Paper short abstract:

Sir Richard F. Burton (1821-1890) personifies an era in which some of the most controversial aspects of anthropology and geography became apparent. A discussion of these criticalities across disciplinary boundaries attempts to provide new answers to a constitutive dilemma.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper we offer a metaphorical lens for the comparison between anthropological and geographical thought with regard to the second half of the 19th century, a crucial period in their development. Our focus is one of the most prominent scholars in the history of both disciplines: Sir Richard F. Burton (1821-1890). In his works and in his career as an explorer, Burton epitomizes many peculiar aspects of these tools for interpreting the world and mankind which, according to critics, shared one original sin: their nature as instruments for domination. Moving along the geographical red line which marked the end of Modernity and the beginning of Globalisation, Burton, as agent of an empire, takes part in defining the contemporary way of representing the world while at the same time sharing an outlook which was widespread in the field of anthropology. In 1863, Burton was one of the founders of the Anthropological Society of London, within which he expressed many of his controversial views in his racialist studies. The latter, together with others strands of Burton's anthropological studies, co-exist with his constant engagement in exploring unknown regions, also on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, and describing peoples and histories with an awareness and richness which are still of interest to the eye of the contemporary reader. Our travel into Burton's world will thus be an attempt to explore the ancient dilemma on the status of anthropology and geography as instruments for domination or mankind's self-representation.