Colonial authority reacted with rage to reports implicating Europeans in violence

Evidence

Authority interrupts and takes over the page. In the margin of Valck’s text—in angry and assertive script—bold black lines are slashed from top to bottom. An oversized question mark next to Valck’s description of the “atrocities of Europeans” who acted “in cold blood” breaks the narrative and halts the reader. The query, most likely of the Governor-General to whom the report was sent—and who would have had the stature to scribble across the report in unbridled rage—demands: “What is meant by this? This must be clarified.” — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1137

Categorization

• QUESTION: The epistemic friction between colonial officialdom and reports criticizing European conduct — who else read such reports and how far up did suppression go?