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Une cartographie missionnaire : l'Afrique de l'exploration à l'appropriation, au nom du Christ et de la science (1870 – années 1930)
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Vasquez, Jean-Michel |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Abstract | During the era of European expansion in Africa, which began in the 19th century, geographical discoveries multiplied and were materialized on maps by the dwindling surface of white spots corresponding to unexplored territories. Missionaries living in the bush, far away from the coast and its colonial communities, were among the first explorers. Black Africa was a destination of choice for them, as they believed it was their duty as Christians to establish a firm foothold there and fight against pagan beliefs – namely Islam and fetishism- as well as against slavery and cannibalism. Such was the challenge taken up by the new congregations or Catholic institutes which emerged during the missionary resurgence in the early 19th century and which were in competition with Protestant societies. The Spiritans, the White Fathers, The Society of African Missions in Lyon were some of those Catholic organizations. The maps they drew up of their outings were unprecedented, imbued with Christian faith and values, and brimming with the kind of unusual names scientific journals were so partial to. The publication of those maps in Europe coincided with the general craze for travels while providing the friends of the missions with a representation of the missions' work. The maps held a central position among the players involved in the missionary work, for they summed up the territorial issues raised by evangelization. The Congregation for the Propagation of Faith, named De Propaganda Fide, which was the pontifical authority in charge of organizing apostolate alongside geographical lines, divided Africa into districts and assigned them to each institute, thus coordinating and controling the general impulse. The missionary institute endeavoured to protect the district it had been assigned and used cartography as a means to support its claims to expanding that same district. The missionary drew up maps with practical consideration: his aim was to improve day-to-day apostolate and to keep those who were not on the field posted on his progress. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, that is to say the lay organization based in Lyon which financed the mission, collected all the maps and had them published in its specialized publications. Close to 500 maps and original sketches can thus be found in the illustrated review of the Catholic Missions between 1870 and the late 1930s, half of them pertaining to black Africa alone. As a whole, they constitute an account of the progress of evangelization, which divided Africa into religious territories while colonization set up political territories. Missions and colonies take up different areas, just as missionary maps and colonial maps differ. Missionary maps are indeed in a cartographic category of their own and should no longer be confined to a merely illustrative function. |
| Starting Page | 17 |
| Ending Page | 20 |
| Page Count | 4 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://lecfc.fr/new/articles/198-article-4.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/getpart.php?action=pdf&id=1624 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
