Den eksotiske patient

Anatomisk og fysiologisk diagnostik af eksotiske folk (1785-1788)

Abstract

In 1785-1788 a scientific expedition led by Galaup de Lapérouse leaves Brest harbour with one specific intention: the study of exotic communities. Among the staff of naturalists was the ship's doctor Claude-Nicolas Rollin whose scientific job was to investigate individuals of different races. This article examines the nature of the criteria requested in the anthropological and medical instructions given to Rollin. By arguing that the instructions direct the traveller's construction of an alleged identity of the Other through obsolete assumptions and quantitative and qualitative methods, such as physiological and anatomical measurements, nosological and sexual surveys, I want to highlight the scientific reduction of the Other's Otherness to mere differences. As an exotic individual and as a patient the Other plays and ideosyncratic role, that is both distinct and queer.