivotal but largely silenced contribution of indigenous African experts. Including a variety of material, visual and textual sources, this study explores how these artefacts are archived in museums and critically analyses their content and silences. The book traces Barber's legacy across three continents, offering insights into the politics of memory and history-making--back cover.

Contents:

1. Introduction

Part I. African Experts and Science in the Cape : 2. African Farmers and Medicinal Plant Experts

3. African Naturalists, Collectors and Taxidermists

Part II. From Providing Data to Forging New Practices and Theories : 4. Gender, Class and Competition

5. Proving and Circulating the Theory of Natural Selection

6. Barber's Forging Scientific Practices and Theories

Part III. Negotiating Belonging Through Series : 7. Arguing with Artefacts, Biofacts and Organisms: Barber's Advocacy for 1820 Settlers' Supremacy and Land Rights

8. Barber's World of Birds As a Space of Gender Equality

9. Colonial Legacies in Post-Colonial Collections

10. 'The fragments that are left behind'

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-351) and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9783030226381

3030226387

OCLC:

1111297380