Roger Casement in the Belgian Congo: Translation, Travel Writing and Fiction

Abstract

The extraordinary and at the same time controversial life of the Irish revolutionary Roger David Casement (1864-1916) who, after a long and
distinguished career as a British consul in Africa and South America, turned into an Irish revolutionary, remains source of inspiration for academic research as well as for the creation of fictional texts. The aim of this project is to explore the importance of testimonial writing, such as that of Roger Casement’s consular Congo Report, in revealing the trauma of colonial policy related to the rubber boom, and its representations in fiction. Furthermore, I undertake the task of translating into Portuguese Roger Casement’s personal 1903 Diary and his official Report on the rubber economy in the Congo. These documents were organized in The Eyes of Another Race: Roger Casement’s Congo Report and 1903 Diary (2004), edited by the Irish anthropologist SeamasO’Siochain.