Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires

by Pascal Blanchard (Editor), Nicolas Bancel (Editor), Gilles Boëtsch (Editor)

Human zoos', forgotten symbols of the colonial era, have been totally repressed in our collective memory. In these 'anthropo-zoological' exhibitions, 'exotic' individuals were placed alongside wild beasts and presented behind bars or in enclosures. Human zoos were a key factor, however, in the progressive shift in the West from scientific to popular racism. Beginning with the early nineteenth-century European exhibition of the Hottentot Venus, this thoroughly documented volume underlines the ways in which they affected the lives of tens of millions of visitors, from London to New York, from Warsaw to Milan, from Moscow to Tokyo Through Barnum's freak shows, Hagenbeck's 'ethnic shows' (touring major European cities from their German base), French-style villages nègres, as well as the great universal and colonial exhibitions, the West invented the 'savage', exhibited the 'peoples of the world', whilst in many cases preparing for or contributing to their colonization. This first
mass contact between 'us' and 'them', between the West and elsewhere, created an invisible border. Measured by scientists, exploited in shows, used in official exhibitions, these men, women and children became extras in an imaginary and in a history that were not their own. Based on the best-selling French volume Zoos Humains but with a number of newly commissioned chapters, Human Zoos puts into perspective the 'spectacularization' of the Other, a process that is at the origin of contemporary stereotypes and of the construction of our own identities. A unique book, on a crucial phenomenon, which takes us to the heart of Western fantasies, and allows us to understand the genesis of identity in Japan, Europe and North America.

Genres: History, Microhistory, Nonfiction

452 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Irem]

The concept of "human zoos" is a new phenomenon, which appeared in between the 29th of November 2011 and the 3rd of June 2012, at the Quai de Branly Museum in Paris with a title "Exhibitions. L’invention du sauvage (Exhibitions: Invention of the Savage)." This exhibition was actually the outcome of the conference that started in Marseille in 2001 with the title "Mémoire colonial: zoos humains? Corps Exotiques, corps enfermés, corps mesurés. (Colonial Memory: Human Zoos, Exotic Bodies, Caged Bodies, Measured Bodies)." As you see from the title “Invention of the Savage”, the exhibition catalogue presented the fact that how the Western mind invented the Other through the use of colonial practices during the mid-nineteenth century, and thus legitimised its power by exhibiting them in European display zones. This catalogues aimed to tell about this forgotten historical story with the help of visual materials such as photographs, posters and postcards. It is obvious that, although the term "human zoos" is discovered recently, the phenomenon of dislocating 'native' people and relocating them on European stage has a history.

[Elizabeth Bradley]

I just LOVE being able to say... reading this FOR WORK!

[Pouillot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un ouvrage extrèmement complet sur un sujet très particulier. Je me suis laissé embarquer dans ce voyage des cabinets de curiosité aux zoos humains en passant par les freak shows et les expositions coloniales. J'ai aimé dans la première partie la succession de description d'exmples aidé par le mode d'écriture en article de l'ouvrage tout en étant assez géné par le voyeurisme un peu malsain devant le destin tragique finalement de tant d'individus de contrées "exotiques" . Puis je me suis lassé de cette accumulation de références et d'angles de vue sur le sujet central : comment des exhibitions humainenent humiliantes ont servi à jusfifier les vertus coloniales et de là l'inégalité des races. Je suis sans doute passé à côté des nuances apportées par chaque article, mais pas sûr que cela méritait un tel développement sauf pour un érudit que je ne suis pas.