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A review by lottiezeb
The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi
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.