29 pages • 58 minutes read
Aimé CésaireDiscourse on Colonialism
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1955A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Section 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Section 1 Summary
In the opening section of Discourse on Colonialism, Aimé Césaire states that the West, specifically Europe, has created two major problems. The first of these issues is the “proletariat and the colonial problem” (31) and the second is its hypocrisy. Césaire argues that European colonialists have enacted “morally, spiritually indefensible” (32) violence against the people they have colonized in Indochina, the West Indies, and Africa. This violence suggests that not only are colonialists “weak,” but they are also “lying” (32). Whereas European colonialists may reason that colonization is a civilizing force, Césaire argues that this claim is a lie. Yet this lie is the underlying logic behind the global spread of colonialism.
Césaire does not disagree that much can be gained from blending of different cultures and experiences. A civilization that isolates itself will decline and relies on cultural and experiential exchange in order to advance. Césaire notes that “exchange is oxygen” and that Europe has established itself as “the best center for the redistribution of energy” (33). However, he argues that this exchange is not equal when it comes to Europe as he asks: “[H]as colonization really placed civilizations in contact?” (33). For him, the answer is “no” (33).
Section 1 Analysis
Césaire opens Discourse on Colonialism by provocatively claiming that Europe is a “dying civilization” (31) due to its two major problems. The first problem that he describes is the historical connection between class and colonialism. In the following sections, Césaire critiques the bourgeoisie for creating the conditions in which colonialism flourishes. These conditions work against the proletariat, a class of people that include not only poor European workers but colonized people who are forced into labor by European colonialists. The bourgeoisie have historically maintained class divisions by exercising moral and spiritual hypocrisy, which makes up the second problem that Césaire names. According to Césaire, the bourgeoisie attempt to use moral and spiritual reasoning to justify colonial violence. For instance, the bourgeoisie are skilled in employing the logic of colonization as a civilizing force to justify their subjugation of non-Europeans who are thought to be savages or barbarians.
Familiar with the colonial tropes about non-Europeans as uncivilized people, Césaire subverts these ideas by establishing European colonialists as the uncivilized ones. While European colonialists characterize non-Europeans as weak and in need of intervention by a superior race of people, Césaire counters that it is Europe that is lacking in strength. He argues that the moral and spiritual hypocrisy of colonialists weaken Europe as a colonial force. While this moral and spiritual hypocrisy may have created the guise of power for European colonialism, Césaire foreshadows that this will ultimately lead to Europe’s demise.
In this opening section, Césaire also anticipates counterarguments towards his anti-colonial sentiments. He predicts that other scholars who favor colonialism may accuse him of fearing cultural mixing. He distinguishes the idea of contact from colonialism. Whereas contact consists of mutual exchange that feels natural and organic, colonialism works otherwise. Europe, by establishing itself as “the best center for the redistribution of energy” (33), has declared itself as the locus of power. The exchange is no longer mutual once the power is centralized. Thus, Césaire refutes the counterargument that colonialism is a mutually beneficial form of contact.
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