Summary: | Abstract
Curiosity has helped people discover vast areas of this world, wild at the beginning, tamed, populated and
helpful afterwards, when fairly dealt with. Literature mirrors plenty of negative, painful examples of the
process of “exploring” Africa along the centuries, much of it being skilfully revealed in J. Reader’s Biography of
Africa. The current paper argues that in spite of the fact that some writers have drawn the audience’s attention
to the unfairness of such intrusions, as Joseph Conrad did with his novella Heart of Darkness, the situation has
worsened dramatically, affecting its people and its environment. My focus is on Tim Butcher’s Blood River, a
colorful and vibrant account of what life is like nowadays in the same place on the African map where Mother
Nature has challenged the humans ever since H.M. Stanley, well known explorer and journalist, made
important discoveries in Africa, then started to establish the first trading stations in the Congo. All through the
book, Butcher keeps looking for an answer which is still bothering him at the end of the journey, as well as
many other people who are worried for the Congo. Rodney is one of the African scholars who attempt a
plausible answer.
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