Introduction

Critics have tried to redress the archival imbalance by highlighting the practical realities of expeditionary data-gathering practices and the impact of these practices on British expeditionary knowledge production. However, publishers exerted their greatest influence in the production of expeditionary literature, especially popular narratives. Non-western influences on expeditionary discourse production have received less critical attention than metropolitan influences. Nascent critical attention to the role of non-western locations and cultural forces in shaping material and discursive expeditionary practices complements previous biographical research on intermediaries. Fieldwork of Empire argues that the impact of such non-western forces and agencies on expeditionary discourse production and literature was considerable and that it took a variety of forms. The analysis, roughly speaking, covers the Victorian era, but focuses on the period before the advent of “new imperialism” and examines British expeditionary literature through specific case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.