The problem of the history of "savage peoples" in "Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme" by French naturalist Buffon

• Grant number: 11/16101-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: November 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Theory and Philosophy of History
• Principal Investigator: Sara Albieri
• Grantee: Thiago Luiz Domingues
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this project is an investigation regarding the problem of the so-called "savage people" within the conception of history defined by French naturalist George Louis-Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. Our enquiry will be conducted within his ground work Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, published between the years of 1749-1789. We will track the conception of history delineated by Buffon along the pages and chapters dedicated to the science of man - mainly the second and third volumes of that work. The aim is to understand the place of the so-called "savage people" within that conception of history - a term referring to those non-European societies around the world then in the process of 'discovery' by Europeans since the fifteenth century. We expect to shed light on the theoretical strategies that frame "savage people" within the buffonian enterprise concerning history.