For me the economic aspect of colonialism is fundamental. .. Event he poorest coloniser thought himself to be - and actually was - superior to the colonised. This too is part of colonial privilege. [10]

Here is a confession I have never made before: I know the coloniser from the inside almost as well as I know the colonised. … Like all other Tunisians I was treated as a second-class citizen … But I was not a Moslem. [11]

My model for the portrait of the coloniser of good will was taken in particular from a group of philosophy professors in Tunis. [13]

Pied noirs*/coloniser [Fr., lit. ‘black feet’ - so-called after their shoes]

It is probably sufficient to describe with precision the facts of colonisation, the manner in which the coloniser was bound to act, the slow and inevitable destruction of the colonised, to bring to light the absolute iniquity of colonisation; and, at the same time, to unveil the fundamental instability of it and predict its demise. [15]

A colony: A place where one earns more and spends less. … jobs are guaranteed, wages high, careers more rapid and business more profitable.

An unexpected fear of disorientation may arise as soon as they begin to plan the return home. [71]

He realises that the easy profit is so great only because it is wrested from others. In short, he finds two things in one: he discovers the existence of the coloniser and he discovers his own privilege. [73]

He finds himself on one side of a scale, the other side of which bears the colonised man … the more freely he breathes the more the colonised are choked. … It is impossible for him not to be aware of the constant illegitimacy of his status. [74]

Granting himself astounding privileges to the detriment of those rightfully entitled to them. … upsetting established rules and substituting his own. ... a privileged being and an illegitimately privileged one; that is, a usurper. [75]

The colonised will never be anything but colonised people … certain right will forever be refused them, and certain advantages are reserved strictly for him [75]

A colonial: a European living in a colony but having no privileges, whose living conditions are not higher than those of a colonised person of equivalent economic and social status. … A colonial so defined does not exist. [76]

Many of them are victims of the masters of colonisation [76] … But, though dupe and victim, he also gets his share. [77]

He enjoys the preference and respect of the colonised themselves … The colony follows the cadence [79] of his traditional holidays [79]

The situation of the Jewish population - eternally hesitant candidates for assimilation [81] They live in painful and constant ambiguity [81] They push a colonial mentality to excess [82]

The pyramid of petty tyrants [83]

The colonial does not exist [...] he finds himself in a factual situation which turns him into a coloniser. [84]

Withdrawing physically [or] decides to remain, vowing not to accept colonisation [85]

Halo of prestige [86]

Humanitarian romanticism is looked upon in the colonies as a serious illness, the worst of all dangers [87]

Knock[s] on the door of the colonised ...

To refuse colonisation [88] is one thing; to adopt the colonised and be adopted by them seems to be another. [89]

He is not one of them and has no desire to be one […] does not plan to share their existence, even if they are freed. [89]

Who can completely rid himself of the bigotry of a country where everything is tainted by it, including its victims? [89]

If the let themselves be colonised, it is precisely because they did not have the [90] capacity to fight [91]

He admits to a fundamental different between the colonised and himself. [91] odour of mutton fat [91]

Ideological and political attitudes [93] “Nationalism and the Left” [94; cf. Ernest Gellner; John Hutchinson and Anthony Smith, Nationalism, OUP 1994]

For a number of historical, sociological and psychological reasons, the struggle for liberation by colonised peoples has taken on a marked national and nationalistic outlook. [95]

Leftist tradition condemns terrorism and political assassination [96] He can’t approve acts of the colonised which he condemns in the colonisers because there are exactly why he condemns colonisation. [97]

Being unable to bring himself to select one of these paths, he stays at the crossroads and loses contact with reality. [98] In their hearts, all the lucid and responsible fighters are anything but theocrats; they really love and venerate freedom. [98]

Later on the colonised will rid themselves of xenophobia and racist temptation [100] The only task at the moment is that of freeing the people. As for the future, there will be plenty of time to deal with it when it becomes the present [101]

The leftist coloniser will accept all the ideological themes of the struggling colonised; he will temporarily forget that he is a leftist. [103]

Colonial relations do not stem from individual good will or actions; they exist before his arrival or his birth, and whether he accepts or rejects them matters little [104]

Being oppressed as a group, the colonised must necessarily adopt a national and an ethnic form of liberation from which he cannot but be excluded. [105]

Hard-pressed, the role of the left-wing colonisers collapses. [105] The colonised in the midst of whom he lives are not his people and never will be. [105]

He invokes the end of colonisation but refuses to conceive that this revolution can result in the overthrow of his own situation and himself. [106]

The right-wing coloniser is consistent when he demands a colonial status quo [and] cynically asks for more privileges and more rights. [107]

Seek to legitimate colonisation [111] defend it aggressively … believing it to be right. [113]

The best go away [114] … the mediocre ones remain and for their whole life [115] administrative consanguinity [116]

Accepting the role of coloniser, the colonialist accepts the blame implied by that role. … Human relations in the colony would perhaps be better if the colonialist had been convinced of his legitimacy. [117]

Usurper’s role (aka The Nero Complex): At the very time of his triumph he admits that what triumphs in him is an image which he condemns … endeavours to falsify history … transforming his usurpation into legitimacy [118] Wish the disappearance of the usurped [119] Britannicus and Junia [120]

Increases the distance [between coloniser and coloniser] by placing the two figures irretrievably in opposition … glorious [and] despicable [121]

Delights at police tortures … necessity of massacres [123] Deep within himself the colonialist pleads guilty [123] Symbols … decorations [125]

Homeland .. scenery … misty and green [126] If he should go home, it would lose its sublime nature, and he would [126] cease to be a superior man. [127]

Every colonial nation carries the seeds of fascist temptation in his bosom [128]

Ambiguity of his excessive patriotic ardour … confirmed … in the more general ambiguity of his relations to the native country. [130]

The colonialist realises that without the colonised the colony would have no meaning. [133]

[The] rejection of the colony and the colonised seriously affects the life and behaviour of the colonized … [and] produces a disastrous effect on the colonialist’s conduct. [134]

unsure of his true nationality [134] the colonialist never planned to transform the colony into the image of his homeland, nor to remake the colonised in his own image! […] it would destroy his privileges. [135]

The colonialist never seriously promoted the religious conversion of the colonised. [138] Conversion … would have been a step towards assimilation [139]

Racism appears not as in incidental detail but as a consubstantial part of colonialism [139]

Paternalism [142]

Indolence [146] lazy [147] notorious ingratitude [148]

At the basis of the entire construction one finally finds a common motive, the colonizer’s economic and basic needs [149]

[Called] “them”: you can’t count in them [151]

What is left of the colonised at the end of this stubborn effort to dehumanise him? He is surely no long an alter ego of the coloniser. He is hardly a human being. He turns rapidly towards becoming an object. [153]

It is common knowledge that the ideology of the governed is adopted in large measure by the governed class. [154]

The most serious blow suffered by the colonised is being removed from history and from the community. [157]

a) Assimilation; b) Rebellion; Rusty weapons [159]; social and historical mutilation [162]

What is the colonised in actual fact? I believe neither in metaphysical essence nor in psychological essence. On can describe the colonised at present. I have tried to show that he suffers, judges and behaves in a certain manner. If he ceases to be colonised - he will become something else. Geography and tradition are obviously permanent forces. But perhaps at that time there will be fewer differences between an Algerian and a Marseillais than between an Algerian and a Lebanese.
   Having reconquered all his dimensions, the former colonised will have become a man like any other. There will be the ups and down of all men to be sure, but at least he will be a whole and free man. [End]