Discovery

by Jade Haakonsen

Discovery is not a new term, despite its new uses and associations in both academic and colloquial settings. For each individual, discovery signifies a personal meaning, whether that is the journey of self-discovery or being discovered by others. In everyday use, the word signals exploring something new, the beauty of self-growth, or a moment of epiphany. However, discovery’s scholarly genealogy reveals the ways individuals are subjugated to imbricated rubrics of power and domination, depending on which side of discovery they land on.

Through tracking the historical context of discovery within the Age of Exploration, Doctrine of Discovery, and modern law and psychology texts, this paper aims to present various perspectives and foundations of the word, analyze its earliest meaning, track its evolution, and consider its social significance. It also will build upon these preconceived notions and historical trends to raise questions about who has the rights to discovery, what is the target of discovery, and what is the future of discovery.

Linguistics and Semantics of Discovery

The word “discovery” is a noun which categorizes the word within the part of speech as a person, place, or thing. While discovery refers to an entity, a process, or a concept, it is interesting how its part of speech makes it inherently related to “people” and “places.” This creates a distinguishable avenue for which discovery can be examined. It begs the question of whether discovery makes the person, place, or thing equivalent entities, as they become conflated in the doctrine and notion of discovery over time.

The Oxford English Dictionary provides multiple definitions of “discovery” and derivative words such as “discover,” “rediscover,” “self-discovery,” etc.1 The linguistic breakdown of the word is intriguing with the morphemes “dis” and “cover.” The prefix “dis” means “apart” or “separate” when put at the beginning of a word, as it is commonly used in other words like “disease” (being separated from ease and health), “disqualified” (being separated from qualifications), and “ disadvantage” (being separated from benefits). The second part of discovery is “cover” which means to put something on top or in front of, with the intention of protecting or hiding it. This highlights an internal contradiction within the word “discovery” as it is both about being separated and concealing something. Therefore, “dis” and “cover” combine to mean the opposite of blocking and hiding: finding and unraveling.

In addition, the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition 2c of “discovery” reads as “disclosure of relevant facts or documents by a party to an action, typically as compelled by another party.” 2c outlines the political factors surrounding discovery, requiring legal documents and settlement negotiations. The references to “documents by a party” and “compelled by another party” imply outsiders versus insiders. An outgroup emerges when something is discovered, with the discoverer under the impression that they now own or rule whatever they have discovered. The reconciliation between parties also makes a problematic assumption that one group can claim to find something over another through written claims and argumentation. Does discovery require documentation and proof? What are the implications of ensuring each discovery is recorded, and who makes the final call? These queries are lingering thoughts that aim to be uncovered.

Another definition is simply “exploration,” “revelation,” and “becoming aware of something for the first time.” This definition alludes to the historical journeys and voyages of the Age of Exploration that sparked missions of discovery and conquest. The key words in this denotation is “first time,” which signifies that the term “discovery” can be misapplied when the entity being discovered is not actually being found for the first time.

This idea is expanded upon in scholar Joseph Mussulman of Discover Lewis & Clark, where it begins the conversation of who decides when something is found “for the first time.” Mussleman’s definition of discovery contributes to the etymology of the word from the 16th century, especially with the French translation decouvrir.2 He tracks the keyword discovery's definition throughout the texts of Shakespeare, Milton, and the Old Testament. A profound point that this source makes is that “discover differs from invent.” Thus, discovery is not the same thing as originality and creation; rather it is finding something that already exists, already has its own origin, and has already emerged.

Furthermore, the Online Etymology Dictionary historicizes the word with a negative connotation, “with a sense of betrayal or malicious exposure.” 3 Diving into its use in Middle English, it means in its literal sense “to remove.” This is a fascinating distinction of the word that dates back to even Old English standards. By the 1550s, it morphed into the process of obtaining “the first knowledge or sight of what was before not known.”4 With these notions of discovery, it is possible to infer how the keyword is innately linked to removal, settlement, and colonization. To discover something is not merely to find it but also to engage in the process of actively overcoming and removing it. The evolution of the word highlights the original meaning of discovery as an actionable step involving the eviction of another entity. Perhaps, once something becomes discovered, something else must be moved out to make room for what is taking its place.

