Tussen kolonialisme en postkolonialisme: Thomas Arboussets Excursion missionnaire dans les Montagnes bleues

This article presents a postcolonial analysis of Thomas Arbousset’s Excursion missionnaire dans les Montagnes bleues. In his travelogue, Arbousset describes his experiences with King Moshoeshoe and the Basotho people, culture and country. Because Arbousset was not just a missionary, but also an explorer, natural historian and ethnographer, his relations to the “O/other” are strikingly diversified. In four different sections corresponding to Arbousset’s pursuits, these relations are critically analysed by making use of recent postcolonial insights. Before doing so, however, an introduction and a terminological reflection will be provided. The outcome of the article will be that, although Arbousset is not able to free himself from colonial views entirely, he adopts an unusually respectful attitude towards the Basotho.