No. 116/2024

WHY WE NEED POST-COLONIALISM by DAVID SIMO A s with any new paradigm, the terms “post- colonialism”, “postcolonial criticism” or “postcolonial approach” garner strong reactions: enthusiastic, productive acceptance, arrogant disregard, but also annoyance that can escalate into angry rejection. These very reactions are, however, proof that new epistemological perspectives are being opened up here that collide with powerful knowledge systems and self-evident beliefs. Quite a few people in Europe experience the postcolonial approach as a provocative attempt to impose insights and theories that have arisen outside of traditional European thinking. Admittedly, some of these traditions – such as Nietzsche’s idea of a critical approach to history or Foucault’s genealogy of knowledge – were initially adopted and developed by intellectuals at the “edge” of the globalised world. They adopted these ideas to express their unease about the role allotted to them in this globalised world. At the same time, they developed theories of their own – local narratives. Philosophers and writers describe the world as the product of power dispositives, power relations and historical actions. We now know more about the perception and evaluation of people and cultures, the role of power in shaping social relationships and the circulation of goods and people. At the same time, we have learned a lot about the ideas, emotions and phantasies that are inherent in these processes. The insights we have gained also have implications for demands and actions in civil society and the politics of memory or are accompanied by them. In Germany, as in many other countries, a knowledge community is now consequently emerging that will be able to achieve a great deal regarding geopolitical issues and the production of knowledge about living together in today’s world, both at local and at planetary level. GUEST ARTICLE The Germanist PROFESSOR DR DAVID SIMO is an emeritus professor of German Studies at the Université de Yaoundé 1, Cameroon. In 2008, he received the Reimar Lüst Award, granted by the Humboldt Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. Modernidad Interdisciplinary Research Programme at the Pontif ical Catholic University of Ecuador. A sociolinguist, she studies Indigenous languages. “So, Western science has long been reliant on the knowledge and, indeed, the exploitation of colonised peoples.” LOSS OF CULTURE The consequences for colonised people were and are serious. To this day, many Indigenous people are ashamed of their roots, reports Haboud, a Georg Forster Research Award Winner. “In the colonial context, Indigenous peoples were looked upon as non-human beings without a soul. Their languages were considered useless. To this day, many Indigenous people don’t bother to learn their ancestral language and try to resemble Spaniards and city dwellers.” Colonial legacies of this kind can be observed all over the world and not only endanger Indigenous people’s success in life but also cultural diversity. “Fifty percent of the approximately 7,000 Indigenous languages worldwide are seriously in danger of dying out in the next decade. That of course means that not only the languages get lost, but also unique knowledge, unique practices and traditions,” explains Haboud. “Much of people’s own culture is forfeited and there is a lack of appreciation of their own culture,” is also the view of the historian Ulrike Lindner. One result was that opportunities to understand their own culture were wasted. Consequently, many cultural and historically significant artefacts have remained in Europe right up to the present. “Europeans don’t have to travel to Africa to look at paintings by Rembrandt. But many Africans have › 15