Global Cinnamon: Intercolonialism and the Circulation of Knowledge in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Dissertationsprojekt von Daniel Costa
Betreuerin: Prof. Dr. Veronika Settele
Daniel Costa’s PhD project is a global history project bringing together sources in several languages related to cinnamon in the context of the spice trade in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans in the 18th and 19th centuries. This period coincided with the Enlightenment, a concept marked by polycentrism and a fascination for the East, in a context where its exclusively European identity has gradually expanded in light of much broader underpinnings. The project explores the transimperial connections fuelled by the intercolonial connections inherent in the spread of the spice. This challenges a context often marked by an underlying focus on connections between the colonies and metropoles, rather than between the colonies. Daniel Costa therefore takes his MA dissertation (published by the journal of the Historical Association) a step further, delving into the circulation of botanical knowledge related to the commercial routes forged by the rivalry and collaboration which shaped the stances inherent in imperial networks. In doing so, it also sheds light on underrepresented contributors of this circulation such as indigenous knowledge and female agents.