Picturing Tropical Nature (Reaktion Books - Picturing History)

Whether considered a sublime landscape, malignant wilderness, or the endangered site of environmental conflicts, the tropics are, Picturing Tropical Nature argues, largely a construct of American and European imaginations. Nancy Leys Stephan asserts that images of the tropics conveyed through drawings, paintings, photographs, literature, and travel writings are central to what Stepan calls the “tropicalization of nature,” or the often harmful misrepresentation of the tropics and its peoples. She here examines several aspects of such tropicalization as they emerge through the work of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientists and artists, including Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, Louis Agassiz, Sir Patrick Manson, and Margaret Mee. From the earliest photographic attempts to represent tropical hybrid races to depictions of disease in new tropical medicines, Picturing Tropical Nature offers new insight into the convergence of the tropics with European and American science and art. “A brilliant and provocative book... the kind of book that carries forward a field in a single stride... undoubtedly the finest account of ‘tropicality'we have.”—Social History of Medicine

whether As Sublime Landscape, Malignant Wilderness, Or A Site For Environmental Conflicts And Eco-tourism, Tropical Nature Is To A Great Extent An American And European Imaginative Construct, Conveyed In Literature, Travel Writing, Drawings, Paintings, Photographs, And Diagrams. These Images Are Central To Nancy Leys Stepan's View That A Critical Examination Of The Tropicalization Of Nature Can Remedy Some Of The Most Persistent Misrepresentations Of The Region And Its Peoples.

picturing Tropical Nature Reflects On The Work Of Several Nineteenth- And Twentieth-century Scientists And Artists, Including Alexander Von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, Louis Agassiz, Sir Patrick Manson, And Margaret Mee. Their Careers Illuminate Several Aspects Of Tropicalization: Science And Art In The Making Of Tropical Pictures; The Commercial And Cultural Boom In Things Tropical In The Modern Period; Photographic Attempts To Represent Tropical Hybrid Races; Anti-tropicalism And Its Role In An Emerging Environmentalist Sensibility; And Visual Depictions Of Disease In The New Tropical Medicine.

Essential To Stepan's Analysis Are The Responses To European Projections Of Artists, Scientists, And Intellectuals Living In Tropical Regions. She Examines The Long-standing Brazilian Fantasy Of The Tropics As A Racial Democracy, And Offers An Evaluation Of The Impact Of Tropical Plants And European Conceptions Of The Jungle On The Anti-mimetic, Modernist Aesthetics Of The Brilliant Landscape Designer Roberto Burle Marx.

In A Fascinating Inquiry Into The Aesthetic And Political, Stepan Demonstrates The Conflicts Over Meaning That Have Shaped The Emergence Of The Tropics, And In Doing So Questions The Nature Of Representation Itself.

about The Author:
Nancy Leys Stepan Was Formerly Professor Of Modern History And Senior Fellow Of The Wellcome Unit In The History Of Medicine At The University Of Oxford And Is Currently Professor Of History At Columbia University. Her Previous Books Include the Hour Of Eugenics, Also From Cornell, the Idea Of Race In Science, And beginnings Of Brazilian Science.

Whether considered a sublime landscape, malignant wilderness, or the endangered site of environmental conflicts, the tropics are, Picturing Tropical Nature argues, largely a construct of American and European imaginations. Nancy Leys Stephan asserts that images of the tropics conveyed through drawings, paintings, photographs, literature, and travel writings are central to what Stepan calls the tropicalization of nature, or the often harmful misrepresentation of the tropics and its peoples. She here examines several aspects of such tropicalization as they emerge through the work of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientists and artists, including Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, Louis Agassiz, Sir Patrick Manson, and Margaret Mee. From the earliest photographic attempts to represent tropical hybrid races to depictions of disease in new tropical medicines, Picturing Tropical Nature offers new insight into the convergence of the tropics with European and American science andart. A brilliant and provocative book . . . the kind of book that carries forward a field in a single stride . . . undoubtedly the finest account of tropicality we have. Social History of Medicine "Whether as sublime landscape, malignant wilderness, or a site for environmental conflicts and ecotourism, tropical nature is to a great extent an American and European imaginative construct, conveyed in literature, travel writing, drawings, paintings, photographs, and diagrams. These images are central to Nancy Leys Stepan's view that a critical examination of the "tropicalization of nature" can remedy some of the most persistent misrepresentations of the region and its peoples.". "Picturing Tropical Nature reflects on the work of several nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientists and artists, including Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, Louis Agassiz, Sir Patrick Manson, and Margaret Mee. Their careers illuminate several aspects of tropicalization: science and art in the making of tropical pictures; the commercial and cultural boom in things tropical in the modern period; photographic attempts to represent tropical hybrid races; antitropicalism and its role in an emerging environmentalist sensibility; and visual depictions of disease in the new tropical medicine."--BOOK JACKET. Review: "Whether as sublime landscape, malignant wilderness, or a site for environmental conflicts and ecotourism, tropical nature is to a great extent an American and European imaginative construct, conveyed in literature, travel writing, drawings, paintings, photographs, and diagrams. These images are central to Nancy Leys Stepan's view that a critical examination of the "tropicalization of nature" can remedy some of the most persistent misrepresentations of the region and its peoples." Imprint......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Introduction......Page 13 1 Going to the Tropics......Page 33 2 An Evolutionist’s Tropics......Page 59 3 Racial Degenerations......Page 87 4 Racial Transformations......Page 122 5 The New Tropical Pathology......Page 151 6 Appearances and Disappearances......Page 182 7 Tropical Modernism......Page 210 Epilogue......Page 242 References......Page 249 Photographic Acknowledgements......Page 279 Index......Page 281 In this work, Nancy Stepan explores the ways in which the Tropics, in particular tropical nature, places, animals and people, were imagined and presented in European culture from the 19th century on.