Haruna and Mo,

 

Thanks for your kind comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the review.

 

Baba> Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:02:20 -0400> From: [log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Aime Cesaire’s Discourse on Colonialism - typo corr...> To: [log in to unmask]> > > Beautifully synthsised Galleh. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the > Commonwealth Development Corporation and Carnegie minerals for they have Yahya to > deal with. Sometimes you just can't help but love Yahya. His ignorance and his > uncouth tendencies do have matching odious value. What he needs is the > assistance and support of the entire Gambian citizenry. Not forced or coerced, but > earned.> > Anyway thanx Galleh.> Haruna.> > In a message dated 4/20/2008 6:16:14 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, > [log in to unmask] writes:> > Aime Cesaire's passing is indeed a sad event for Africans, Africanists, and > peoples of African descent everywhere. But Cesaire did his part in advancing > he production of knowlegde not only about Africa, but also about the world of > theory and academia in general. Below is a review of his classic treatise on > colonialism. May his soul rest in perfect peace.> > Baba> > Aime Cesaire’s Discourse on Colonialism> A Review> > By Baba Galleh Jallow> > Aime Cesaire begins his Discourse on Colonialism with a severe indictment of > Western civilization. “A civilization that proves incapable of solving the > problems it creates,” he writes, “is a decadent civilization. A civilization > that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken > civilization. A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is > a dying civilization.” Western civilization, he suggests, is guilty of all > three ‘crimes’ and is therefore a victim of the attendant consequences of > such crimes.> > Using an essentially Marxist theoretical framework of analysis, Cesaire > proceeds to suggest that Western civilization has been shaped by “two centuries > of bourgeois rule” and is incapable of solving two major problems to which it > has given rise: “the problem of the proletariat and the colonial problem; > that Europe is unable to justify itself either before the bar of reason or > before the bar of conscience; and that, increasingly, it takes refuge in a > hypocrisy which is all the more odious because it is less and less likely to deceive”> (p. 31). The power of the colonized peoples in the face of colonial > oppression and repression in the colonies, Cesaire suggests, lies in the fact that > they know that Europe is lying and therefore weak. Colonialism, for Cesaire, > is nothing more or less than “a collective hypocrisy that cleverly > misrepresents problems, the better to legitimize the hateful solutions provided for them”> (p. 32).> > Colonialism’s purported civilizing mission, Cesaire argues, is the biggest > lie of Western civilization. By no stretch of the imagination is colonialism > out to do any good. It is “neither evangelization, nor a philanthropic > enterprise, nor a desire to push back the frontiers of ignorance, disease and > tyranny, nor a project undertaken for the greater glory of God, nor an attempt to > extend the rule of law” (ibid). It is purely and simply designed to explore, > to dominate, to exploit, by trickery and force, the lands, goods and persons > of other peoples, pushed on by the shadow of a civilization that, “at a > certain point in its history, finds itself obliged, for internal reasons, to extend > to a world scale the competition of its antagonistic economies” (ibid.) The > hypocrisy inherent in colonialism, Cesaire points out, is actually of recent > origin because the earliest European explorers never claimed that the people > they encountered in their voyages of discovery were without civilization. > Indeed, such early explorers as Cortez, Pizzaro, Cuzco and Marco Polo, among > many others, never claimed that they were harbingers of a superior order, nor > did they advocate the killing and plundering of the peoples they “discovered” > far away from the shores of Europe. The chief culprit in the hypocrisy of > colonialism, Cesaire argues, “is Christian pedantry, which laid down the > dishonest equations Christianity = civilization, paganism = savagery, from which > there could not but ensue abominable colonialist and racist consequences whose > victims were to be the Indians, the Yellow peoples, and the Negroes” (p. 33).> > For civilizations, Cesaire submits, “exchange is oxygen.” But while Europe > was the great “locus of ideas, the receptacle of philosophies, the meeting > place of all sentiments” and therefore “the best center for the redistribution > of energy”, the Western claim that colonialism placed civilizations in > contact was of dubious veracity. Even if it did bring civilizations into contact, > Cesaire argues, it certainly was not the best form of contact. Because the > contact of civilizations colonialism brought about was based on exploitation > and a plethora of unjust relations of power, Cesaire suggests, it is devoid of > “a single human value” (ibid. 34).