Seminar: Postcolonial Europe 10/03/2010

Seminar: “Postcolonial Europe” - Prof. Frank Schulze-Engler

Prof Frank Schulze-Engler is the head of the Department of New English Literatures and Cultures in the Institute for English and American Studies at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Prof. Schulze-Engler spoke on the topic of Postcolonial Europe. Beginning his talk, he highlighted the issue that in order to accurately discuss the topic, one needed to separate the terms 'postcolonial' and 'Europe' and define them individually before bringing them together in a discussion. Postcolonial he described as the state of being of the continent (now most often meaning the EU) after the fall of colonialism as well as the reactions of Europeans to this newfound integrated society. Europe on the other hand was no longer the continent found to the north of Africa and to the west of Asia, but the extended boundaries and territories 'belonging' to the European nations. Postcolonial Europe then, becomes an integrated, cosmopolitan society encompassing the landmass of both the European continent and its colonies and territories.

However, defining and understanding the term is not as simple. Prof. Schulze-Engler pointed out that although Beck and Grande discuss building “the EU into a unified and independent power centre in global politics” (Cosmopolitan Europe: 226/227), the work of Étienne Balibar shows us that many Europeans are only just learning of the disturbed juxtaposition of the 'barbarity' of colonialism in trying to bring 'civilisation' to the 'barbarians'. Europeans then, are left in a dystopian, transformative society far removed from the nationalistic utopia of colonialism, in a fervent struggle to create a 'European' identity and find a sense of belonging in a world where boundaries are blurred and Eurocentrism has little place.

Prof. Schulze-Engler discussed Eurocentrism in relation to the theories of Robert Stam and Ella Shohat, where the term applied more to a broader, global “Euro-American hegemony” (2005: 293-316 – 297) rather than the physical continent of Europe, and then becoming the hub for the world's activity. He used this theory to discuss Dipesh Chakrabarty's theories of the provincialisation of Europe, which in turn brought up the term of 'multiple modernities'; wherein the Western notion of modernity is not the only definition that is accurate or available for use. Prof. Schulze-Engler then discussed the Americocentric idea of modernity, pertaining to an economistic understanding of society and culture; and idea which allows us to visualise “globalisation in terms of political renewal and refurbishment of imperial power...in a unipolar world” (Lazarus, 2004: 38). He used this theory of modernity to examine the state of the discipline of postcolonial studies and to show how a domination of American perspective over time has resulted in the shaping of new postcolonial studies, and new forms of postcolonialism.

Prof. Schulze-Engler closed his talk with the discussion of the place of Europe in a postcolonial world. He cited the work of Ashley Dawson and discussed the idea of the restriction of framework and perspectives to allow for the acceptance of Europe as a postcolonial entity. He discussed the work of Paul Gilroy and of Peter Hulme in terms of a diagnosed condition of culture based hatred and new racism based on the discourse' lack of the integration of Europe and the struggles of Europeans to adapt to being postcolonial citizens. Prof. Schulze-Engler pointed out Les Back's idea of the narcissism of postcolonial Europe when confronted with these difficult situations, and Europe's inability to accept the possibility of not being utopian society. He concluded his talk with the reason for the continuation of eurocentrism (particularly within Europe), for the increasing postcolonial melancholia, for the domination of Americocentric modernity, and for the struggle to find that which is 'European' in a postcolonial world; is due to Europe's inability to accept and address the issues and situations associated with the fall of colonialism and the dystopian ideals Europeans are facing. Europe needs to accept its dynamic borders, its variable society, its multicultural citizens and the reality of its dual utopian/dystopian society; and then will it find its place as a postcolonial entity within the discourse of postcolonial studies, in an increasingly postcolonial world.

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Robert Stam and Ella Shohat, “Travelling Multiculturalism: A Trinational Debate in Translation,” in: Postcolonial Studies and Beyond, eds. Ania Loomba, Suvir Kaul, Matti Bunzl, Antoinette Burton, and Jed Esty (Durham and London: Duke UP, 2005): 293-316; 297.

Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincialising Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2000): 43.

Neil Lazarus, “The Global Dispensation since 1945”, in: Lazarus (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Studies (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004): 19-40; 38.

Paul Gilroy, Postcolonial Melancholia (New York: Columbia UP, 2005): 142/143.

Peter Hulme, “Beyond the Straits: Postcolonial Allegories of the Globe”, in: Postcolonial Studies and Beyond, eds. Ania Loomba, Suvir Kaul, Matti Bunzl, Antoinette Burton, and Jed Esty (Durham and London: Duke UP, 2005): 41-61; 55.

Les Back, “Beaches and Graveyards: Europe's Haunted Borders”, Postcolonial Studies, 12,3 (2009): 329-340; 340.