Ressource oder Wildnis? (Post)koloniale Vorstellungswelten von afrikanischen Naturräume

Based on seven selected (and translated) historical source texts this chapter illustrates and problematizes the colonial origins of two distinct notions of African natural spaces. First, the idea of African ‘nature’ as a resource that needs to be utilized (or rather exploited) under the banner of the so-called ‘civilizing mission’ or, later, ‘development’. Second, the idea of an exotic and pristine “wilderness” where European men believed they could prove themselves as big game hunters in an archaic competition between man and beast; or as protectors of this "natural zoological garden" from humans (e.g. local Maasai herders). The chapter also examines the post-independence afterlife of these ideas in Africa and Europe.