The “White Space” Frequented by d’Orbigny, 1831-32. A Representation of Guarayos and its Inhabitants

Abstract

Throughout their history, Europe and Latin America have developed economic, social, political and cultural relations that have favoured the construction of imageries, in which the perception of the “other” is built upon the representation of the “one”. These imageries have been elaborated by various European and American agents. This essay analyses the representation made of the region and its inhabitants, by one of those agents, Alcide d’Orbigny, in the decade of 1830. The thesis maintains that the French naturalist-traveler elaborated an account, that was at first enlightened and subsequently positivist, in which European societies were to export civilization and progress to extra-European countries. In the case of Bolivia, the “wild” -salvajes- and “barbarian” -bárbaros- guarayos were to be civilized. The main sources for the essay were the account and drawings that D’Orbigny realized during his travels and then elaborated when he returned to France in 1832.