Discourse on Colonialism

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1955

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Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

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Section 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Section 6 Summary

Césaire predicts the dissolution of Europe’s colonial enterprise by comparing its events to the fall of the Roman Empire. He turns to the writings of Edgar Quinet, who describes how the Roman Empire fell to ruin by attempting to unite the various nationalities through expansion. Quinet compares these nationalities to “bulwarks” (75) that protected Rome from falling into the ocean under it. By invading these territories, Quinet argues that Rome was responsible for its own downfall.

Césaire justifies his comparison of Europe’s fate to ancient Rome by pointing to the similar acts of invasion that it has done. Europe’s weakening hold on colonization has paved the way for the U.S. to rise as a colonial and imperial power. While the West may rejoice in this, Césaire cautions that the brutality of U.S. violence will be even greater than European barbarism as it is a “domination from which one never recovers” (77).

Before the world turns towards this terrible fate, Césaire advises that Europe embrace “a policy of nationalities” (77) where there is mutual respect for all people and cultures. Europe must also make amends for the civilizations it has destroyed by either creating a pathway for their revival or enabling the creation of new ones in their wake. If Europe does not do this, then Césaire predicts that “with its own hands, [Europe will have] drawn up over itself the pall of mortal darkness” (78).

Lastly, Césaire argues that the redemption of Europe must come in the form of true revolution resulting in a classless society. In the meantime, this revolution must uplift the member of the most marginalized class, the proletariat who “suffers in its flesh from all the wrongs of history” (78).

Section 6 Analysis

In the closing section, Césaire foreshadows the end of colonialism by drawing a parallel between Europe and the collapse of the ancient Roman Empire. He points to Edgar Quinet’s discussion of the fall of ancient Rome for this parallel. According to Quinet, ancient Rome had great ambitions for expansion, but its desire to unite diverse civilizations under the Roman Empire belied their strengths as individual societies. Once these civilizations were folded under Rome, they lost their unique cultural knowledge and identity. Quinet describes these diverse civilizations, when left to develop independently, as “bulwarks” (75) for Rome. However, their fortifications were destroyed when the Roman Empire decided to eliminate their distinct cultural values. The Roman Empire’s ambition for expanding did not consider the ways in which its own center would weaken by diluting the cultural diversity in the surrounding civilizations.

Césaire observes this same effect taking place through European colonialism. He argues that the heart of the European colonialist mission is to destroy “the root of diversity” (76). Just as the Roman Empire had destroyed the diversity of the societies it invaded, so do European colonialists undermine the cultural richness of the civilizations they colonize. Césaire also foreshadows a far graver end to European colonialism, which is the pathway for the U.S. to become an even more destructive colonial force. He states that the U.S. will not only follow the example of European colonial assertions of power, but it will also develop new mechanisms of control.

In Césaire’s closing words, he returns to the figure of the proletariat who he mentions in the opening section. The proletariat represents the colonized laborers and subjugated people under European colonialism. Césaire believes that revolution can only take place if the most marginalized class of people revolt, which means that the proletariat must rise to fight for a classless society. For Césaire, this is the only corrective measure to rectify the harms of European colonialism. Given his foreshadowing of European colonialism’s weakening state, it is implied that these revolts will be inevitable.