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Globalgeschichte #20
Tropenliebe: Schweizer Naturforscher und niederländischer Imperialismus in Südostasien um 1900
»Tropenliebe« erzählt die Geschichte von Paul und Fritz Sarasin, zweier reicher Patriziersöhne und Naturforscher aus Basel. Die Großvettern reisten um 1900 durch die asiatischen Kolonien Großbritanniens und der Niederlande, um auf tropischen Inseln fernab ihrer beengten Heimat Raum für ihre Liebe zueinanderzufinden. Zugleich verfolgten sie große wissenschaftliche Projekte: Bei ihrer Rückkehr brachten sie Hunderttausende Pflanzen, Tiere und ethnografische Objekte mit nach Basel, wo sie das »Völkerkundemuseum« gründeten. In Indonesien halfen sie den Niederländern, Celebes (heute Sulawesi), eine der größten Inseln ihres Kolonialreichs, zu erobern. In Deutschland feierte man sie als Pioniere der »Rassenforschung«.
Die Geschichte von Liebe und Gewalt in Südostasien wirft ein neues Licht auf die deutsche und niederländische Kolonialgeschichte sowie auf jene der Schweiz, die lange dachte, dass sie gar keine hätte.
Die Geschichte von Liebe und Gewalt in Südostasien wirft ein neues Licht auf die deutsche und niederländische Kolonialgeschichte sowie auf jene der Schweiz, die lange dachte, dass sie gar keine hätte.
374 pages, Paperback
First published May 11, 2015
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January 6, 2019
Comprehensive look on Swiss colonial and imperial entanglement by looking at a specific case, the Sarasins. Fritz and Paul Sarasins were cousins and a couple, a fact that has been practically erased from history/historiography. Both came from the patrician family of the Sarasins from Basel, thus they had not only money but also political, social and economic influence. Privileged with lots of time and money, the Sarasins decided to become scientists according to the British ideal of "gentlemen scientists" and chose Celebes, a Dutch colony, as their point of interest.
Important to their ideas is their background as conservative protestants. They believed in evolution and Darwinism insofar as they saw evolution as an expression of divine power. For them, there was no science, no nature, no evolution without God.
Of course, much like other gentlemen scientists of their time, their analysis was not nearly as "neutral" and "objective" as they thought they were. Their personal ideas strongly coloured their perception, reception and explenation of non-European cultures, this included religious ideas, class, race and last but not least, gender.
It is remarkable how the Sarasins saw the "natural gender order" in other cultures, such as men = hunters and the dominant force, women = care givers and passive, even when there was clear evidence of the opposite. They went so far as to completely ignore matriarchal societies and re-fashioned them as "proper" and "natural" patriarchal systems with male dominance and female inferiority when there was NO evidence sustaining the idea.
Their evidence collections was also highly problematic. It was not only difficult to obtain material, they were dependent on translators and other indigenous people who of course gave what they had. Celebes had many different cultures (I'm hesitant to use the word "tribe" as it doesn't really cover what I mean and it's also a highly problematic word with racist connotations) so when the Sarasins collected ethnographic artefacts of one group the usually tended to make it as if they were used by everybody.
Another problem is that the Sarasins tended to carefully exclude what didn't fit their picture. For example, they took photographs of the "primitive natives" which in itself is already a pre-selection: Who do they photograph? Where? When? Why?
They created fake scenes and invented people, like a prince, to promote their ideas of gender devided work and "noble savages". Furthermore, the pictures were selected back home in Basel and each photograph that contradicted their ideas or made things more complicated, aka ambiguous or unclear, were discarded.
Even more irksome is the fact that the Sarasins tended to photograph mostly young men and boys. I don't want to say that they did anything to them sexually, even though the gaze was certainly present and sexualised, but there was a power dynamic present that makes me uncomfortable and must have been difficult to navigate for the colonized people.
The Sarasins had the power to do what they wanted and sexualise boys as they pleased. Schär smartly points out that the title "Tropenliebe" can mean "Love FOR the tropes" and "Love IN the tropes", the last insinuating not only the love between the two men but also between the men and the young male colonised body.
One of the Sarasins (I don't remember which one but you can find the info in the status updates) wrote a whole collection of love poems and published them, dedicated to his lover. They had a knack for writing each other love letters and poems. The also wrote poems about the fake prince, who may I remind you, was a boy. It's overtly talking about his beauty, lovely lips, lean body, sly smile, elegant nobility and what not. In part, the poem tries to talk about the vanishing "primitive" cultures and how sad it is that they're "disappearing" (aka being killed by Westerners) but the poem is also a homoerotic gaze sexualising a young boy, praising him for his attractiveness and purity.
I know that most women at this point are creeped the fuck out because we all encountered a Nice Guy who sent us unsolicited creeper texts with unwanted praise, sexualising us and talking about "true womanhood" and what not.
