Transformations of Knowledge in Dutch Expansion

264 Pages·2015·11.288 MB·English

by  Susanne Friedrich, Arndt Brendecke, Stefan Ehrenpreis

Transformations of Knowledge in Dutch Expansion
Pluralisierung & Autorität
Herausgegeben vom
Sonderforschungsbereich 573
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Band 44
De Gruyter
Transformations of Knowledge
in Dutch Expansion
Edited by
Susanne Friedrich, Arndt Brendecke
and Stefan Ehrenpreis
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-037096-6
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-036617-4
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039146-6
ISSN 2076-8281
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Contents
Arndt Brendecke and Susanne Friedrich
Introduction ........................................ 1
Lissa Roberts
Re-Orienting the Transformation of Knowledge in Dutch
Expansion: Nagasaki as a Centre of Accumulation and
Management ........................................ 19
Mina Ishizu and Simona Valeriani
Botanical Knowledge in Early Modern Japan and Europe:
Transformations and Parallel Developments ................ 43
Stefan Ehrenpreis
Empiricism and Image-Building: The Creation and
Dissemination of Knowledge on Dutch Brazil 1636–1750 .... 69
Michiel van Groesen
Arnoldus Montanus, Dutch Brazil, and the Re-Emergence
of Cannibalism ...................................... 93
Benjamin Schmidt
Knowledge Products and their Transmediations:
DutchGeography and the Transformation of the World ...... 121
Anke Fischer-Kattner
Transformations and Transformativity of Knowledge:
FranÅoisLeVaillant’s Travelogues from the Dutch Cape Colony 159
Anjana Singh
Botanical Knowledge in Early Modern Malabar and
theNetherlands: A Review of Van Reede’s Hortus Malabaricus . 187
Bettina Noak
Under the Spell of Curiositas: Wouter Schouten (1638–1704)
asEthnologist and Natural Scientist ...................... 209
Peter Rietbergen
Before the Bible, beyond the Bible…? VOC Travelogues,
WorldViews and the Paradigms of Christian Europe ........ 231
Index .............................................. 251

Introduction
Arndt Brendecke and Susanne Friedrich
In the ancient world, a brief tale was used to illustrate the paradox of
change. It tells of the Athenians who guarded the ship of the mythical
hero Theseus for many years. Every now and then, old planks of wood
were replaced by new ones, until one day, none of the old ones were
left. The question of how long the ship remained that of Theseus, and
indeed whether it ever became another, was the subject of lasting discus-
sion. The story thus served the philosophers to illustrate the paradox of
change, as recorded by Plutarch.1
The present volume concentrates on “transformations” for two rea-
sons: firstly, the focus can thus be directed towards the small, seemingly
unimportant but constant changes made to the ship of knowledge. Sec-
ondly, we are interested here in knowledge in the context of Dutch ex-
pansion–knowledgethatwecannotdescribesimplyinterms of itsalter-
ation over time. The knowledge itself travelled throughout the world.
Our “ship” was constantly on the move, being altered on the high seas,
with its cargo taking on a different significance from place to place.
The Dutch expansion was primarily driven by trading companies.
ThetwolargestsuchcompaniesweretheVereenigdeOostindischeCompag-
nie(VOC),establishedin1602,andtheGeoctroyeerdeWest-IndischeCom-
pagnie(WIC),foundedin1621andreestablishedin1675.2Bothcompa-
nies were politically motivated in addition to their economic goals, and
both represented hybrid entities resembling both trading companies
and semi-sovereign colonial powers, drawing their legitimacy from the
privileges of the Staten-Generaal.3
The monopoly regions of these companies provide only vague infor-
mation about their actual fields of operation, as the companies did not
1 Plutarch 1914, Theseus, chap.23/1, 49.
2 Severalsmallercompaniesexistedaswell,someofwhichwerealsoequippedwith
privileges, such as the Noordsche Compagnie, cf. Muller 1874, Geschiedenis; Van
Dillen 1970, Rijkdom, 248 255; De Haan 1977, Moedernegotie.