> > Colonialism, Cesaire argues, decivilizes, dehumanizes, brutalizes and > degrades the colonizer. Anytime colonialism commits a crime against the humanity of > the colonized, there is a corresponding corrosion and degrading of the > colonizer’s humanity and civilization. He puts it eloquently: “ . . . each time a > head is cut off or an eye put out in Vietnam and in France they accept the > fact, each time a little girl is raped . . . each time a Madagascan is > tortured and in France they accept the fact, civilization acquires another dead > weight, a universal regression takes place, a gangrene sets in, a center of > infection begins to spread . . .” a poison “is distilled into the veins of Europe > and slowly but surely, the continent proceeds toward savagery” (pp. 35-36). > This dehumanizing effect of violence on the oppressor is also examined by > Albert Memmi in The Colonizer and the Colonized, and by Frantz Fanon in all his > works, particularly in The Wretched of the Earth and A Dying Colonialism.> > At this point in his analysis, Cesaire makes a startling but very authentic > claim. When Nazi Germany unleashed its war machine on the Jews and other > nations of Europe, the colonial powers reacted with horror and indignation. > Until that time, Cesaire suggests, the peoples of Western Europe were accomplices > to horrendous crimes comparable to the crimes of the German Nazis and > Italian Fascists. But before then, they did not call it Nazism or Fascism. Indeed, > they assumed that the “things” on whom the brutal horrors of colonialism > were being inflicted in Madagascar and elsewhere were really not people, not > human beings. In a sense, Cesaire suggests, Nazism has its roots in the culture > of colonialism and before the people of Europe were the victims of the daily > barbarism of Nazism, “they were its accomplices; . . . they tolerated that > Nazism before it was inflicted on them, . . . they absolved it, shut their eyes > to it, legitimized it, because, until then, it had been applied only to > non-European peoples. . .” (p. 36). So for the Western Christian bourgeoisie to > rail against Hitler, Cesaire argues, smacks of inconsistency because every > Christian Bourgeois has a Hitler inside himself and was indignant at Hitler’s > cruelty not because it was directed at humanity, but because it was directed at > “White” humanity.> > For far too long, Cesaire argues, Europe’s pseudo-humanism had diminished > the rights of man. Europe is only concerned with the rights of man in relation > to the White man, not Coolies and Niggers. So when Europe talks about > universal human rights, its concept of rights is “narrow and fragmentary, incomplete > and biased and, all things considered, sordidly racist” (p. 37). The fact, > according to Cesaire, is that capitalist society “is incapable of establishing > a concept of the rights of all men, just as it has proved incapable of > establishing a system of individual ethics.” Behind the blind alley that is > Europe, he argues, “there is Hitler.” And behind capitalism, formal humanism and > philosophic renunciation, “there is Hitler.” One of Hitler’s statements, > Cesaire points out, sounds very much like “civilized” Europe’s statements > about its colonies. Nazi Germany, Hitler had declared, aspires “not to equality > but to domination. The country of foreign races must become once again a > country of serfs, of agricultural laborers, or industrial workers. It is not a > question of eliminating inequalities among men but of widening them and making > them into law” (ibid.) Similar statements have been made by people like the > French philosopher Renan, Indochina governor-general Albert Sarraut, and many > other French religious and political leaders of the day.> > Cesaire repeats that in exposing the Hitler element in the practice of > colonialism, he is simply saying that colonialism is a willful act of barbarism > that is perpetrated not with impunity, but with a very heavy conscience. The > colonialist knows that he is engaged in acts of violence against fellow human > beings, but he refuses to acknowledge the fact because his is a sick > civilization. It is "a civilization which is morally diseased, which irresistibly, > progressing from one consequence to another, one denial to another, calls for > its Hitler . . . its punishment" (p.39). Claiming to civilize barbarism, > colonization negates civilization.> > To further highlight the barbarism of colonization, Cesaire quotes a number > of colonial officers recounting some of their actions against colonized > peoples. Colonel de Montagnac, one of the conquerors of Algeria writes: "In order > to banish the thoughts that sometimes besiege me, I have some heads cut off, > not the heads of artichokes but the heads of men" (p. 40). Another > colonialist, Count d'Herisson, declares: "It is true that we are bringing back a whole > barrelful of ears collected, pair by pair, from prisoners, friendly or enemy" > (ibid.). Yet another colonialist, Saint-Arnaud, gallantly declares: "We lay > waste, we burn, we plunder, we destroy the houses and the trees" (ibid). Such > sadistic delights as evident in the above quotations and many others, > Cesaire argues, can only come from the minds of men belonging to a twisted and > decadent civilization. Ultimately, what these statements prove is that > colonization dehumanizes the colonizer. In seeing and treating other people as animals, > the colonizer transforms himself into an animal. And here, Cesaire sends a > plaintiff cry to heaven: "Truly, there are sins for which no one has the power > to make amends and which can never be fully expiated" (p. 42).