Again, I don't want to claim the Sarasins did anything but they wrote creepy poems about "sexy boys", photographed them and had all the power in their hands (including the Dutch military). Even if they didn't sexually exploit anyone, they still had access to bodies and could eroticise them however they pleased. The Sarasins were no exception, they were the rule. The colonised, marginalised body was always an object to be exploited as the white man saw/sees fit. Just sayin'.
The book explains how Basel had a long history of colonial connections and participation before the Sarasins were even born thus they have to be seen as a continuation of a long history of colonial encounters instead of an anomaly.
Much like other scientists, they used their privilege and power to force their way through uncharted territory. In Celebe's case the expeditions finally led to the full-on conquest of the islands by the Dutch military and the complete subjugation of the indigenous people.
Schär eloquently shows how the Sarasins are embedded in a global network of colonial discourse, in this case the Sarasins participated in the discussion on the Wallace Line. The Wallace Line is an imagined line between Asia and Oceania that demarks a gradual change of Asian flora & fauna to Oceanian flora & fauna (the Wallace Line itself is highly contested). In other words, it was an evolutionary question.
The Sarasins contributed important works within the German-English-Dutch science community and became two of the most important experts on Celebes, showing that the Sarasins not only knew about transnational discourse and profitted of imperial conections but also actively participated in the discourse and created knowledge for the science community, going beyond national and imperial borders.
The entanglement becomes even more complex when Schär explains that the Sarasins, and all the other scientists, were never as "factual" as they claimed. The often used "primitive" knowledge, aproppriating it for their own studies and applying differing meaning. For example, the ruling class of Bugi called a certain group of people living in the highlands "Toala", which is a derogatory term and has social, political and class implications. The Bugis saw themselves as superior in all regards. It was not a racial devide, but a social one. The Sarasins took "Toala" and created new meaning. For them, the Toala were the closest "race" to the "original" island inhabitants, a primitive "race" living in pre-historic times, before other "races" entered the island and created new cultures, like the Bugi. Thus, the Sarasins saw the Toala as an evolutionary step of the people of Celebes, a step in evolution before the Bugi, both being "primitive" but the Toala practically void of intelligence while the Bugi belonged to an at least "advanced primitive" race with concepts of religion and culture, both things the Sarasins wrongly claimed didn't exist within the Toala community.
Of course, the knowledge gathered in Celebes was not only disseminated in the science community but also to the Swiss public. The Sarasins spearheaded the creation of several important institutions and organisations, like the Zoological Garden, the Museum of Ethnography (now Museum of Cultures), anthropological and pre-historical societies, wildlife parks and much more. The Sarasins often (co-)created these institutions and held important seats in the boards of administration for years. The contributed with time, money, work and donated collections in expanding academic and public knowledge.
Thus, the Sarasins were not only important within the exclusive circle of the scientific elite but also responsible for how non-European (and European pre-historic past!) was perceived by the wider public for decades. Of course, these institutions changed since the century of their creation (decolonisation of institutions and knowledge, etc.), however, their colonial and imperial past remain forgotten/ignored by the wider public AND historiography. Too often historians tend to completely ignore and erase transational, colonial and imperial connections. Post-colonialism and intersectionality exists only at the margins but Schär has created another piece to complete the full and complexe picture of a colonially entangled imperial Switzerland. A coloniser without colonies.
A really nice book on a topic a few years ago would not have been published because the person in charge of the Sarasin archive prohibited other scholars of using the material and highly censored the content.
Good news to everyone interested in the topic: Schär is currently working on a revised translation thus you might have the opportunity to read about this fascinating topic in the near future. :)
Important to their ideas is their background as conservative protestants. They believed in evolution and Darwinism insofar as they saw evolution as an expression of divine power. For them, there was no science, no nature, no evolution without God.
Of course, much like other gentlemen scientists of their time, their analysis was not nearly as "neutral" and "objective" as they thought they were. Their personal ideas strongly coloured their perception, reception and explenation of non-European cultures, this included religious ideas, class, race and last but not least, gender.
It is remarkable how the Sarasins saw the "natural gender order" in other cultures, such as men = hunters and the dominant force, women = care givers and passive, even when there was clear evidence of the opposite. They went so far as to completely ignore matriarchal societies and re-fashioned them as "proper" and "natural" patriarchal systems with male dominance and female inferiority when there was NO evidence sustaining the idea.
Their evidence collections was also highly problematic. It was not only difficult to obtain material, they were dependent on translators and other indigenous people who of course gave what they had. Celebes had many different cultures (I'm hesitant to use the word "tribe" as it doesn't really cover what I mean and it's also a highly problematic word with racist connotations) so when the Sarasins collected ethnographic artefacts of one group the usually tended to make it as if they were used by everybody.
Another problem is that the Sarasins tended to carefully exclude what didn't fit their picture. For example, they took photographs of the "primitive natives" which in itself is already a pre-selection: Who do they photograph? Where? When? Why?
They created fake scenes and invented people, like a prince, to promote their ideas of gender devided work and "noble savages". Furthermore, the pictures were selected back home in Basel and each photograph that contradicted their ideas or made things more complicated, aka ambiguous or unclear, were discarded.