3 Fortheheavilyresearchedhistoryofthecompanies,cf.(selection):Gaastra2012,
Geschiedenis; Den Heijer 2013, Geschiedenis.
2 Arndt Brendeckeand Susanne Friedrich
fully realise their monopolies in some places, while extending operations
farbeyondtheminothers.Thefieldofoperationof Dutchtraders,how-
ever, certainly covered the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Chi-
nese, Japanese and Philippine Seas, as well as the Malayan Archipelago,
while the rest of the Pacific region received less attention. Outside
Europe, the interior regions of continents tended to be less strongly inte-
grated into the trading networks than the coastal areas.4 The sheer
breadth of their expansion underlines the fact that the Dutch were pre-
destined to transport a special kind of cargo which could not easily be
packed into boxes, sacks or texts: knowledge.
The prerequisite for this was that in the wake of the trading ships, a
communication network was built up which connected places on oppo-
site sides of the world with one another. Their respective inhabitants not
only possessed knowledge particular to their regions, but also their own
cultural contexts, languages, religions and social practices. Knowledge
was thus stored as local knowledge5 all over the world. However, it was
nowbecomingincreasinglydrawntogetherinaneverthickeningnetwork
of exchange which created a new translocalism.6 Researchers such as
Steven J. Harris, Peter Burke and Daniel N. Livingston have taken this
asastartingpointforformulatingvariousapproachestowardsageography
of knowledge.7 This idea focuses on the differing geographic distribution
of knowledge and thus identifies centres of knowledge on the one hand,
and regions of contact and knowledge transportation on the other.
Amsterdam in the 17th century is considered the paradigm of a large-
scale stapelmarkt for goods and information from all over the world, and
was one of the largest centres of knowledge.8 There – as in other Dutch
cities – great collections were compiled; gardens with exotic plants were
4 For a geographically constructed, more recent depiction primarily based on the
operational fields of the WIC and the VOC, see Emmer/Gommans 2012,
Rijk aan de rand, 139 442.
5 On local knowledge, cf. Turnbull 1997, Knowledge Systems. On various locations
ofknowledgeinEurope,cf.Schramm/Schwarte/Lazardzig2003,Kunstkammer.
6 Cf. Secord 2004, Knowledge in Transit, esp.664.
7 Harris 1998, Long Distance Corporations; Harris 2006, Networks; Burke 2000,
Social History, 53 80; Livingston 2003, Putting Science. While Bruno Latour’s
thoughts on the ‘centres of calculation’ are of interest for this context, he does
not formulate a specific geography of knowlegde covering relations between
the centres.
8 Smith 1984, Function; Lesger 2006, Rise; Frijhoff/Prak 2004, Geschiedenis;
’tHart/Keene/O’Brien/Van der Vee 2008, Urban Achievement; Cook 2008,
Amsterdam; Burke 1994, Venice and Amsterdam.
Introduction 3
created and houses were decorated with “foreign” objects.9 The cultural
achievement of a city such as Amsterdam, however, went far beyond
the mere accumulation of “knowledge”.10 Harold Cook was able to
show the development there of a previously unseen enthusiasm for the
object and an increased interest in nature and the empirical investigation
thereof.11Againstthebackgroundofanew,urbaneverydayculture,itwas
not only the goods and artefacts from distant lands that gained a new
legibility and significance, but also the many large and small printing
works or the incorporation of foreign stylistic elements in handcraft pro-
duction which made a significant contribution to forming this early
“globalism” and “exoticism”.12 The article by Lissa Roberts on Dejima
(chapter 1) as well as that by Mina Ishizu and Simona Valeriani (chapter
2) clearly show that such centres of accumulation and the phenomena
connected with them are by no means to be identified exclusively on
the European side of Dutch expansion.13
Inspired by questions of transculturalism, the places and practices re-
lating to contact between inhabitants of various cultural spheres have re-
ceived increased attention. Regardless of whether these are referred to as
contact zones, middle ground or cultural borderlands,14 the common point
of reference for such approaches remains the observation of a difference
which not only hindered communication and understanding, but also
provided creative challenges. When attempting to investigate this chal-
lengefurther,constantly working ontranslations andobservingtheadap-
tation to new contexts and needs, the people and institutions involved
take centre stage.15 There is no choice but to include a very wide range
of protagonists: alongside scholars, the Dutch side includes traders and
seamen, amateur and professional authors, but also printers, potters
and carpenters, all of whom were involved in the transformation of
9 Fock 1992, Kunst en rariteiten; Van Gelder 1992, Wereld; Van Gelder 1998,
Paradijsvogels; cf. also the titles in footnote 8.
