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What has driven humanity to expand across the globe? How was it achieved? And what has it meant to be on the receiving end - not the explorer but the explored?
In any era, exploration cannot be defined purely in terms of geography—it involves language, culture, materiality, and values, all of which change from one culture to the next. In a work that spans more than 5,000 years, A Cultural History of Exploration explores a range of themes exploring the meaning of exploration in a global context from antiquity to the present day.
Delve into the cultural history of exploration with this carefully curated collection of key chapters, or explore the full content set here.
Throughout history (and pre-history) human societies have been characterized by mobility, whether for survival, to escape from conflict or adversity, to pursue economic advantage or for conquest and colonization. While exploration driven wholly by curiosity is a modern phenomenon, the desire to explore seems ingrained in human nature, as is evidenced by the earliest Greek myths and legends. A Cultural History of Exploration in Antiquity addresses how humanity spread across the globe. A Cultural History of Exploration in Antiquity addresses how humanity spread across the globe. This chapter explores the motivations and methodologies for exploration in Antiquity, identifying inducements to explore during a period in which technology did not support long-distance travel and the accomplishments of exploration were often anonymous.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in Antiquity.
Exploration in the Middle Ages involved Europeans’ travels throughout Asia, Norse travels to North America, Chinese voyages around South Asia, Polynesian (Oceanian) exploration and colonization in the Pacific, Austronesian colonization of Madagascar, Arawak/Taino colonization of the Caribbean, and Aztec expansion in Mesoamerica. With motives varying from settlement to the expansion of trade, from religious conversion to the pursuit of alliances, and with methods both peaceful and warlike, it was a period of extensive global integration. All of this and more is explored in A Cultural History of Exploration in the Middle Ages. This chapter delves deeper into the authority and finance of exploration across the Medieval globe.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in the Middle Ages.
Aided by a wide range of case material, A Cultural History of Exploration in the early modern era Global exploration in the Early Modern era involved maritime exploration across the globe, Ottoman contributions to exploration, European expansion into Africa, the Americas, and Europe; the establishment of ambassadorial networks that brought people from around the world to other continents; the American encounter with Europe; and even advances into the polar regions. From A Cultural History of Exploration in the Early Modern Era, this chapter by David Buisseret delves into the visualisation of exploration during the period.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in the Early Modern Age.
Part of the expert reference work, A Cultural History of Exploration, this volume charts the shift to explore beyond the world’s coastlines and into the great continental interiors. It draws out the connections between exploration and empire-building but goes further to examine exploration as a dual process in which explorers were also the subject of the scrutiny of those whose lands they visited and whose cultures they examined. A Cultural History of Exploration in the Early Modern Era, Click here to read this free chapter from the volume written by Douglas Catterall, to learn more about the verbalisation of exploration during the age of expansion and enlightenment.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in the Age of Expansion and Enlightenment.
A Cultural History of Exploration in the Industrial Age presents an overview of global exploration during the period. The unprecedented scope and pace of industrialization throughout the ‘long nineteenth century’ brought in its wake population growth and ever-rising demand for raw materials that, in turn, fuelled the imperial ambitions of Europe and the United States. Many colonization projects in this era masqueraded as exploration, involving European expansion into Africa and Asia as well as the development of maritime, deep sea, and polar exploration brought about by new technological innovations. Read more about the technologies of exploration during the industrial age with this free chapter.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in the Industrial Age.
This final volume in A Cultural History of Exploration chronicles the profound transformation in the purpose, perception, and practice of exploration in the 20th century, an epoch when explorers went from being imperial heroes to postcolonial villains. The master narrative that once defined the explorer’s quest began to atomize during a century that saw the catastrophe of two world wars, the dissipation of Europe’s empires, the polarization of the Cold War, and the collapse of communism. In this chapter, Elena Glasberg delves into the ideal and idealised explorer typologies in the modern age.
Click here to explore A Cultural History of Exploration in the Modern Age.
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