ABSTRACT

This paper addresses theoretical and practical questions posed by an oral history project with researchers who did fieldwork in the Portuguese colonies as part of scientific expeditions for the Overseas Research Board (1951–1974) in the post-war period. I discuss what historians of science and late imperialism can draw from oral history as a methodology, as it is not a form of research used with any regularity in the history of science generally. I argue that oral history can be used as an alternative to ethnographic work, allowing researchers to pay close attention to scientific practices, processes of local knowledge production, and the racial division of labor that occurred – in my case specifically – in the colonial setting. Apart from that, the interviews illuminate the Portuguese field scientists’ shared identity in the colonies and their multi-layered interactions and political, social, and cultural negotiations; these broaden our knowledge and understanding of Portuguese field science in the colonial context, presenting a more complex view that does not reinforce either celebratory views of Portuguese colonial science or simplistic views of science in the service of Empire.

摘要

本文讨论了口述历史项目与战后时期在海外研究委员会（1951-1974）进行的科学考察的一部分在葡萄牙殖民地进行过实地考察的研究人员提出的理论和实践问题。我将讨论科学史和晚期帝国主义的历史学家可以从口述历史中汲取什么作为方法论，因为这不是科学史上普遍使用的一种研究形式。我认为，口述历史可以用作人种学工作的替代方法，使研究人员可以密切注意在殖民地环境中发生的科学实践，本地知识生产过程以及种族分工。除此之外，访谈揭示了葡萄牙野外科学家在殖民地的共同身份，以及他们之间的多层互动以及政治，社会和文化谈判。这些拓宽了我们在殖民地背景下对葡萄牙田野科学的知识和理解，提出了一种更为复杂的观点，既没有加强对葡萄牙殖民地科学的庆祝性观点，也没有加强为帝国服务的简单化科学观点。