Podcast Summary: Le Cours de l'histoire

Episode: En Afrique, comme ailleurs, les Européens ne sont pas les premiers explorateurs
Date: January 30, 2026
Host: France Culture

Overview

This episode challenges the Eurocentric narrative that casts Europeans as the primary or original explorers of the world. It explores the vibrant traditions of knowledge production, travel writing, and geographic exploration that existed across Africa and other regions long before and alongside European endeavors. The host highlights how the European invention of the “explorer” as a scientific figure led to marginalizing non-European intellectual practices and travel accounts, proposing a more pluralistic understanding of history and discovery.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Myth of European “Discovery”

• Rejecting European Exceptionalism
  • The episode starts by underlining that, aside from their own lack of knowledge about certain regions, Europeans have "discovered" nothing—no land was truly unknown before their arrival. [00:00]
    • “A part leurs propres méconnaissances de certaines régions du monde, les Européens n'ont rien découvert. Aucun espace terrestre n'était inconnu avant leur regard.”
      (Host, 00:00)
  • All around the globe, people were producing knowledge about their own territories and beyond, employing diverse methods—oral, written, graphical.

2. Non-European Explorers and Knowledge Production

• Dorougou: The First Sahélian in London

  • In 1856, Dorougou, a traveler from the Sahel, visited and described London, publishing his observations in Hausa in 1885.
    • He wrote ethnographic details about social rituals, public customs, and everyday utensils—documenting London from a distinct, outsider’s perspective.
    • The episode questions whether anyone would claim Dorougou "discovered" London, exposing the double standard inherent in the "discovery" narrative.
    • “Nous viendrait-il à l'idée de dire qu'il a découvert Londres ou qu'il en a été le premier explorateur?... Mais étonnamment, on dit encore parfois que l'explorateur français René Caillé a découvert ou exploré Tombouctou, au Mali aujourd'hui, alors que cette ville avait fait avant lui l'objet de nombreuses descriptions savantes en langue arabe...”
      (Host, ~01:30)

• Timbuktu: Already Known and Documented

  • The example of René Caillé is given. Despite local and Arabic scholarly documentation of Timbuktu’s riches and culture centuries prior, European narratives continue to attribute its “discovery” to Caillé.

3. Intellectual Traditions Outside Europe

• Varieties of Travel Writing
  • Many cultures had their own sophisticated genres of travel writing:
    • The Rihla in the Arab-Muslim world (medieval to modern periods).
    • The Yuchi and Djichi genres in Imperial China.
  • Contrary to the European view, the production of knowledge about geography and other lands was a genuinely global phenomenon.

4. The European "Explorer": A 19th Century Invention

• The Scientific Framing of Exploration

  • The modern figure of the explorer, framed as scientific due to cumulative, institutionalized knowledge-building, was largely constructed in 18th and 19th century Europe.
    • “...se construit à ce moment l'idée que les pratiques européennes seraient distinctes, parce que fondées elles sur la science, c'est-à-dire organisées selon un processus cumulatif et s'appuyant sur des modèles liés à la construction de la géographie comme discipline universitaire.”
      (Host, ~03:30)
  • This self-distinction marginalized non-Western practices, excluding them from the category of science.

• The “Racial Division of Intellectual Labor”

  • White European travelers became “discoverers” and “scientists,” while others were relegated to the role of “informants,” their knowledge undervalued.
    • “Se produit alors une sorte de division raciale du travail intellectuel. Les voyageurs blancs découvrent, explorent, produisent des savoirs. Les autres sont au mieux des informateurs.”
      (Host, ~04:10)

5. Marginalized Non-European Knowledge

• Examples of Overlooked African Scholars

  • el-Haji Ahmed el-Fellati (1892): A renowned Fulani scholar, produced Arabic descriptions of journeys from Kano to Mecca, considered an authority in his community but only seen as an “informant” by French officials.
  • European governments occasionally commissioned non-European travelers (e.g., Abbé David Boilat, Rabbin Mardoché Abisserour, Mohamed Ibn Omar Al-Tounsi) for dangerous journeys. However, their reports were not treated as standalone scientific work.

• Erasure and Rediscovery

  • The creation of the European explorer figure effaced the history and richness of travel and scholarly practices that had existed worldwide.
  • Today, reexamining African explorers' and scholars' writings offers new perspectives and can enrich our collective historical account.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Aucun espace terrestre n'était inconnu avant leur regard.” (Host, 00:04)
• “Nous viendrait-il à l'idée de dire qu'il a découvert Londres...” (Host, 01:30)
• “...la construction de la figure de l’explorateur en Europe a contribué à effacer la richesse des pratiques de voyage et de production savantes qui existaient à la même époque dans de nombreuses régions du monde.” (Host, 07:45)

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–01:00 – Introduction: Debunking myths of European “discovery”
• 01:00–02:50 – The story of Dorougou and “discovering” London
• 02:50–04:15 – Timbuktu: Local and Arabic traditions vs. European narratives
• 04:15–05:30 – The invention of the scientific European explorer
• 05:30–07:00 – The racialized division of intellectual labor and overlooked African knowledge
• 07:00–08:00 – Examples of non-European travelers and the erasure of global exploration traditions

Conclusion

With a firm, reflective tone, the episode invites listeners to reconsider the historically dominant paradigm of European explorers and acknowledge the plurality of global knowledge traditions. The host calls for integrating overlooked African and non-European intellectual contributions, using them to "enrich our narratives of past centuries."