Commentaires sur : J’ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris !

Par : Hans

Hans — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:54:38 +0000

I full hearthy agree with you on this Mirabelle

Par : mirabelle

mirabelle — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:53:38 +0000

Dear Illuminati. Thank you for commenting.
Here’s my view on things.
First of all, thinking that an enterprise produced one good thing doesn’t mean you justify the enterprise in itself.
We can all agree on the fact that colonialism shouldn’t happen again.
But I do believe that while cultures were destroyed, new cultures were born. There is a very rich creole and pidgin literature in the Caribbean and Hawai’i. Are you saying that this literature is not interesting ?
Also scholars sent in the colonies wrote down all they saw, they recorded languages, customs, art. Others reported the injustices they saw « Une saison au Congo » by André Gide.
During the colonial exposition in Paris, another anti-colonialist exposition was held in protest.
That shouldn’t be forgotten. Not everybody was deliriously happy with the Empire.

Yes, France should leave some territories, like French Polynesia and New Caledonia. Those are the only French territories left from colonization. The African countries are independant now and the other islands were not colonies since the current inhabitants are descendants of the French and Africans. Last time they had to vote for or against independance they voted against it.
In New Caledonia too but there there is a native population who is marginalized due to their smaller number.
Mayotte is becoming a new « département » (like a US state). They voted for it at more than 90%.

So the issue is more nuanced. There are today cultures born out of imperialism, colonization, others have been destroyed.
I enjoy the new cultures and I regret the lost ones.

Thanks MyKitty. I’m glad you like my collage!

Par : MyKitty

MyKitty — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:52:53 +0000

I like the collage of your post. It seems to be an old poster but I feel that it is carefully designed so as to show the various features of France. I particularly like the way the different artworks are integrated.

I agree with you that mixed cultures can often help to breed new forms of artistic expressions.

Thank you for sharing the post.

Cheers!

Par : New Illuminati

New Illuminati — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:51:39 +0000

Pardon my monolingual discourse – one of the grand fruits of Imperial civilisation. ‘Imperialism’ doesn’t sound as nice as ‘colonialism’, but that’s what so-called colonialism really is. Only the imperialist coloniser can believe that the world – and the people they subjugate, impoverish and murder – benefits from their fundamentally oppressive and evil actions. Not even the churches believe they are truly helping anyone! The resultant rich blending of cultures and artforms represents destruction to those it has superceded, not a new form of art!
Alchemy and history rely of solve et coagula – separation and recombination – and this process applies to all aspects of life and to the evolution of humankind.
Most colonialists end up being absorbed by those they would colonise, but destroy much irreplaceable diversity in the process.
France is perhaps the ONLY colonial power to have retained its ill-gotten gains. It has still not given the lands it stole back to the indigenous inhabitants! Art is a very minor side issue compared to grand theft and genocide, cultural and actual.

See http://newilluminati.blog-city.com
http://enlightenment.today.com
http://hermetic.blog.com

Par : Brett

Brett — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:50:32 +0000

Thanks for the picture, the assemblage. It shows how one’s head works and that reality is a multi-mess which we’ll never get « right ». However, I disagree with Aime Cesare. He was just not living long enough. It takes more than three hundred years to make cicilizations and traditions meet on a level where they really enrich eachother. The history of colonalization was first of all a history of brutality and predation – and yet it was the inspiration of universal human rights and the alikeness of all human beings. Today, the idea of universal human rights is getting more close to be the global benchmark of civilization. Yes, we are far away from the goal and the world can always easily float back. The idea has been suspended much too often but it won’t be stopped in the end. Let’s hope. At least we have the first coloured president in the USA. So, who’s next? France, GB or Germany? History happens suddenly and is nevertheless slower than a snail…