Historical Depictions of Discovery

As a historical concept, discovery is linked to the Doctrine of Discovery and legal practices involving colonialism and resistance. Federal Indian Law Scholar Robert J. Miller illustrates how the American colonies used the Doctrine of Discovery against the Indian nations from 1606 in Native America, Discovered and Conquered. The Doctrine of Discovery is the principle within public international law that when a nation “discovers” land, it directly acquires rights on that land. Discovery thus evolved into a legal discourse to claim the land of the Indigenous people they “discovered.” At this turning point, discovery became indistinguishable from conquest and expansion. Miller outlines ten elements that comprise the Doctrine of Discovery in the Indian Law case Johnson v. McIntosh (1823). One legal dimension of the doctrine is terra nullius, which translates to a land that is null, void, and empty. This became a justification for discovery claims when lands were not possessed or occupied by a person or nation – or “they were occupied but were not being used in a fashion that European legal and property systems approved.”5 Discovery was liberally applied to scenarios, even considering lands that were owned, occupied, and being used by Indigenous peoples as “vacant” because the use did not align with Euro-American laws and cultural mores.

Moreover, discovery has long been a search for understanding mysteries and exoticism. This is present in the Western conception of the Orient and Orientalism in relation to Southwest Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Edward Said explains that “the geographical vagueness of ‘the Orient’ works to conflate a vast and diverse array of landscapes, peoples and cultures into a single, unchanging unit, [...] letting racist or romanticised stereotypes create a worldview that justifies Western colonialism and imperialism.6 Said highlights the preconceived notions and stereotypical biases that perpetuate views of Middle Eastern people as inferior, subservient, and in need of saving. Therefore, the colonialist attitude of Orientalism has allowed settlers to justify forms of discovery and satisfy their curiosity of the unknown.

The Psychosocial Impact and Cultural Motivations for Discovery

Discovery is not a one-sided or universal act but rather an experience unique to each encounter, with different driving factors. American historian Peter Mancall describes that “to speak of ‘discovery’ as a single act is to miss the point; each group involved in the encounter – each European nation, each American nation – drew its own conclusions about the nature of the other.”7 Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries of global exploration, the travel accounts of Spain, France, Italy, England, China, and North Africa reveal discovery as a cultural, psychological, and personal experience. Mancall articulates that each European nation and each American nation drew its own conclusions and the encounter was felt by both sides who tried to understand the other’s perspective. Here, discovery is framed as making a “direct, tangible connection” to something. Therefore, it was not so much motivated by learning about the Western Hemisphere but more about possessing it for others.

The origin of the Doctrine in the 15th century by Spain, Portugal, England, and the Church raises another motivation for discovery as an act of religious devotion. Non-Christian peoples were not given “the same rights to land, sovereignty, and self-determination as Christians.”8 This became in conversation with the goals of civilization and Christianization. The use of evangelism to drive discovery underscores the hypocrisy inherent in colonial exploration, especially when considering its impact. Was discovery truly meant to spread the Church around the world? Did discovery accomplish its religious mission? The imposition of Catholicism and Christianity on individuals through Spanish and other European exploration has left its mark as a mechanism “to exercise paternalism and guardianship powers over them.”9 Discovery became more than merely legal claims and physical possession; it was also an intangible domination that led to a cultural and spiritual transformation.

Creative disciplines have tried to psychologically and philosophically express the process and responsibility that comes with discovery. Poet Florence Ripley Mastin wrote “Discovery” (2020), lamenting the mental and physical process of natural discoveries. The speaker of the poem recounts walking through a group of dark trees and lying in the grass, proclaiming, “‘How sweet is peace!’ My serene heart said.”10 Beginning with an exclamation of joy, discovery appears to be a beautiful concept of freshness and delight. However, it shifts “then, suddenly, in a curve of the road” finding tulips, “a swift flame leapt in my heart; I burned with passion; I was tainted with cruelty.” Then, the speaker reflects at the end that the “tulips have found me out.”11 Discovery is now a point of regret and even remorse, changing drastically from the initial feeling. Mastin employs imagery of the natural scenery, vegetation, and flowers that overcome the speaker, who “burned with passion” and the need to “slash” and “tear” the silence and “sober green” by the end of the piece. Mastin portrays the shifting of desires in humanity from preservation of life to cruelty. Thus, one may not necessarily seek to discover something, but exposure changes one’s mind and ultimately influences one to discover.

