The Colonizer and the Colonized

Posted on 05 August 2017 by Albert Memmi

First published in English in 1965, this timeless classic explores the psychological effects of colonialism on colonized and colonizers alike. Best Read [ The Colonizer and the Colonized ] By [ Albert Memmi ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr The title of this book suggests something dated, describing both a situation and a mindset that has either ceased to exist or become discredited with time As such, I hesitated to pick it up initially But now having read it, I have to say its one of the profound books I ve read in recent memory In timeless detail Memmi describes not just the psychologies of the oppressed and the oppressor, but also the predicament of the leftist in the oppressing group who at once is attracted to and recoils The title of this book suggests something dated, describing both a situation and a mindset that has either ceased to exist or become discredited with time As such, I hesitated to pick it up initially But now having read it, I have to say its one of the profound books I ve read in recent memory In timeless detail Memmi describes not just the psychologies of the oppressed and the oppressor, but also the predicament of the leftist in the oppressing group who at once is attracted to and recoils from the way in which the oppressed tries to liberate themselves, as well as from their end goals, in which they would likely find no place Memmi is not just a pontificating observer He was a Tunisian living as a native under the colonial regime, but straddling both worlds as a relativelyprivileged Jewish member of the colonized class thus able to interact with and experience both perspectives He describes...This is one of those rare books that I found myself putting down the highlighter because it was pointless to highlight multiple pages at a time Almost every second page has a fold to bookmark it, and some pages were folded at the top and bottom corners to bookmark the bookmarks Although he wrote it in 1957, Albert Memmi didn t realize that at the time he was writing about an age old relationship between the powerful and the powerless Although I had many thoughts pass in my mind as I went thro This is one of those rare books that I found myself putting down the highlighter because it was pointless to highlight multiple pages at a time Almost every second page has a fold to bookmark it, and some pages were folded at the top and bottom corners to bookmark the bookmarks Although he wrote it in 1957, Albert Memmi didn t realize that at the time he was writing about an age old relationship between the powerful and the powerless Although I had many thoughts pass in my mind as I went through it, by the end I was silent Memmi was brilliant in his analysis of both the colonizer and the colonized It s no wonder this book was being confiscated by coloni...This is a classic book up there with The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon about colonialism told by a doctor in French Colonised Algeria during the civil war It is brutal and honest and should bewidely known than it is It is not for the weak stomached as there is description of torture and genocidal tactics used by the...Memmi is a contemporary of Frantz Fanon and similarly explores the psychological and social consequences of the colonial relationship on both the colonizer and the colonized.I think the second part of the first chapter, The co...Two chapters one from the point of view of the colonizer, the other from the colonized Totally compelling and beautifully written.It demonstrates the human capacity to regard the life of the slave AND the life of the master Consider my favorite line from the film Bladerunner If only you had seen what I have seen with your eyes Memmi sees with all eyes and spares us no acid in our wounds And yet precisely because he is so even tempered, so evenhanded, the small judgments he does make ar Two chapters one from the point of view of the colonizer, the other from the colonized Totally compelling and beautifully written.It demonstrates the human capacity to regard the life of the slave AND the life of the master Consider my favorite line from the film Bladerunner If only you had seen what I have seen with your eyes Memmi sees with all eyes and spares us no acid in our wounds And yet precisely becaus...Memmi s clear thinking on the differences between a colonizer and colonized includes his observations on motives, rewards and behaviours and impacts It must have made quite an impact in it s day His arguments seem rele...Oppression is the greatest calamity of humanity It diverts and pollutes the best energies of man of oppressed and oppressor alike As a Tunisian Jew in the French colonial era, Memmi held a unique position in order to reflexively critique the relationship between the colonizer and colonized His take on the psychology of the colonizer is that itself is a poisonous position, both for those who accept and those who refuse the role of oppressor For those who refuse, Memmi says, any activity to Oppression is the greatest calamity of humanity It diverts and pollutes the best energies of man of oppressed and oppressor alike As a Tunisian Jew in the French colonial era, Memmi held a unique position in order to reflexively critique the relationship between the colonizer and colonized His take on the psychology of the colonizer is that itself is a poisonous position, both for those who accept and those who refuse the role of oppressor For those who refuse, Memmi says, any activity to res...One of the things that endeared this book to me was Memmi s placement of himself, in this book, as a colonized person who identifies with the colonizer It takes the judgement out of it The fact that he intended this book to be psychological examination of the parties involved in the colonial relationship, not a revolutionary work, only serves to increase the sense of integrity the author carries I will say that, as someone who would self identify as a colonizer who refuses, it certainly giv One of the things that endeared this boo...Memmi gives general observations on what characterizes the colonized and the colonizer I thought the first part on the colonizer was a bit repetitive and harder to get thru but the second section on the colonized is excellent.The characterizations are still highly relevant today.Albert Memmi s book is a nauseating condemnation of the colonial system by way of two opposing portraits Colonizer and Colonized, both convincingly fleshed out and sympathised for due to Memmi s having been a Tunisian Jew when the country was still a French colony, giving him a unique perspective on both sides of the glass The first instinct is to condemn the colonizer, that conquering racist genteel type who goes on safari with his old boys club, and feel the utmost sadness for the colonized, Albert Memmi s book is a nauseating condemnation of the colonial system by way of two opposing portraits Colonizer and Colonized, both convincingly fleshed out and sympat...

English
05 August 2017

Albert Memmi