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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Was this hard to follow? Sometimes. But did it make sense? Yes. I had to read this for my comparative literature class, along with the short story [b:The Guest|205984|The Guest|Albert Camus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450665419l/205984._SX50_.jpg|199350]. Memmi crafts a comprehensive look at the relationship between colonizer and colonized, and each of their options once in a colonial society. All of his points are good points, but even if they weren't, who would I be to contradict him? Seriously, I think he does a thorough job of describing colonial society and delving into the psychology of each side.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
An interesting work examining the theory behind the titular topics and their communication.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
well i didn’t read this book for fun! but i never thought about DNFing it.
i think it's important reading for me with a connection to hong kong (a british colony until as recent as 1997) and australia (also a british colony but with more ‘rights’, i.e. given proctorship of other lands). occasionally i found it difficult to follow what memmi was trying to say, as in i felt he wasn’t quite making a point, but generally i found his ‘portraits’ of colonisers and the colonised still relevant today. he describes the different types of people who live under colonisation and their privileges and disadvantages. his analyses of these dynamics — between people, but also for example the internal conflicts of the leftist coloniser, and the logical conflicts of the coloniser who is happy to be there — were enlightening, and i found his commentary about the self-rejecting colonised people still applicable.
i think it's important reading for me with a connection to hong kong (a british colony until as recent as 1997) and australia (also a british colony but with more ‘rights’, i.e. given proctorship of other lands). occasionally i found it difficult to follow what memmi was trying to say, as in i felt he wasn’t quite making a point, but generally i found his ‘portraits’ of colonisers and the colonised still relevant today. he describes the different types of people who live under colonisation and their privileges and disadvantages. his analyses of these dynamics — between people, but also for example the internal conflicts of the leftist coloniser, and the logical conflicts of the coloniser who is happy to be there — were enlightening, and i found his commentary about the self-rejecting colonised people still applicable.
I read 3 books on the topic of colonization recently: this, Fanon's Wretched of the Earth, and Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism. All 3 books are good but if I could read only one, it would be this book.
Memmi diagnoses the condition of the colonized and the colonizer with strange precision. The book is both sobering and liberating-- a sort of metaphor for the tension inherent in colonization. And, it will always be relevant, unfortunately.
Memmi diagnoses the condition of the colonized and the colonizer with strange precision. The book is both sobering and liberating-- a sort of metaphor for the tension inherent in colonization. And, it will always be relevant, unfortunately.
Excellent essai indispensable à tout.e colonisé.e et colonisateur.
Another great piece analyzing the dynamics of colonialism. A few thoughts:
-Explains the way that the "small" colonizer still benefits from the colonial system, and hypothesizes on the mediocrity of colonizers as a distinguishing trait. They are unremarkable in their home country so they turn to a life of exploitation in the colonies.
-Defines the Usurper's Complex: "to possess victory completely he needs to absolve himself of it and the conditions under which it was attained." The colonizer is desperate to transform his crimes to legitimacy, eliminating the moral crisis that comes from his role. The more atrocities he commits, the more he loathes the colonial subject that he blames for the atrocities.
-Describes the fundamental conflict at the heart of colonialism: "with all his power he must disown the colonized while their existence is indispensable to his own."
-The colonizers substitutes his needs for logic when creating the colonized subject: for example, the colonized is a *natural* weakling so he needs "protection." As has been pointed out in previous works I've read, assigning these characteristics to the realm of the inherent and biological means that the colonizer's position is forever justified.
-Speaks to the complexities of the colonized person's knowledge of language, having to choose between a denigrated native tongue and the imposition of the colonizer's tongue, which is necessary for the colony's societal institutions.
-Says that assimilation has worked on a few occasions, and that colonialism is the antithesis of assimilation because it requires the maintenance of difference between the colonizer and the colonized.
-Explains the way that the "small" colonizer still benefits from the colonial system, and hypothesizes on the mediocrity of colonizers as a distinguishing trait. They are unremarkable in their home country so they turn to a life of exploitation in the colonies.
-Defines the Usurper's Complex: "to possess victory completely he needs to absolve himself of it and the conditions under which it was attained." The colonizer is desperate to transform his crimes to legitimacy, eliminating the moral crisis that comes from his role. The more atrocities he commits, the more he loathes the colonial subject that he blames for the atrocities.
-Describes the fundamental conflict at the heart of colonialism: "with all his power he must disown the colonized while their existence is indispensable to his own."
-The colonizers substitutes his needs for logic when creating the colonized subject: for example, the colonized is a *natural* weakling so he needs "protection." As has been pointed out in previous works I've read, assigning these characteristics to the realm of the inherent and biological means that the colonizer's position is forever justified.
-Speaks to the complexities of the colonized person's knowledge of language, having to choose between a denigrated native tongue and the imposition of the colonizer's tongue, which is necessary for the colony's societal institutions.
-Says that assimilation has worked on a few occasions, and that colonialism is the antithesis of assimilation because it requires the maintenance of difference between the colonizer and the colonized.
The subject of colonialism has rarely been treated more lucidly and devastatingly than in this book. Albert Memmi's characterology of master and servant has a personal as well as a social dimension. The pecking order he describes has its accurate analogues in the lives of all South Africans and many middle-class Americans. I can't speak for others.