Missionary Practices on the Gold Coast, 1832-1895: Discourse, Gaze, and Gender in the Basel Mission in Pre-colonial West AfricaThis is a valuable scholarly analysis of the ways that the practices of three members of the Basel Mission (Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft Basel)-Andreas Riis (1804-1854), Rosine Widmann (1828-1909), and Carl Christian Reindorf (1834-1917)-informed the nineteenth-century mission field of the Gold Coast between the years 1832-1895. This study is based upon the original handwritten documents of these three missionaries, which are housed in the Basel Mission Archive in Basel, Switzerland. The book is located within the larger discipline of postcolonial studies, and more particularly within the framework of Tzvetan Todorov's discussion of 'signs' in his 1984 work The Conquest of America. The study also is set against the backdrop of the important theories on missions in the writings of Schleiermacher, Fabri, and Warneck. A significant contribution made by this study is that it contains the first discussion of the female German missionary Rosine Widmann, who serves as a kind of example of the then current Missionsfrauen. This book leads to a better understanding of the Gold Coast, and makes important contributions to scholarship in the fields of mission studies, German historical theology, German studies, and African studies. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Literature and Concepts | 31 |
Andreas Riis | 41 |
Copyright | |
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According activities African Akropong Andreas Riis Archive arrived attempted attention Basel Mission became become body bring British century Christian Christianborg civilization colonial environment Comaroff common concern context continued criticism cultural Danish death determined differences discourse discussed documents dominant encounter especially establish European experience gender German give Gold Coast governments History Home Committee Ibid ideas identity images important inhabitants interest interpretation issues Jenkins land landscape later letter living London look male means missionaries nature nicht noted particular position practices present Press question race racial Reindorf relations relationships religion religious remained Riis Rosine Widmann Schlatter sense sexual situation slavery slaves social society space structures studies thought trade turned understanding University values West Widmann woman women writes wrote York