Discourse on Colonialism

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).