1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910453410703321

Autore

Dilley Roy <1954->

Titolo

Nearly native, barely civilized : Henri Gaden's journey through colonial French West Africa (1894-1939) / / by Roy Dilley

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, Netherlands : , : Brill, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

90-04-26528-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (460 p.)

Collana

African History, , 2211-1441

Disciplina

966.031092

Soggetti

Colonial administrators - Africa, West

Linguists

Electronic books.

Africa, West Politics and government 1884-1960

Mauritania Biography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- A Funeral: Thursday, 14th December 1939 -- Gironde, Paris and Beyond -- Agent of Commerce, African Novice: From Bordeaux to Bandiagara, 1894–1896 -- Interlude: Furlough in France I -- On the Trail of the Black Napoleon, 1897–1899 -- Interlude: Furlough in France II -- The Mallam and the Qadis: A Posting to Zinder, 1900–1903 -- Interlude: Furlough in France III -- Cherchez la Femme: Tchekna, Chad, 1904–1907 -- Interlude: Furlough in France IV -- Confidential Relations: Boutilimit, Mauritania, 1908–1911 -- Interlude: Furlough in France V -- Paperwork and Bullets: The Years of Scholarship and War, 1912–18 -- Governor, Savant, Adopted Son: St Louis, 1919–1927 -- The Monk of St Louis, 1927–1939 -- General Bibliography -- Bibliography of Henri Gaden’s Published Works -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Nearly Native, Barely Civilized by Roy Dilley offers the first full-length biography of Henri Gaden, an exceptional French colonial character who lived through some of the most radical transformations in West African history. It provides an in-depth, intimate and rounded portrayal of the man, his place in history, and the contradictions, tensions and



ambiguities not only in his personal and professional life but also at the heart of the colonial enterprise. Soldier, ethnographer and linguist, lover, father, administrator and Governor, Henri Gaden (1867-1939) lived for 45 years in West Africa. Faced with the chaos, insecurity and insanity of colonial existence, Gaden experienced a rich mosaic of human pain and passion, of curiosity and intellectual endeavour, of folly and failure.