EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL社論
This editorial by Rui Manuel Loureiro presents and contextualises the second thematic issue of the *Revista de Cultura* devoted to “European travellers” and the Asian natural world between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The central argument holds that the relations established by European a...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
January 2007
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40021/3721 |
| Summary: | This editorial by Rui Manuel Loureiro presents and contextualises the second thematic issue of the *Revista de Cultura* devoted to “European travellers” and the Asian natural world between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The central argument holds that the relations established by European agents with Asian natural resources—as well as the forms of appropriation, circulation and associated knowledge—constitute a field still insufficiently explored by Western historiography, yet one endowed with great interpretative potential for Eurasian history. In line with this objective, the issue brings together methodologically diverse contributions based on primary and scientific sources, including travel memoirs, manuscripts, and catalogues of botanical and medico-pharmaceutical circulation, thus enabling the reconstruction of networks of observation, collection and cultural translation. Among the results, the studies on specific authors and works (such as Francesco Carletti and Engelbert Kaempfer) stand out, as does the analysis of scientific itineraries and medical practices in multiple Asian spaces, and the treatment of concrete natural products (Socotrine aloe, betel/oriental mastic, tobacco and related masticatories). The volume further highlights processes of Euro-Asian acculturation, identifying drugs and intellectual intermediaries that contributed to the diffusion of knowledge about “China” in Europe. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |