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10. Colonial Encounters in Asia, Africa, Oceania

Identity and cultural change

experience of colonial rule generated new patterns of identity within Asian, African, Oceanic societies

racism

exposure to European culture

social and economic upheavals

millions of people underwent changes in what they believed and how they defined their communities

new ways echoed long after European rule

Education

acquired Western education through missionary or government schools

New opportunities

previously illiterate; learning reading and righting seemed almost magical

escape from some obligations of living under European control (e.g. forced labor)

access to better-paying positions

government bureaucracies

mission organizations

business firms

could buy imported goods with their newfound salaries

education provided social mobility and elite status; opportunity to approach equality with white people

Embracing European culture

many emulated European ways

dressed in European clothes

spoke French or English

built European-style houses

got married in long white dresses

Asian and African societies had new cultural divide

small numbers who mastered to varying degrees the ways of their rulers

vast majority who did not

Reform

Western-educated elite often saw themselves as modernizing leaders who led regeneration of societies with colonial authorities

colonial enterprise full of promise for better future

India: Western-educated men formed variety of reform societies

drew inspiration from classic texts of Hinduism

sought renewed Indian culture free from “errors”

idolatry

caste restrictions

etc.

often centered on improving status of women

argued against

sati

ban on remarriage of widows

female infanticide

child marriages

advocated

women’s education

women’s property rights

some saw themselves as working with British colonial authorities

Impacts

Europeans generally did not treat their Asian and African subjects as equal partners, even if they were Western-educated

degraded Asian and African cultures, insulting well-educated

primitive

backwards

uncivilized

savage

educated classes in colonial societies found European rule an obstacle to countries’ development rather than a means to achieve it → led struggles for independence

Religion

places where widespread conversion to Christianity took place

especially non-Muslim Africa

some 10,000 missionaries went to Africa by 1950

roughly half of non-Muslim population (50 million Africans) claimed Christian identity

Appeal of Christianity

military defeat shook confidence in old gods and local practices → openness to new sources of supernatural power

Christianity associated with modern education

mission schools were primary providers of Western education

oppressed groups found new opportunities and greater freedom in missions

young

poor

women

Christianity did not really spread through European missionaries

African teachers, catechists, pastors who brought it to remote villages

local communities that begged for teacher, supplied labor and materials to build small church/school

Oceania: local authorities (e.g. in Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii) associated with Christian missionaries to strengthen position

linked to growing influence of European/American power

mission Christianity provided measure of social cohesion for peoples devastated by disease, etc.

schools

clinics

political counsel

new social conventions

Opposition to gender roles

Marriage and women

female nudity offended Western modesty

polygyny contradicted Christian monogamy (even though Old Testament figures like Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon had multiple wives)

what should male converts do with their additional wives?

missionaries thought that bride wealth made marriage seem “a mere mercantile transaction”

marriages between Christians and non-Christians were problematic

sexual activity outside monogamous marriages often resulted in disciplinary action or expulsion from church

efforts to enforce Western gender norms in part responsible for considerable turnover in ranks of African church members

Female circumcision (Kenya)

excising pubescent girls’ clitoris and adjacent genital tissue to mark coming-of-age

to Gikuyu people: prerequisite for adult status and marriage

to missionaries: physically damaging to girls; brought “unnecessary attention...to the non-spiritual aspects of sex”

missionaries in 1929 sought to enforce a ban on it; thousands abandoned mission schools and churches

did not abandon Christianity or modern education; created independent schools and churches

could practice their new faith and pursue their educational goals without missionary intrusion

New Testament declared that “circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing”

Africanization of Christianity

within mission-based churches

some continued to use protective charms and medicines; consulted local medicine men (missionaries accused them of “backsliding”)

some continued to believe in their old gods and spirits but deemed them evil and sought their destruction

thousands of separatist movements

established wide array of independent churches

thoroughly Christian but under African control, not missionary

often incorporated African cultural practices and modes of worship

India

Hinduism

distinct, unified religion from India’s endlessly varied beliefs, practices, sects, rituals, philosophies

effort to provide for India a religion equivalent to Christianity

⁠

Swami Vivekananda⁠

(1863-1902): leading religious figure in India

revived Hinduism offered means of uplifting village communities (heart of Indian civilization)

distinguished “spiritual East” from “materialistic West”

