In “Discourse on Colonialism” (1972), Aimé Césaire argues that colonialism has only led to the doom of both the colonizer and the colonized especially since colonialism has only brought upon devastation and dehumanization upon everyone involved. To further his case, Césaire states that “out of all the colonial expeditions that have been undertaken…, there could not come a single human value” thereby emphasizing that there is neither human contact nor benefit in colonialism.
Later in his essay, Césaire also discourses on both the colonizer and the colonized and what colonialism does to both. On the colonizers, Césaire states that “colonization works to dehumanize the colonizer” and that colonialism propels the colonizers towards savagery . And so, Césaire supports the idea that even the ones doing the colonizing are heavily influenced and affected by the act of colonialism. For the colonized, he states that they are left to come face-to-face with “force, brutality, cruelty, sadism, conflict” and many more negative aspects as Césaire bolsters the notion that colonialism brings “no human contact”.
Through both the colonizer and the colonized, Césaire shows the agonizing destruction brought about by colonialism and therefore brings light unto the fact that no sane civilization should justify colonialism since doing so would only result in their ruin and punishment. While reading Aimé Césaire’s “Discourse on Colonialism” (1972), I found myself agreeing with his argument and his position on the role of colonialism. Truly, throughout history, colonialism has never ended well. Even if colonialism is sometimes presented under the guise of help, the colonized are often left to deal with the problems brought about by their very colonizers and both the colonizer and colonized are only left more devastated than ever. On the other hand, I do believe that colonialism has “placed civilizations in contact” unlike what Césaire believes to be the case. It may not be in the best and positive way, but regardless colonialism has still connected different “civilizations”.
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Take my country, Philippines, for example. Philippines had been colonized and occupied by many countries, Spain and the United States being some of them. And even though the colonizers have left, their influence can still be seen in the country; one of which is largely evident in the official language of the Philippines, Tagalog, which can be observed to be very similar to Spanish and so, proving to be the “contact” placed by the colonizers. I believe that this shows the idea that colonialism does bring about contact, regardless of it being positive or negative, but at the same time, colonialism brings destruction and devastation as is evidenced by Philippines, a country still struggling to find its foothold in the world. Undeniably, colonialism brings no good and can be viewed as merely one form of violence.
