African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and ReasonThe eighteenth century was a time of great cultural change in Britain. It was a period marked by expeditions to the New World, Africa, and the Orient, and these voyages were reflected in the travel literature of the era. It was also a period in which seventeenth-century empiricism and the scientific method became dominant, and in which society became increasingly secular. Fundamental to the eighteenth-century worldview was the notion of the Great Chain of Being, in which all creatures and their Creator stood in a hierarchical relationship with one another. The years from 1660 to 1833 witnessed both Britain's participation in slavery and the appropriation of the Great Chain of Being by social anthropologists and political leaders. With the rise of the slave trade, blacks were brought to Britain against their will, where they were enslaved. At the same time, intellectuals of the period tried to place these slaves within the hierarchical frame provided by the Great Chain of Being. |
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... Yahoos . 29 Following the practice of the typical foreign observer in the manners and customs section of most travel accounts , Gulliver bases his negative impressions of the Yahoos on their repulsive physical appearance . A foreign ...
... Yahoos , such as broad , flat faces , depressed noses , and large lips . These features , he proclaims , are distorted by " the natives suffering their infants to lie grovelling on the earth , or by carrying them on their backs ...
... Yahoos , soon finds himself inexplicably drawn to them . He is particularly mortified to discover that the Yahoos ' physiognomy , which he at first attributes to " all savage nations , " actually resembles his own . In addition , the Yahoos ...
Contents
Enlightenment Humanism | 1 |
Perspectives on a Theological Chain | 31 |
Conclusion | 149 |
Copyright | |
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African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and ... Helena Woodard No preview available - 1999 |