Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture

This volume aims to contribute to the general understanding of the culture of European colonialism. The book opens with a reconsideration of the relationship between the Enlightenment and colonialism, at the heart of which is an examination of two parallel texts—Captain James Cook’s and Georg Foster’s accounts of Cook’s voyage of 1773. The author then examines geography, religion, gender, and fiction in the writings of nineteenth-century travelers in Africa. He concludes with a discussion of the alternative anti-colonial traditions of Germany and France. In opposition to contemporary critics who argue that the Enlightenment is fully implicated in structures of domination, including colonialism, the author argues for a more subtle, complex understanding of the political and cultural consequences of the Enlightenment.