A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

establishment of boundaries and tribal lands in order to force them into a fixed and
relational position with regard to white traders resulted in the demographic
reterritorialization of nomadic herders. In this manner, a process of territorialization
under colonialism, deterritorialization by African nomads, and reterritorialization by
German administrators and cartographers was continually enacted. The development of a
cartographic consciousness further stunted African social and cultural life by identifying
zones of exclusion and inclusion. In this way, the construction of commercial, political
and social spheres by German colonial power forced indigenous peoples into demarcated
locations, subject to German social, cultural, political and economic power. The formerly
distributional notion of African cultural identity and economic subsistence was rendered
impossible by German territorial and political geography. African attempts to
deterritorialize and transcend these borders in migration or revolt resulted in
reterritorializations through German repressions and the later creation of tribal reserves.
Looking comprehensively at the social and cultural manifestations of German
expansionist colonialism in Africa, several conclusions can be drawn from the
presentation of evidence above. In the attempt to impose European cultural and social
norms upon Africa, German expansion reflected German notions of self and power in the
mirror of Africa. 113 Germany deterritorialized its cultural and social ideas upon Africa,
and the history of German colonialism shows the various reterritorializations produced by
German and African resistance to this colonialism. The obviously Eurocentric focus of
this study underscores the fact that it is predominately a study of Germany’s influence
upon Africa; and thus Africa’s reciprocation cannot be discussed in equal terms.
Nonetheless, this analysis has also revealed how German impositions were subverted and
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