Mountains of the Moon: A Re-inscription of the Colonial Master Narrative If Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were alive in 1989 to see the release of Bob Rafelson’s Mountains of the Moon, what would their response to the film be? Would they agree with the way Rafelson’s film depicts their remarkable journey into Africa to find the source of the Nile River? Would they agree with the way the film dramatizes their relationship with each other? The answers to these questions would help a
The German colonist, supported the Tutsi’s form of government and contributed to the growing tensions and discontent felt by the Hutus. John Hanning Speke, a British army officer, created the “Hamitic Theory”. This theory suggests that the Tutsis were more European than the Hutus because of their physical characteristics. The Hamitic Theory gave the Tutsis a feeling of superiority and power over
into the new territory was via the Buganda tribe, whom they were later to use as their colonial agents as British rule was extended. Those who 'discovered' Ugandan and the source of the Nile which the first explorers were seeking - men such as Speke and Stanley - and the soldiers and administrators who came after them undoubtedly believed in the superiority of European culture in a way which we today would consider unacceptably racist. Although they were impressed by the sophistication of Bugandan