He characterizes them as “savage”, and more explicitly as “sullen half-child/half-devils” (18, 7). Unsurprisingly, the mysteries of faraway cultures fascinated the European people, both scientifically and out of genuine curiosity. Sometimes, audiences in Europe were entertained by traveling circus’s featuring pygmy men or curvy women brought back from mainland Africa. One of the most popular and famous performers from the southwest region of Africa was Hottentot Venus. Europeans were so amazed by her figure that after her death she was dissected and displayed for visitors of the Museum of Man for over 150 years. [4] Although the slave trade was abolished by the 19th century in many European nations, spectacles like this continued on for more than a decade, which shows just how deeply-rooted the alienation of the African people
He characterizes them as “savage”, and more explicitly as “sullen half-child/half-devils” (18, 7). Unsurprisingly, the mysteries of faraway cultures fascinated the European people, both scientifically and out of genuine curiosity. Sometimes, audiences in Europe were entertained by traveling circus’s featuring pygmy men or curvy women brought back from mainland Africa. One of the most popular and famous performers from the southwest region of Africa was Hottentot Venus. Europeans were so amazed by her figure that after her death she was dissected and displayed for visitors of the Museum of Man for over 150 years. [4] Although the slave trade was abolished by the 19th century in many European nations, spectacles like this continued on for more than a decade, which shows just how deeply-rooted the alienation of the African people