Unsent letters to colonial authorities served as private exercises in self-justification.

Evidence

His reports were unwelcome, inappropriate, and late. Quickly transferred out of Deli, he was dismissed shortly after. Much of the rest of his life was spent composing what seem to have been unsent letters to the Governor-General, by whom he felt betrayed, in a desperate effort to rewrite his moral contract with the colonial administration, to account for his actions, and restore his honor. If we can only give an account of ourselves, as Judith Butler’s parse on Nietzsche suggests, when we “are rendered accountable by a system of justice and punishment,” life in Deli was that for Valck. As noted, there is no evidence that his letters were ever sent. Nor do we know why he kept so many undated drafts of them. Perhaps they were all along really only meant for himself. If they were sent, Valck never indicates that any were ever answered. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1358

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates Butler’s claim that we can only account for ourselves when a justice and punishment system renders us accountable.
• XREF: Connects to broader literature on colonial functionary anxiety and the archives of the unsaid — resonates with Stoler’s work on colonial archives and epistemic anxieties.
• SHARE: The detail of unsent, undated letter drafts kept over a lifetime is a poignant archival finding worth sharing with anyone working on colonial administration or archival silences.