Wednesday 6 May 2009

The Wild Man's Pedigree - 1758


The Wild Man's Pedigree is a text that is called on in a few different treatises on post-colonialism. It has always struck me as amazing in its specificity and seems so distant now. Most notably, it was used in Ania Loomba's book, Colonialism/Postcolonialism.

From Loomba:
Ideologies of racial difference were intensified by their incorporation into the discourse of science, whibh intensified the supposed connection between the biological features of each group and its psychological and social attributes. By 1758, (Homo sapiens) had been further bifurcated in John Burke's The Wild Man's Pedigree into the following:

A. Wild Man. Four footed, mute hairy.

B. American. Copper coloured, choleric erect. Hair black, straight, thick; nostrils wide; face harsh; beard scanty; obstinate, content, free. Paints himself with fine red lines. Regulated by customs.

C. European. Fair, sanguine, brawny; hair yellow, brown, flowing; eyes blue; gentle, acute, inventive. Covered with close vestments. Governed by laws.


D. Asiatic. Sooty, melancholy, rigid. Hair black; eyes dark; severe, haughty, covetous. Covered with loose garments. Governed by opinions.


E. African. black, phlegmatic, relaxed. Hair black, frizzled; skin silky; note flat, lips tumid; crafty, indolent, negligent. Annoints himself with grease. Governed by caprice


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