> > Colonization, Cesaire posits, equals "thingification". The relations > inherent in colonization are relations of power and domination. They are relations > in which "there is room only for forced labor, intimidation, pressure, the > police, taxation, theft, rape, compulsory crops, mistrust, arrogance, > self-complacency, swinishness, brainless elites, degraded masses . . . of domination > and submission which turn the colonizing man into a classroom monitor, an army, > a sergeant, a prison guard, a slave driver, and the indigenous man into an > instrument of production" (p. 42). The colonized are not human beings worthy > of human rights or human respect, but things merely to be used, driven around, > beaten and, when the need arises, killed in the name of a law and order > rooted in injustice and barbarism.> > For Cesaire, colonialism is a totally destructive enterprise. It is "about > societies drained of their essence, cultures trampled underfoot, institutions > undermined, lands confiscated, religions smashed, magnificent artistic > creations destroyed, extraordinary possibilities wiped out . . . men sacrificed . > . . torn from their gods, their land, their habits, their life . . . taught > to have an inferiority complex, to tremble, kneel, despair and behave like > flunkeys . . . about natural economies destroyed . . . agricultural development > oriented solely toward the benefit of the metropolitan countries; . . . about > the looting of products . . . of raw materials" (p. 43). No, he argues, > colonialism is not about the destruction of local tyrants. It is about old > tyrants cooperating with new ones to further oppress the people; about > proleterarianization and mystification. The societies plundered by the forces of > colonialism were democratic, cooperative and fraternal societies, not the backward, > uncivilized, culturally void societies that colonialism claimed they were. His > only consolation, he writes, "is that periods of colonization pass, that > nations sleep only for a time, and that peoples remain" (p. 45). Africa's > tragedy, he argues, was not that it was too late in making contact with the world, > but the manner in which that contact was made at a time when Europe was under > the control of "most unscrupulous financiers and captains of industry" > (ibid.). He rejects Europe's a posteriori claim that it brought material progress > and Europeanization to Africa. In reality, colonization had actually > distorted material progress and slowed the process of Europeanization, because Europe > was denying to the colonized peoples the roads, schools, ports and other > facilities that it had provided and continued to provide in the home countries.> > Cesaire claims that the racism of Europe does not bother him. He only > examines it. And he is appalled at the hypocrisy and ignorance with which the cream > of French society pretended that the French people were a superior race, > destined to rule the world and to keep the black and yellow peoples in their own > places. He rejects his critics' accusation that he is calling for a return > to some past civilization. What he is doing, he says, is helping create a news > society, "a society rich with all the productive power of modern times, warm > with all the fraternity of olden days" (p. 52), a marriage of the new > possibilities offered by the forces of modern technology, with the beauties of an > ancient culture based on courtesy and fraternity. As an example that such a > marriage between past and present was possible, Cesaire, suggests, "we can look > to the Soviet Union" (p. 52). But, as history has shown, the Soviet model, > for whatever reasons, was doomed to failure and has since been relegated to > the dustbin of history. Nevertheless, Cesaire was right in insisting that > colonized peoples had great civilizations, reminiscent of Mazrui's Romantic > Gloriana - empires, kingdoms; large, elaborate, well organized bureaucracies. And > to buttress his point, Cesaire quotes Frobenius: "Civilized to the marrow of > their bones! The idea of a barbaric Negro is a European invention" (p. 53).> > The entire gamut of European elites, Cesaire argues - from journalists, to > sociologists, theologians and academics - share responsibility for the crime > of colonialism. All who supported the plundering activities of colonialism > deserved condemnation as "inventors of subterfuges, . . . charlatans and > tricksters, . . . dealers in gobbledygook" (p. 55). He cites for special mention > writers like Gourou, who claims that civilization is only found in the > temperate zones, that the tropical zones never had civilizations; of men like the > Belgian missionary Reverend Temple, whose book Bantu Philosophy purported to > counteract the forces of "communistic materialism" and save the Negroes from > being turned by that devilish ideology into "moral vagabonds." He cites as > extremely ridiculous Rev. Temple's claim that the Negro was not interested in > material progress, that all he needed was to be respected as a human being, and > that when he came into contact with the European, the Negro "integrated us > into their hierarchy of life forces at a very high level" (p. 59). Even more > absurd, Cesaire argues, are claims