Back to documentations of discovery, descriptions from Columbian texts express a gender bias and prejudiced undertone as another motivating factor for discovery. Margarita Zamora’s essay on cultural critique uncovers the initial physical descriptions of Native Americans in Columbian texts of discovery. Such texts recorded the land as “inhabited by a people considered very fierce throughout these islands, and they eat human flesh” but “are no more different than the others except that they wear their hair long like women...”12 The discovery documents are a primary source of the inherent gendering, observational biases, and feminization of “the other” in the mind of the colonizer. Here, discovery becomes linked to visions of inferiority versus superiority. In addition, Columbian ideology bifurcates the masculine term Spaniard through a “rhetorical feminization” of the term Indian. The Indian was perceived to be fierce yet lacking the virility of a man. It introduces a gender-based motivation for the keyword “discovery,” while also uncovering that the European exploration of the U.S. was susceptible to heteronormative codes and beliefs.

A New Connotation of Discovery

Diverging from the negative aspects of discovery that are skewed towards colonialism and exploitation, the beauties of intellectual growth and cultural discovery offer a new hope for discovery. There are many instances where discovery has positively impacted communities through scientific advancements, Indigenous cultural exchange, and personal growth through self-discovery. Historian Frederick Hoxie examines the discoveries that Indigenous people made leading up to the early 1900s in literature, anthropology, art, religion, and politics. In Native journeys of discovery, “those who were once themselves the objects of exploration have challenged and replaced the nineteenth-century notion that the discovery of Native Americans could be contained,” which led “us all away from the self-serving discoveries described in our textbooks and guided us instead toward a new conception of what it means to discover the peoples and institutions of this land.”13 They saw the avenues open for an “Indian discovery of non-Indian America.” Discovery thus presented Indians with interests and public positions to “launch their own voyages of exploration. Those voyages, in turn, would help both tribal communities and the larger public define a path leading.”14

Indigenous journeys of self-expression help in the process of restoring and healing the past. When Indigenous communities are engaged in creation, the process of discovery is reframed with an optimism and a potential for new contributions. Ojibwe writer David Treuer notes “the presumed task of the Native writer to represent the ‘truth’ of their community” and “if we insist on asking our writers and demanding of our prose to give us stories that represent instead of create, we ignore the gifts our cultures and languages have left us and limit ourselves in what our art can potentially offer.”15 The movement from discovery as a process of colonization and exploitation can be transformed and reenvisioned as a form of creation and regeneration. It is a mending of the past and a vision for the future. The ability to create and carve out a place for Indigenous journeys and findings does more than representation; it propels Native communities towards growth. To continue, Indigenous discoveries are be achieved through shifting mindsets and roles. Linda Tuhiwai Smith breaks down the current methodologies of research practices and calls for a reformed alternative to Western paradigms of thought and analysis. She questions the perspective in research and academic storytelling, through classifying it as “research through imperial eyes.” As a Māori woman, Smith challenges the collectivising terms “indigenous” and “post-colonialism” and advocates for the shift of “Māori as the researched” to “Māori as the researcher.”16 Ultimately, notions of discovery in the Indigenous context are being thoughtfully reworked, reiterated, and rearticulated in a positive light.

Conclusion

Discovery culminates into a multifaceted term that can be overlooked in both its everyday use and holistic importance. Embarking on the historical and psychosocial contexts within the Age of Exploration, Doctrine of Discovery, international law, anthropological research, poetry, scholarly accounts, and critiques of “otherness,” discovery has transformed from being the “act of removing,” to merely “finding,” and now “revising.” Whether discovery is commendable or detestable depends on the intentions, means, and effects. While it sounds like an ending, discovery is rather the beginning of a process linked to both positive and negative connotations of exploration. Scholars suggest this to be a politically charged term inextricably linked to power dynamics and histories of colonialism. On top of various cultural, religious, and self-seeking factors, Discovery curates an “otherness” – a difference between before and after.

All in all, Discovery encapsulates a historical journey and evolution of meanings from a process tainted by colonialism and exploitation to an experience of the unknown to a blissful renewing of the self. Today, contemporary issues such as climate change, Indigenous rights, and globalization reshape all understanding of discovery and its societal implications. By examining the intersection of historical perspectives with contemporary challenges, discovery attempts to comprehensively define humanity’s aspirations, pursuits, outcomes. Looking forward, discovery can be a breakthrough for communities that have been the subject of such doctrines, ever-changing and evolving into an exercise of intellectual and visual sovereignty for good. It thus holds an enduring relevance in the modern world, and it is up to the individual to discover it.

