Deceiving, Irony and Mimicry in Reports on Expeditions to Equatorial Africa by P. Savorgnan de Brazza

P. Savorgnan de Brazza, who at the end of the 19th century joined to the French colonial possessions vast territories in Equatorial Africa,.ompared in his the report on the expedition of 1879-1882 two ways of conquering new territories: the approach of H. M. Stanley, based on the direct and frank use of violence, was opposed to the practice of de Brazza himself, when the white man comes to Africans as a friend. The article explores the role of deceiving, irony, and mimicry for the creation and functioning of colonial power in the late nineteenth century, as well as the broader significance of these cultural practices for the comprehension of the human individuality, freedom, openness, empathy, violence, and possibilities of resisting it. The main example is the history of the conclusion of the treaty between de Brazza (on behalf of the French Republic) and King Makoko, who ruled the area on both banks of the Congo in the modern Brazzaville area on September 10, 1880.