10 On the concept of accumulation, cf. Roberts 2011, Centres and Cycles.
11 Cf. Cook 2007, Matters; Idem 2008, Amsterdam.
12 Schmidt 2011, Accumulating the World; see also his article in this volume.
Dibbits/Rooijakkers 1993, Materiele cultuur.
13 Cf. also Liss 2009, Frontier Tales; Boot 2013, Transfer.
14 Pratt 1992, Contact Zone; White 1991, Middle Ground; Fan 2007, Science. Cf.
also the article by Lissa Roberts in this volume for the concepts of exchange.
15 Schaffer/Roberts/Raj/Delbourgo 2009, Introduction, XV.
4 Arndt Brendeckeand Susanne Friedrich
knowledge.16 Classic distinctions, for example between scholars and arti-
sans or between theory and practice, diminish in significance,17 despite
the continued use of distinct sociolects and specialist language18 and
the conflicts of interest which could erupt between these groups at any
time.19
Many questions must thus be asked as to the prerequisites, the pro-
tagonists and the individual steps involved in the transformation of
knowledge:thetradingcompanies themselveshavethusfarbeencredited
with virtually no epistemic achievements or scholarly ambitions,20 with
the attempts at secrecy, especially those of the VOC, being much more
widely known.21 The increased circulation of knowledge between the op-
erational fields of the companies was seen merely as a kind of byproduct
of the expansion of trade.22 Knowledge accumulation was thus traced
back not to the companies, but to the mostly private initiatives of indi-
vidual employees. This picture is in need of revision: the companies
themselves indeed required a certain amount of knowledge, even if
only as a tool to realise their corporate goals.23 Individual directors and
governors aimed to present themselves and their companies positively
usingprojectsof knowledgeaccumulation,asStefanEhrenpreisillustrates
16 Examples can befound in:Smith/Findlen 2002,MerchantsandMarvels;Cook
2007, Matters; Keblusek/Noldus 2011, Double Agents.
17 Cf. Zilsel 2000, Social Origins; Baxandall 1988, Painting; Smith 2004, Body;
Roberts/Schaffer/Dear 2007, MindfulHand; Long 2011, Artisan/Practitioners.
Cf.alsothepapersbyWilliamEamon,AlixCooper,AnthonyGrafton,BruceT.
Moran, Paula Findlen, Pamela H. Smith, Kelly De Vries and Adrian Johns in:
Park/Daston 2006, Cambridge History; Meyers/Cook/Smith 2014, Ways of
Making.
18 AccordingtoBeer1996,OpenFields,chap.TranslationorTransformation,173
195.
19 This becomes clear, for example in the field of navigation: cf. Sandman 2007,
Cosmographers; Brendecke 2009, Imperium und Empirie, 128 150; for similar
observations on possibilities and results of a (conscious) confrontation between
fundamental knowledge bases and “revolutionary” knowledge cf.: Mulsow
2012, Prekrres Wissen.
20 Explicitly: Van Berkel 1998, Citaten; Cook 2008, Matters, 338; Huigen 2010,
Introduction, 8.
21 Barend van Haeften 1993, Reisteksten; Zandvliet 1998, Mapping, 95, 128f.On
the publication policy of the WIC: Bick 2012, Governing.
22 Paradigmatic for this view: Bethlehem/Meijer 1993, VOC en cultuur; Bluss(cid:134)/
Ooms2002,KennisenCompagnie;Huigen/DeJong/Kolfin2010,DutchTrad
ing Companies; Deshima 3, 2009.
23 This is pointed out by Harris 1998, Long Distance Corporations.