Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia

This paper considers nineteenth Century British travel accounts of Colombia. By analysing how those travellers represented the country, it aims to explore the different ways in which “the tropics” were imagined, experienced and constructed. On the one hand, it is suggested that those representations...

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Autor Principal: Uribe Martínez, Simón
Formato: Artículo (Article)
Lenguaje:Desconocido (Unknown)
Publicado: 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll23/id/781
id ir-p17054coll23-781
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spelling ir-p17054coll23-7812020-09-29 Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia Uribe Martínez, Simón This paper considers nineteenth Century British travel accounts of Colombia. By analysing how those travellers represented the country, it aims to explore the different ways in which “the tropics” were imagined, experienced and constructed. On the one hand, it is suggested that those representations helped to forge an image of the country as a promising nature inhabited by backward races, underpinning a widespread vision of the tropic: that of a vacant space abounding of exploitable natural resources waiting to be transformed by Europeans’ ‘civilized’ hands and endeavour. On the other hand, contested and often contradictory ideas that those travellers harboured about climate and European acclimatization are explored, suggesting that Europeans’ perceptions of the tropic resulted from a permanent negotiation between images brought from home and the landscapes they encountered. To conclude, it is argued that those constructions are revealing of how travel writing was above all a cultural practice, where the traveller’s vision is not exclusively determined by established paradigms, but transformed by the landscapes he encounters and interacts with. Travel literature; Tropics; Imperialism; Acclimatization Ciencias sociales; Geografía e Historia 2015 PDF Artículo ENG - Inglés América Colfuturo © Derechos reservados del autor http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll23/id/781
institution Biblioteca Virtual Banco de la República - Colecciones digitales
collection Custom
language Desconocido (Unknown)
topic Travel literature; Tropics; Imperialism; Acclimatization
Ciencias sociales; Geografía e Historia
spellingShingle Travel literature; Tropics; Imperialism; Acclimatization
Ciencias sociales; Geografía e Historia
Uribe Martínez, Simón
Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
description This paper considers nineteenth Century British travel accounts of Colombia. By analysing how those travellers represented the country, it aims to explore the different ways in which “the tropics” were imagined, experienced and constructed. On the one hand, it is suggested that those representations helped to forge an image of the country as a promising nature inhabited by backward races, underpinning a widespread vision of the tropic: that of a vacant space abounding of exploitable natural resources waiting to be transformed by Europeans’ ‘civilized’ hands and endeavour. On the other hand, contested and often contradictory ideas that those travellers harboured about climate and European acclimatization are explored, suggesting that Europeans’ perceptions of the tropic resulted from a permanent negotiation between images brought from home and the landscapes they encountered. To conclude, it is argued that those constructions are revealing of how travel writing was above all a cultural practice, where the traveller’s vision is not exclusively determined by established paradigms, but transformed by the landscapes he encounters and interacts with.
format Artículo (Article)
author Uribe Martínez, Simón
author_facet Uribe Martínez, Simón
author_sort Uribe Martínez, Simón
title Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
title_short Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
title_full Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
title_fullStr Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Constructing the tropics: Nineteenth Century British representations of Colombia
title_sort constructing the tropics: nineteenth century british representations of colombia
publishDate 2015
url http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll23/id/781
_version_ 1682460048289169408
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