Girolamo Merolla au Congo : récits de « colorisme » chez un missionnaire capucin de la fin xviie siècle

Abstract

This article analyses some patterns within the account of the voyage to Congo made by the Capuchin missionary Girolamo Merolla. His text gives rise to a series of episodes which shed light on the encounter between two different and morally antagonistic cultures. Sometimes, this coming upon face-to-face will generate troubles, incomprehension and culture-centrist reactions. As a matter of fact, it is common to find, within the narrative of Breve e Succinta Relatione (1692), a depreciative rhetoric, imprinted with “colorism” toward Africans.

Keywords

• Merolla
• Congo
• mission
• Blacks
• colorism