Islam

new Hinduism contributed to clearer sense of Muslims as distinct community

before British takeover: little sense of commonality between different communities

urban and rural dwellers

nomads and farmers

artisans, merchants, state officials

British separated people as Hindu or Muslim

made one set of inheritance laws for all Muslims and another set for Hindus

counted numbers of people in each group for census-taking

allotted seats in local councils according to these categories

some anti-British patriots began casting India in Hindu terms → emergence of idea that Muslims were separate and endangered by larger number of Hindus

Vivekananda: Hindu monk in America

Chicago, 1893: World’s Parliament of Religions

interfaith gathering

representatives from many of world’s religious traditions

Swami Vivekananda made most vivid impression

spoke fluent and eloquent English

arrived recently from India

received European education

deeply immersed in Hindu philosophy and practice

“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance....We accept all religions as true”

modernized Hindu outlook

all human beings possess divine nature

awakening to that nature can be pursued through variety of paths

spiritual practice and realization are far more important than dogma or doctrine

disciplines of mind and body from Hindu tradition represented psychological, experimental, almost scientific approach

did not require “conversion” to alien faith

critical of Christian missionaries for emphasis on conversion

emerged from parliament as sensation and celebrity; widely acclaimed and criticized

time in United States represented India speaking back to West

after century of European missionary activity and colonial rule in his country

India could offer spiritual support to Western world mired in materialism and militarism

exposed Americans to Indian spirituality; invited participants to apply Hindu practices and principles to within their own religious traditions

spoke about Jesus with great respect; displayed his image along with Buddha and various Hindu sacred figures

attracted modest following among disillusioned Americans

superficiality of modern life

rigidity of Christian doctrine

divisions and conflicts among churches

1960s and later: interest in Eastern religion exploded in West

hundreds of Indian teachers arrived

bore same universal message as Vivekananda

“Race” and “tribe”

African identity (race)

established by a number of African thinkers familiar with Western culture

previously: few if any in Africa regarded themselves as Africans

members of local communities (usually defined by language)

Muslims

part of some state or empire

influenced by common experience of colonial oppression and highly derogatory European racism

effort to revive cultural self-confidence by articulating larger, common, respected “African tradition” like that of Western culture

Africa already like Europe

some argued that African culture and history possessed the characteristics that Europeans strived for

Europeans valued large empires, complex political systems

Axum/Ethiopia

Mali

Songhay

etc.

C.A. Diop: French-educated scholar from Senega; insisted that Egyptian civilization was the work of Black Africans

reversed European assumptions

argued that Western civilization owed much to European influence; was therefore derived from Africa

Black people had a history of achievement fully comparable to that of Europe; deserved just as much respect and admiration

Praised differences between Africa and Europe

Edward Blyden (1832-1912): West African born in West Indies; educated in United States; later became prominent scholar and political official in Liberia

accepted assumption that world’s races were different

argued that each had its distinctive contribution to world civilization

uniqueness of African culture

communal, cooperative, egalitarian societies

harmonious relationship with nature

profound religious sensibility

Resonation with public

hundreds of thousands of Africans took part in World War I; encountered other Africans as well as Europeans

some able to travel widely → contact with American Black leaders (Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey) and various West Indian intellectuals → stronger sense of belonging to pan-African world

led to growing nationalist movements

Ethnic identity (tribe)

differences among Africans seldom clearly defined

boundaries fluctuated and were hazy

local communities often incorporated variety of culturally different peoples

European idea

idea that African was divided into separate and distinct “tribes” was a European notion

facilitated colonial administration

reflected Europeans’ belief in African primitiveness

e.g. peoples in Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania)

series of communities similar to one another in language and customs but governed themselves separately

British attempted to rule them as a single people

first through “paramount chief”

later through council of chiefs and elders

became collectively known as the Nyakyusa

required people to identify their tribe on applications → colonial governments spread idea of tribe

Usefulness to Africans

especially useful in rapidly growing urban areas

bewildering variety of people; setting with competition for jobs, housing, education

migrants found it helpful to categorize themselves and others ethically

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