The Art of Forgetting: imperialist amnesia and public secrecy

Abstract

This article explores the implications of a phenomenon that, following Renato Rosaldo's influential discussion of ‘imperialist nostalgia’, I call ‘imperialist amnesia’: the fetishistic disavowal of the legacy of European colonisation within contemporary postcolonial societies. I describe the manifestation of this amnesia in discourses as diverse as academic scholarship, international development and travel writing. Observing the recurrence of imperialist amnesia in the face of persistent attempts to historicise postcoloniality, I propose that the disavowal of colonialism functions as what Michael Taussig calls a ‘public secret’—something commonly known but not generally acknowledged—helping to efface the grim realities of the colonial enterprise. Public secrecy by its nature defies most attempts at disclosure; hence efforts to publicise colonialism's contemporary influences may paradoxically reinforce their obfuscation by perpetuating the very imperialist amnesia they seek to dispel.