The Cultural Trauma of Decolonization by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030270254
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

From Colonial “Ordinariness” to the Trauma of Decolonization

In the 1950s, while decolonization had an extraordinary effect in Asia and Africa, there was a vague attempt to form a Belgian-Congolese community, despite the inertia characterizing the colonial circles and despite the fact that independence appeared as only a remote possibility. The most optimistic hypothesis foresaw the emancipation, not independence, of Congo and of Ruanda-Urundi within a broader federal union with Belgium within the following thirty years.

The first significant sign of change appeared in 1956 when a nationalist manifesto was published. The following year, the year of the first administrative elections, the first political parties were formed, including the ABAKO, led by Kasa-Vubu (with a strong identity and federalist character), and Moise Tshombe’s KONAKAT. These were followed by many other ethnic and regional formations, such as Patrice Lumumba’s Congolese National Movement, which had a nationalist and unitarian program (Ndaywel è Nziem 1998: 499–610). In 1958, at Brazzaville during the Algerian “dirty war,” De Gaulle spoke in favor of the French colonies’ independence, legitimizing similar expectations in the nearby Belgian colony. At this point the political climate rapidly changed, precipitating a severe international crisis. Lumumba’s request for independence (December 1958) had disruptive effects: the strong and powerfully performative words with which it was pronounced struck a chord among the masses that were experiencing serious social problems in the urban areas (Ndaywel è Nziem 1998; Young 1965).

As the people became increasingly aware of their condition, turmoil erupted in the capital and in other cities: rage led to acts of violence targeting the Europeans (acts that were severely repressed), resulting in the first conspicuous wave of returns to Europe.6 Independence suddenly became a central issue in the discussion about the future of Belgian Congo: the transition was negotiated during the famous January–February 1960 Table ronde in Brussels that set the date for the declaration of independence on June 30 of the same year.

The Belgians of the colony were not involved in the initial decolonization process, but subsequently they became highly invested in the grave crisis that broke out regarding independence. In general, the expressions of dissent toward the Belgian government were quite improvised and never turned into an actual political agenda. In effect, as Jean-Luc Vellut observes “the settlers’ isolation was total, in the Congo and in Belgium, on the left and on the right” (Vellut 2017: 113). During the decolonization process, settlers aimed at safeguarding their specific interests and their life experiences on the African soil, seeing independence as part of their continuity. In 1959, given the “calm” and the “ordinariness” characterizing the colony, the settlers manifested their will to abandon all uncertainty and demand immediate independence (Stengers 2007 [1989]: 284). The illusion of a negotiated transition, that is, one led by their mother country, had granted support to the governmental status quo; however, the political climate would shift rapidly toward an extremely severe crisis.

The rupture occurred during the independence ceremony on June 30, 1960, and is linked to Lumumba’s memorable speech. To Westerners,

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