Reading and Seeing Ethnic Differences in the Enlightenment

Reading and Seeing Ethnic Differences in the Enlightenment

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Reading and Seeing Ethnic Differences in the Enlightenment From China to Africa Birgit Tautz

READING AND SEEING ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT Birgit Tautz, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53708-2 ISBN 978-0-230-60364-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230603646 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tautz, Birgit. Reading and seeing ethnic differences in the Enlightenment : from China to Africa / Birgit Tautz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1 4039 7641 4 (alk. paper) 1. German literature 18th century History and criticism. 2. Ethnicity in literature. 3. China in literature. 4. Africa in literature. I. Title. PT289.T38 2006 830.9 920693 dc22 2006051388 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2007 10987654321

For my parents

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Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Hegel at the Limits of Discourse 13 2. Threads of a Texture: Leibniz s Translation of China 31 3. Reading Sovereign Subjectivity via China 59 4. Detailed Ethnicity: Perception and Gender in Travel Accounts 97 5. Bodies on Stage: Late Eighteenth-Century Aesthetics of Blackness 137 6. Reading History, Seeing Selves: The Turn to the Modern 173 Notes 197 Bibliography 207 Index 223

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Acknowledgments Many institutions and individuals have supported me in writing this book. I am thankful for the resources provided by Franckesche Stiftungen (Halle), Herzog-August-Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel), and Bowdoin College, as well as for the support I received from colleagues and friends. Special thanks are due to Joanna Bosse, Aviva Briefel, Helen Cafferty, Steven Cerf, Otto Emersleben, Pamela Fletcher, Rolf Goebel, Jonathan Hess, Alexander Honold, Peter Höyng, Charlotte Melin, John Noyes, Daniel Purdy, Jochen Schulte-Sasse, Linda Schulte-Sasse, Arlene Teraoka, Dharni Vasudevan, Liliane Weissberg, and Jack Zipes. They showed great interest in the project at various stages, shared their insights about its scope, read all or part of the manuscript and offered invaluable encouragement along the way. I am thankful to Samantha Altschuler, Dan Coogan, and Robin Jensen who worked as my research assistants. Thanks to Farideh Koohi-Kemali and Julia Cohen at Palgrave, and to Mary Fahnestock-Thomas and the staff at Newgen for preparing the manuscript and index for production. I have used reliable English translations of German texts when available; in all other instances, the translations, with assistance from Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, are my own, and exceptions have been noted. An article introducing the project and which was subsequently revised as part of chapter 1 first appeared in German as Texturen und Farben: China und Afrika im Blick des deutschen Idealismus (Honold/Scherpe, 63 82); I thank the Zeitschrift für Germanistik and Peter Lang Publishers for permission to use it here. An earlier version of a part of chapter 4 first appeared as Fashionable Details: Narration in an Eighteenth-century Travel Account in The Germanic Review 72.3 (1997): 201 13. It is reprinted here with the permission of the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation and Heldref Publications. Copyright 1997. I could have never written this book, nor pursued my life, work, and passion without the support of my parents to whom I dedicate this book.