From the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous...Show moreFrom the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous African explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone gave the impression of a dark and wild continent as opposed to the orderly and civilized Europe. In the early imperialistic period of Africa, European powers tried to implement their notion of nature to their colonial territories. That is to say, a strict division between what is considered nature and what is considered not. Through (neo)colonial ties a fabrication of nature has developed and affected the Sub-Saharan African landscape for more than 150 years. Colonial imposition of European ideas like the European hunting tradition, the Romantic notions about nature, imposition of economic development and wildlife conservation all had a lasting impact on the African continent. By means of colonization, but also long afterwards, Sub-Saharan Africa has thus been highly influenced by old Western notions about Africa's nature. This thesis sets out to discuss how the Western philosophy of the relation between human and nature has dominated and continues to dominate many places in Africa as Western conceptions of what nature is and what it is not are seemingly still present to this day and age.Show less
