19th Century Spanish Expeditions within the West African Territory. The case of Manuel Iradier's "África. Viajes y trabajos de la asociación euskara la exploradora"

Dublin Core

Title

19th Century Spanish Expeditions within the West African Territory. The case of Manuel Iradier's "África. Viajes y trabajos de la asociación euskara la exploradora"

Subject

Manuel Iradier and the Asociación euskara la exploradora

Description

“Mientras Bélgica ha derrochado su caudal en el Congo, Inglaterra, sus libras esterlinas, Francia y Alemania han pagado su alto tributo en dinero y sangre en el África Negra. España recibe de nuestras manos una hermosa colonia sin derramar una gota de sangre ni costarle una peseta. El milagro fue siempre nuestro y tuvo sus mártires.”


“While Belgium has squandered its wealth in the Congo, England, its sterling, France and Germany have paid their high tribute in money and blood in Black Africa. Spain receives a beautiful colony from our hands without spilling a drop of blood or costing it a peseta. The miracle was always ours and it had its martyrs.”

Manuel Iradier, colonial settler (1901).


Manuel Iradier’s expeditions and the endeavors of the Asociación Euskara La Exploradora must be critically examined within the broader context of 19th-century Spanish imperialism. Iradier’s explorations in West Africa, particularly Equatorial Guinea, were not just scientific endeavors but integral parts of Spain's colonial project. By mapping uncharted territories and documenting the local populations, Iradier facilitated Spain’s territorial claims and subsequent colonial rule. His work, supported and funded by Spanish authorities, illustrates how exploration served imperial interests, cloaked in the guise of scientific discovery. The Asociación Euskara La Exploradora, as a colonial enterprise, further exemplifies this dynamic. It perpetuated colonial epistemologies by producing knowledge that framed African lands and peoples through a Eurocentric lens, reinforcing notions of European superiority and entitlement to foreign territories. Iradier’s ethnographic and geographic documentation imposed European categories onto African contexts, legitimizing the subjugation and exploitation of these regions. This critical perspective reveals that Iradier’s contributions, while significant in the field of geography, were also complicit in the broader mechanisms of colonial domination and control. Understanding Iradier's work within this framework underscores the importance of scrutinizing how colonial knowledge was produced and utilized to sustain imperialist agendas.

Ultimately, Manuel Iradier’s assertion that Spain acquired its African colony peacefully and without financial cost contrasts sharply with the violent, costly colonial endeavors of Belgium, England, France, and Germany. This narrative seeks to justify Spanish colonial expansion by portraying it as more humane and morally superior. Additionally, it challenges the Black Legend, which painted Spain as uniquely cruel in its colonial practices, by suggesting that Spain was capable of ethical and just governance. By emphasizing a narrative of benevolent acquisition, Iradier aimed to rehabilitate Spain's colonial image and position it as a responsible colonial power.

Creator

Alexis Hernando Cubas

Source

Iradier Bulfi, Manuel, 1854-1911, and Asociación Euskara La Exploradora. Africa: Viajes y trabajos de la Asociación Euskara La Exploradora. Reconocimiento de la zona ecuatorial de Africa en las costas de occidente: sus montañas, sus ríos, sus habitantes, clima, producciones y porvenir de estos países tropicales, posesiones españolas del Golfo de Guinea, adquisición para España de la Nueva Provincia del Muni. Bilbao: Andrés P.-Cardenal, 1901.

Publisher

HathiTrust https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100345509

Date

1901

Rights

Asociación Euskara La Exploradora

Relation

Bates, Robert H, V. Y Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr. Africa and the Disciplines : the Contributions of Research In Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/postcolonialism. Third edition. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2015.

Pratt, Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes : Travel Writing and Transculturation. Second edition. London: Routledge, 2008.

Sociedad Geográfica Española “Exploradores españoles olvidados del siglo XIX” SGE. 2001

Stoler, Ann Laura. Race and the Education of Desire : Foucault's History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.

Language

Spanish

Coverage

West Africa

Text Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Book