Natural History and Circulation of Knowledge in the Writing of Friar João dos Santos (Eastern Africa, 1586–1609)

This paper has as its main thread a case study on Friar João dos Santos’ Etiópia Oriental, acknowledging its relevance and singularity as regards the production of knowledge about Eastern Africa observed on the trajectory of the book since its publication in 1609 to the present day, in Iberian or African studies. From the analysis of textual forms of epistemic validation, we have been able to observe the meanings of knowledge that comes from experience in the Early Modern Period, especially concerning the knowledge that articulates cartography, natural history and travel literature. This reflection leads to the production of knowledge connecting metropolitan centres to the frontiers of maritime Empires, which reveals dynamics that are characteristic of contact zones and regimes of circulation related to imperial networks. From the Dominican missionary’s biodiversity descriptions, mainly the depictions of African animals, we have been able to observe the multiple forms of local agency and engagement that have combined in the production of such knowledge. We have also sought to observe the local networks in which the Dominican is embedded; who his informants are, and the negotiated dimension of this movement. This has led us to investigate the modes of mediation, translation, and the possibilities of using a European source to apprehend African interests, perspectives, and knowledge; with a view to understanding these subjects not as passive informants, but as active agents who negotiate their forms of engagement and imprint their mark upon the production of scientific knowledge.