Notes

1 “Discovery, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/6746833856. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

2 Mussulman, Joseph A. “Defining ‘Discover.’” Discover Lewis & Clark, The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 20 Feb. 2022, lewis-clark.org/sciences/age-of-enlightenment/defining-discover/#:~:text=Etymology%3A%20Middle%20English% 2C%20from%20Middle,b%3A%20FIND%20OUT%20.%20.%20. February 21, 2024

3 “Discovery (n.).” Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, www.etymonline.com/word/discovery#:~:text=1300%2C%20discoveren%2C%20%22divulge%2C,to%20cover%20 up%2C%20cover%20over%2C. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
4 “Discovery (n.).” Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, www.etymonline.com/word/discovery#:~:text=1300%2C%20discoveren%2C%20%22divulge%2C,to%20cover%20 up%2C%20cover%20over%2C. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

5 Miller, Robert J. “The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism.” The Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture, & Resistance, vol. 5, 2019, pp. 35–42. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48671863. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

6 Said, Edward W. Orientalism, Random House, Oct. 1979, monoskop.org/images/4/4e/Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979.pdf.

7 Mancall, Peter C. “The Age of Discovery.” Reviews in American History, vol. 26, no. 1, 1998, pp. 26–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30030873. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

8 Miller, Robert J. “The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism.” The Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture, & Resistance, vol. 5, 2019, pp. 35–42. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48671863. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

9 Miller, Robert J. “The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism.” The Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture, & Resistance, vol. 5, 2019, pp. 35–42. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48671863. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

10 Mastin, Florence Ripley. “Discovery.” Poets.Org, Academy of American Poets, 15 Sept. 2020, poets.org/poem/discovery. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

11 Mastin, Florence Ripley. “Discovery.” Poets.Org, Academy of American Poets, 15 Sept. 2020, poets.org/poem/discovery. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

12 Zamora, Margarita. “Abreast of Columbus: Gender and Discovery.” Cultural Critique, no. 17, 1990, pp. 127–49. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1354142. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

13 Hoxie, Frederick E. “Exploring a Cultural Borderland: Native American Journeys of Discovery in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Journal of American History, vol. 79, no. 3, 1992, pp. 969–95. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2080795. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

14 Hoxie, Frederick E. “Exploring a Cultural Borderland: Native American Journeys of Discovery in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Journal of American History, vol. 79, no. 3, 1992, pp. 969–95. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2080795. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

15 Raheja, Michelle, et al. “Native Studies Keywords.” Project MUSE, University of Arizona Press, 2015, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39810).

16 Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books Ltd, 1999. https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/ linda-tuhiwai-smith-decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.pdf.

Works Cited

“Discovery (n.).” Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, www.etymonline.com/word/discovery#:~:text=1300%2C%20discoveren%2C%20%22divulge%2C,to%20cover%20u

p%2C%20cover%20over%2C. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

“Discovery, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/6746833856. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
Hoxie, Frederick E. “Exploring a Cultural Borderland: Native American Journeys of Discovery in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Journal of American History, vol. 79, no. 3, 1992, pp. 969–95. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2080795. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

Mancall, Peter C. “The Age of Discovery.” Reviews in American History, vol. 26, no. 1, 1998, pp. 26–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30030873. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

Mastin, Florence Ripley. “Discovery.” Poets.Org, Academy of American Poets, 15 Sept. 2020, poets.org/poem/discovery. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

Miller, Robert J. “The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism.” The Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture, & Resistance, vol. 5, 2019, pp. 35–42. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48671863. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Mussulman, Joseph A. “Defining ‘Discover.’” Discover Lewis & Clark, The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 20 Feb. 2022, lewis-clark.org/sciences/age-of-enlightenment /defining-discover/#:~:text=Etymology%3A%20Middle%20English%2C%20from%20M iddle,b%3A%20FIND%20OUT%20.%20.%20. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Raheja, Michelle, et al. “Native Studies Keywords.” Project MUSE, University of Arizona Press, 2015, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39810). Accessed 1 March 2024.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism, Random House, Oct. 1979, monoskop.org/images/4/4e/Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979.pdf. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books Ltd, 1999. https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/ linda-tuhiwai-smith-decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.pdf.

Zamora, Margarita. “Abreast of Columbus: Gender and Discovery.” Cultural Critique, no. 17, 1990, pp. 127–49. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1354142. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.