Analysis of the German “frontier” discourse in reference to Latin America (text in Preparation)
Autor: Burkhard Schwarz.
Title: "From the frontier episteme of Heidelberg to the frontier episteme of Tübingen – Critical annotations about the postcolonial persistence of the colonial syndrome in the discourse of German geography on Latin America (with special reference to the pioneer frontier discourse)".
The study analyses explicit and implicit "frontier" discourses produced inside German geography environment during the 20th century and focuses particularly the projection of this scientific concept from the geographical chairs of the universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen towards Latin America. The continuity of central characteristics in such scientific discourses is verified between the "colonial geography" and the "geography of development" in relation to their cultural and "epistemic" orientation; and besides, clear analogies are evident between the connotations of "frontier" and "space of life" ("Lebensraum"), as well as the persistence of levels of ontological compatibility of these concepts with the hegemonic discourses and dominant methodologies, that is to say: their structural link with the “(pos)colonial" connotation.
