Hunters and collectors: Czech Travellers and the Representations of African Animal Hunting in the Late 19th Century through the Perspective of Animal Studies
Abstract
The study deals with the issue of the representation of animal hunting in Czech travelogues about sub-Saharan Africa in the last decades of the 19th century. The topic is examined in the context of the "conquest" and colonization of African nature and its symbolic and material appropriation by Europeans.
The emphasis is given particularly on the hunting of animals for the purpose of including them in collections of 'exotic' natural history. Significant focus is given to Emil Holub's travelogues, the scope of which is incomparable to other travelogues.
Holub was keenly interested in animals and their hunting, and the theme of African nature was very important to him. Nevertheless, this topic has remained rather on the sidelines of scholarly interest.
Using the concepts of interdisciplinary animal studies, this study explores the meanings that hunting African animals had in the context of contemporary discourses, primarily those of collecting, but also those of biology and evolution. Attention is also dedicated to the specific position of Czech travellers within colonial power relations.
Through hunting, collecting and commodification of animals, they too were involved in the European colonial conquest of Africa.