A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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the African context. But, the inability to truly implement this racial utopia represents the<br />
expression of both the <strong>German</strong> and the African reterritorialization of <strong>German</strong> desires. In<br />
<strong>German</strong>y, this resulted in growing calls for the maintenance of racial and national<br />
identity, while in the colonies both an increased tolerance of African assimilation as well<br />
as a virulent backlash against the dilution of <strong>German</strong> control were evident. Deleuze and<br />
Guattari’s ideas accommodate the influence of both <strong>German</strong> society and settler opinion<br />
upon colonialism illustrated in this reciprocal blend of African and <strong>German</strong> opinion. 69<br />
Even more recent formulations of the encounters between <strong>German</strong>s and Africans ignore<br />
this contesting and shaping of colonial discourse in both the colonies and the metropolis.<br />
To truly investigate social and political concerns, the complete social, cultural, economic<br />
and political context must be researched.<br />
When examining the relationship between the <strong>German</strong> population and the colonial<br />
policy of the <strong>German</strong> nation, some bifurcations and differences are immediately evident.<br />
It is questionable whether Deleuze and Guattari’s idea of a bureaucracy that subsumes<br />
and controls popular desire is apparent. Perhaps the clash between utopian hopes for the<br />
colonies and the realities of colonial control separated the bureaucracy from the <strong>German</strong><br />
populace? The manner in which the <strong>German</strong> government imagined the world and the<br />
African colonies is obviously separated from the early popular ignorance of colonial<br />
affairs. Therefore, the sometimes capricious and uncompromising actions of government<br />
policy in expansion appear to be more than just deterritorializations of <strong>German</strong> power in<br />
the colonies, but deterritorializations within <strong>German</strong> society as well. Consequently, the<br />
citizenry’s reterritorializations are evident in the later reforms of <strong>German</strong> colonial policy.<br />
90