Even more irksome is the fact that the Sarasins tended to photograph mostly young men and boys. I don't want to say that they did anything to them sexually, even though the gaze was certainly present and sexualised, but there was a power dynamic present that makes me uncomfortable and must have been difficult to navigate for the colonized people.
The Sarasins had the power to do what they wanted and sexualise boys as they pleased. Schär smartly points out that the title "Tropenliebe" can mean "Love FOR the tropes" and "Love IN the tropes", the last insinuating not only the love between the two men but also between the men and the young male colonised body.
One of the Sarasins (I don't remember which one but you can find the info in the status updates) wrote a whole collection of love poems and published them, dedicated to his lover. They had a knack for writing each other love letters and poems. The also wrote poems about the fake prince, who may I remind you, was a boy. It's overtly talking about his beauty, lovely lips, lean body, sly smile, elegant nobility and what not. In part, the poem tries to talk about the vanishing "primitive" cultures and how sad it is that they're "disappearing" (aka being killed by Westerners) but the poem is also a homoerotic gaze sexualising a young boy, praising him for his attractiveness and purity.
I know that most women at this point are creeped the fuck out because we all encountered a Nice Guy who sent us unsolicited creeper texts with unwanted praise, sexualising us and talking about "true womanhood" and what not.
Again, I don't want to claim the Sarasins did anything but they wrote creepy poems about "sexy boys", photographed them and had all the power in their hands (including the Dutch military). Even if they didn't sexually exploit anyone, they still had access to bodies and could eroticise them however they pleased. The Sarasins were no exception, they were the rule. The colonised, marginalised body was always an object to be exploited as the white man saw/sees fit. Just sayin'.
The book explains how Basel had a long history of colonial connections and participation before the Sarasins were even born thus they have to be seen as a continuation of a long history of colonial encounters instead of an anomaly.
Much like other scientists, they used their privilege and power to force their way through uncharted territory. In Celebe's case the expeditions finally led to the full-on conquest of the islands by the Dutch military and the complete subjugation of the indigenous people.
Schär eloquently shows how the Sarasins are embedded in a global network of colonial discourse, in this case the Sarasins participated in the discussion on the Wallace Line. The Wallace Line is an imagined line between Asia and Oceania that demarks a gradual change of Asian flora & fauna to Oceanian flora & fauna (the Wallace Line itself is highly contested). In other words, it was an evolutionary question.
The Sarasins contributed important works within the German-English-Dutch science community and became two of the most important experts on Celebes, showing that the Sarasins not only knew about transnational discourse and profitted of imperial conections but also actively participated in the discourse and created knowledge for the science community, going beyond national and imperial borders.
The entanglement becomes even more complex when Schär explains that the Sarasins, and all the other scientists, were never as "factual" as they claimed. The often used "primitive" knowledge, aproppriating it for their own studies and applying differing meaning. For example, the ruling class of Bugi called a certain group of people living in the highlands "Toala", which is a derogatory term and has social, political and class implications. The Bugis saw themselves as superior in all regards. It was not a racial devide, but a social one. The Sarasins took "Toala" and created new meaning. For them, the Toala were the closest "race" to the "original" island inhabitants, a primitive "race" living in pre-historic times, before other "races" entered the island and created new cultures, like the Bugi. Thus, the Sarasins saw the Toala as an evolutionary step of the people of Celebes, a step in evolution before the Bugi, both being "primitive" but the Toala practically void of intelligence while the Bugi belonged to an at least "advanced primitive" race with concepts of religion and culture, both things the Sarasins wrongly claimed didn't exist within the Toala community.
Of course, the knowledge gathered in Celebes was not only disseminated in the science community but also to the Swiss public. The Sarasins spearheaded the creation of several important institutions and organisations, like the Zoological Garden, the Museum of Ethnography (now Museum of Cultures), anthropological and pre-historical societies, wildlife parks and much more. The Sarasins often (co-)created these institutions and held important seats in the boards of administration for years. The contributed with time, money, work and donated collections in expanding academic and public knowledge.
Thus, the Sarasins were not only important within the exclusive circle of the scientific elite but also responsible for how non-European (and European pre-historic past!) was perceived by the wider public for decades. Of course, these institutions changed since the century of their creation (decolonisation of institutions and knowledge, etc.), however, their colonial and imperial past remain forgotten/ignored by the wider public AND historiography. Too often historians tend to completely ignore and erase transational, colonial and imperial connections. Post-colonialism and intersectionality exists only at the margins but Schär has created another piece to complete the full and complexe picture of a colonially entangled imperial Switzerland. A coloniser without colonies.
A really nice book on a topic a few years ago would not have been published because the person in charge of the Sarasin archive prohibited other scholars of using the material and highly censored the content.
Good news to everyone interested in the topic: Schär is currently working on a revised translation thus you might have the opportunity to read about this fascinating topic in the near future. :)
Displaying 1 of 1 review