Anti-colonial revolt gets dismissed as neurotic madness rather than political action

Evidence

If you point out to M. Mannoni that the Madagascans have nevertheless revolted several times since the French occupation and again recently in 1947, M. Mannoni, faithful to his premises, will explain to you that that is purely neurotic behavior, a collective madness, a running amok; that, moreover, in this case it was not a question of the Madagascans’ setting out to conquer real objectives but an “imaginary security,” which obviously implies that the oppression of which they complain is an imaginary oppression. — Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism, 159

Categorization

• XREF: The mechanism here — reframing colonial resistance as pathology to invalidate its claims — is exactly the move Said documents and that recurs in analyses of how ‘Islamist’ violence is psychologized rather than politicized. — connects to: Fear of lower-class uprisings drove creole bids for independence — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 216; Colonial subjects act out violently to end unbearable psychological tension — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 553; Colonial dream-analysis reads native fear of rebellion as a mandate to stay submissive (+5 more)

Related

• Colonial psychology characterized rebellion as the colonized sacrificing themselves to appease their gods (similarity 0.84)
• Colonial psychology shifts blame for colonial violence onto the colonized (similarity 0.82)
• Colonial violence was driven by officials’ fantasies and anticipatory fears. (similarity 0.81)
• Colonial officials believed political agitation threatened to undo civilizing work (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Colonial officials discounted attacks as personal revenge absent political significance #corroborates (0.85)
• Colonial subjects act out violently to end unbearable psychological tension #corroborates (0.75) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 553
• Colonial powers cast nationalist leaders as misguided agitators to dismiss self-rule #corroborates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 204
• Colonial authorities feared steady sensibilities more than emotional outbursts #contradicts (0.73) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 578
• Colonial dream-analysis reads native fear of rebellion as a mandate to stay submissive #corroborates (0.72)
• Colonial hysteria manifested in murderous acts for settlers but suicide-like self-exposure for the colonized #qualifies (0.72)