by M. Mannoni that colonialism was a > divinely ordained mission of the West, and that all the Madagascan craved was to be > able to depend on somebody else: “He desires neither personal autonomy nor > free responsibility" (p. 61). Point to the fact that the Madagascans had a > history of revolt against French occupation, and Mannoni would tell you that was > simply the expression of neurotic behavior. Raise any objection to > colonialism, Cesaire says, and M. Mannoni, "who has an answer for everything", would > come up with a fitting response and justification in favor of the superior > civilization. It is evident, Cesaire argues, that all such pronouncements are the > marks of little and chauvinistic minds that are unable to appreciate the > universal reality that all men are endowed with reason.> > Colonialism - French colonialism in particular - Cesaire argues, could only > contemplate the idea of other cultures being integrated into the French > family. The idea of France being integrated into other families was too monstrous > to imagine, because a superior civilization cannot possibly be integrated > into an inferior civilization. That would be contrary to all logic. We could > have a Negro Frenchman, but never a White Negro. The very idea was an oxymoron. > But colonialism's civilizing mission, with all its Hitlerian undertones, was > simply, Cesaire suggests, the parting whimpers of a dying civilization, a > dying class, for "it is an implacable law that every decadent class finds itself > turned into a receptacle into which flows all the dirty waters of history; > that it is a universal law that before it disappears, every class must first > disgrace itself completely, on all fronts, and that it is with their heads > buried in the dunghill that dying societies utter their swan songs" (p. 64).> > Evil is nothing new to man, Cesaire admits. But bourgeois history is the > history of evil and plunder. The bourgeoisie, as a class, "is condemned to take > responsibility for all the barbarism of history, the tortures of the Middle > Ages and the Inquisition, war-mongering and the appeal to the raison d'Etat, > racism and slavery, in short, everything against which it protested in > unforgettable terms at a time when, as the attacking class, it was the incarnation > of human progress" (p. 67). The bourgeoisie, Cesaire suggests, had become > victims of “the law of progressive dehumanization in accordance with which > henceforth, on the agenda of the bourgeoisie . . . there can be nothing but > violence, corruption and barbarism" (p. 68). > > The West, Cesaire argues, did not invent science or ethics or morality, as > M. Callois would have us believe. History and culture and ethnography, > contrary to the claims of colonial apologists like Callois, belong to a universal > cosmology. The statements of people like M. Callois, Cesaire indicates, are > significant not only because they reflect the mind of the Western petty > bourgeoisie, but also because while it touted the virtues of humanism, Europe was at > that material point in time the furthest in reality from practicing the > humanity it so loudly mouthed. In inflicting horrors on the colonized peoples, > Europe was engaged in a process of self-destruction. It had "overthrown, one > after another, the ramparts behind which European civilization could have > developed freely" (p. 75).> > But while the colonized peoples are rejecting Europe and breaking the chains > of colonialism, Cesaire warns, they must beware of the emergent “liberator” > - the United States. American domination, he warns, is "the only domination > from which one never recovers . . . unscarred" (p. 77). For its part, Europe > must generate itself anew or sink into "mortal darkness". And with that > warning against impending American imperialism, Cesaire ends his discourse on > colonialism in a flourish of Communist optimism. The salvation of Europe, he > concludes, "is not a matter of a revolution in methods. It is a matter of the > Revolution - the one which, until such a time as there is a classless society, > will substitute for the narrow tyranny of a dehumanized bourgeoisie the > preponderance of the only class that still has a universal mission, because it > suffers in its flesh from all the wrongs of history, from all the universal > wrongs: the proletariat" (p. 78). Robin Kelly notes in his introduction to the > 2000 edition of Discourse, however, that for Cesaire, the colonial struggle was > not a fight between capitalism and socialism in the orthodox Marxist sense, > but a struggle for the total overthrow of a racist colonialist system which > would open the way to a bright new world of freedom and equality. It is to > Cesaire's credit that he understood that it was much easier to formally dismantle > colonialism, than to get rid of the colonial state itself.> > _________________________________________________________________> Connect to the next generation of MSN Messenger > http://imagine-msn.com/messenger/launch80/default.aspx?locale=en-us&source=wlm> ailtagline> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html> > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:> [log in to unmask]> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤> > > > > > > > **************Need a new ride? 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