Description
Book SynopsisNearly Native, Barely Civilized by Roy Dilley offers the first full-length biography of Henri Gaden, an exceptional French colonial character who lived through some of the most radical transformations in West African history. It provides an in-depth, intimate and rounded portrayal of the man, his place in history, and the contradictions, tensions and ambiguities not only in his personal and professional life but also at the heart of the colonial enterprise. Soldier, ethnographer and linguist, lover, father, administrator and Governor, Henri Gaden (1867-1939) lived for 45 years in West Africa. Faced with the chaos, insecurity and insanity of colonial existence, Gaden experienced a rich mosaic of human pain and passion, of curiosity and intellectual endeavour, of folly and failure.
Trade Review'The book does not aim to simply reconstruct a conventional historical narrative of a life or of event as they unfold. It sheds light on the nature of the colonialism in West Africa. Through Gaden's experience we can see how colonialism imposes order and new types of organization on native affairs. Gaden does not act merely as a military officer and administrator. In Mauritania, he was revered as a man of learning, justice and honesty, and of immense culture stature amongst the Moors. He is a researcher and an ethnographer who seeks information from the indigenous, notices and writes down Africa's world. Overall, Dilley achieves its scope, to present us a rather unknown Africa through the optics of their protagonists.' Antonios Chaldeos in Journal of Oriental and African Studies, 24 (2015), pp. 482-485
Table of ContentsTable of Contents Dedication List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on Orthography Introduction A Funeral, Thursday, 14th December 1939 Chapter One. Gironde, Paris and Beyond Chapter Two. Agent of Commerce, African Novice: From Bordeaux to Bandiagara, 1894-1896 Interlude: Furlough in France I Chapter Three. On the Trail of the Black Napoleon, 1897-1899 Interlude: Furlough in France II Chapter Four. The Mallam and the Qadis: A Posting to Zinder, 1900-1903 Interlude: Furlough in France III Chapter Five. Cherchez la Femme: Tchekna, Chad, 1904-1907 Interlude: Furlough in France IV Chapter Six. Confidential Relations: Boutilimit, Mauritania, 1908-1911 Interlude: Furlough in France V Chapter Seven. Paperwork and Bullets: The Years of Scholarship and War, 1912-18 Chapter Eight. Governor, Savant, Adopted Son: St Louis, 1919-1927 Chapter Nine. The Monk of St Louis, 1927-1939 Index General Bibliography Bibliography of Henri Gaden's Published Works
