Armed with his faith and his medicine: visions of Africa and the African from Albert Schweitzer’s diary

Authors

  • Naiara Krachenski UFPR

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7976.2018v25n40p378

Abstract

The objective of this article is to comprehend in which ways the medical discourse was a structural element in the production and reproduction of stereotypes about Africa and the African in the context of European imperialism. Therefore, we use as main source the memoirs of the German physician Albert Schweitzer about his work between 1913 and 1916 in French Equatorial Africa. At first, we analyse the motives and intentions presented by the author to initiate his journey. Secondly, we indicate two stereotypes that were frequently used in Schweitzer’s text – the innate laziness of the Black man and their addiction to alcohol. Finally, we point to other two characteristics in the physician’s memoirs that structure the imperialist way of thinking: the so called superiority of the European and the construction of an animalistic Otherness

Author Biography

Naiara Krachenski, UFPR

Doutoranda no Programa de Pós Graduação em História na Universidade Federal do Paraná.

References

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Published

2018-12-18

How to Cite

Krachenski, N. (2018). Armed with his faith and his medicine: visions of Africa and the African from Albert Schweitzer’s diary. Esboços: Histories in Global Contexts, 25(40), 378–390. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7976.2018v25n40p378

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 40 (2018)

Section

Article

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.