| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
In opposition to the theory of fantasizing stands a study on trans-acculturation by Russell Berman (1998). In Enlightenment or Empire, Berman postulates that European encounters with the local inhabitants in colonies represent a positive evolution of cultures for the purpose of change. Berman’s study is significant in many respects. It proposes the concept “of space, not race.” For Berman, the “space and the encounter with foreign cultures and society certainly have the potential to elicit qualitatively new experiences […]” (5) and physically liberate them (non-Europeans) for modernization. Within this context, colonial venture is perceived as part of a constructive paradigm that will lead to a hybridization and trans-acculturation of the “other” in terms of global relationships to unite Europe and the postcolonial and colonial world freed from a Fanonian perceived world where war-unto-death between different races and competing cultures exists. Berman’s narrow concept valorizes Homi Bhabha’s notion of cultural development and language as the underlying structures of representation and relations. Here, the encounter is portrayed as an intersection between enlightenment and colonialism, a site of hybridization of subjectivity where shifts in boundaries and the cartography of blank spaces took place; and, in essence, race has no objective place in colonialism. Todorov offers us an insight into the cultural transformation taking place in the face of European domination. In addition, his theory helps identify the histories produced by those who possessed power in society, and contributes significantly in establishing and explaining the positions whence the missionaries and the Missionsfrau pursued their agenda. Further, Zantop’s colonial fantasies provides a useful framework for a psychological understanding of missionary German thought, which in turn helped formed patterns of behavior in the colony. Finally, both studies show that the numerous disruptions of the demographic, economic, and the changing social patterns are parts of the identifiable criteria in creating a culture of power in colonialism.
The qualitative nature of this research design enables us to look at the discursive construction of power and authority in terms of the changing social conditions in the period of colonialism. Yet, while it may seem that the analyst works against the assumptions of the larger textual discourse, he also raises serious concerns about the sterile civility surrounding canonized ideas.