The Spy Who Fooled Me: Transvestism, Espionage, and the Hidden Violence of Scientific Exploration in the Sahara

On his famous voyage to Timbuktu 1827-1828, lone French explorer René Caillié disguised himself as a “Muslim traveler” in burnous, sandals, and prayer beads, pretending to pore over a Qur’an as he secretly sketched cities. Caillié inspired hundreds of would-be French explorers who also used “native drag” to (attempt to) “pass” as North African natives and map the Sahara, survey for a trans-Saharan railroad, and collect scientific samples, vying for the great prizes of the Société de Géographie. “Natives”--Algerian spahis, Moroccan religious leaders, and Senegalese soldiers—also led secret geographical explorations for France under assumed identities. Yet the French were themselves infiltrated; their “loyal native guides” often included anticolonial African spies who led the French to disaster. In this paper, I argue this race “travestissement” reflects unstable territorial boundaries and uncertain personal identities in North Africa at a time of invasion and eroding sovereignties. Dr. Amster is the Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine and jointly appointed to the Departments of Family Medicine and Religious Studies. She is an expert in the history of medicine in the West, the Islamic world, and French empire. An interdisciplinary historian and qualitative health researcher in global health, she brings together history with health and religious studies. Areas of interest: history of public health, Islam and North Africa, France and French empire, maternal and infant health, global primary care, Islamic studies, religion and nonwestern healing systems, colonialism and postcolonial theory, and women's histories and gender. Current research projects include: The Morocco-Canada Network in Maternal and Infant Health (CIHR funding), the histories of public health, midwifery, antiracism and critical race theory in medical education, a SSHRC-funded book project on drag and transvestism in North Africa, Sufism, Sufi saints and healing in Morocco, and graphic medicine. Also medical humanities, the material and visual cultures of religion (Judeo-Islamic), and women's histories.