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- Title
Competing Visions: The Visual Culture of the Congo Free State and Fin de Siècle Europe.
- Authors
Stanard, Matthew G.
- Abstract
Studies of the visual culture of the Congo Free State (CFS) have focused overwhelmingly yet narrowly on the "atrocity" photograph used to criticize Leopold II's colonial misrule. This article presents a new picture of the visual culture of Leopold II's Congo Free State by examining a broader, more heterogeneous range of fin de siècle images of varied provenance that comprised the visual culture of the CFS. These include architecture, paintings, African artwork, and public monuments, many of which were positive, pro-Leopoldian images emphasizing a favorable view of colonialism. The visual culture of the CFS was imbued with recurring themes of violence, European heroism, and anti-Arab sentiment, and emerged from a unique, transnational, back-and-forth process whereby Leopold and his critics instrumentalized images to counter each other and achieve their goals.
- Subjects
CONGO (Democratic Republic); VISUAL culture; HETEROGENEOUS catalysis; AFRICAN art; ANTI-Arab racism
- Publication
Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, 2020, Vol 46, Issue 3, p101
- ISSN
0315-7997
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3167/hrrh.2020.460306