Colonial mentality

A colonial mentality is an internalized ethnic, linguistic, or cultural inferiority complex imposed on peoples as a result of colonization, i.e. being invaded and conquered by another nation state and then being gaslit, often through the educational system, into linguistic imperialism and cultural assimilation[1] through an instilled belief that the language and culture of the colonizer are superior to their own heritage languages and cultures.[2] Such a mentality may also be developed among the descendants of families who chose voluntary immigration to another nation state, only to be similarly gaslit, bullied, and shamed for their bilingualism, loyalty to any elements of their ancestral culture, and ability to speak immigrant languages (see hyphenated Americans). The term has been used by postcolonial scholars to discuss the transgenerational legacy still present in independent states following decolonization.[3][4] It is commonly used as an operational concept for framing ideological domination in historical colonial experiences.[5][6] In psychology, colonial mentality has been used to explain instances of collective depression, anxiety, and other widespread mental health issues in populations that have experienced colonization.[7][8]

Notable Marxist influences on the postcolonial concept of colonial mentality include Frantz Fanon's works on the fracturing of the colonial psyche through Western cultural domination,[9] as well as the concept of cultural hegemony developed by Italian Communist Party Founder Antonio Gramsci.[10]

Criticism of the colonial mentality, however, is not solely a Marxist concept. Anti-Marxist nationalist intellectuals, such as Douglas Hyde, Saunders Lewis, Patrick Pearse, Máirtín Ó Direáin, and John Lorne Campbell, who have also favored political, cultural, literary, and linguistic decolonisation, have also denounced the colonial mentality as a serious problem among their own people. As a solution, they recommended heritage language learning and cultural nationalism; meaning a combination of reviving the best elements of the pre-colonial past and turning away from only emulating the colonizer in favor of looking at the culture and literature of the whole world, especially by those engaged in literature and the arts.

  1. ^ Nunning, Vera. (06/01/2015). Fictions of Empire and the (un-making of imperialist mentalities: Colonial discourse and post-colonial criticism revisited. Forum for world literature studies. (7)2. p.171-198.
  2. ^ David, E. J. R.; Okazaki, Sumie (1 April 2010). "Activation and Automaticity of Colonial Mentality". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 40 (4): 850. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00601.x. ISSN 1559-1816.
  3. ^ David, E. J. R. (2010). "Testing the validity of the colonial mentality implicit association test and the interactive effects of covert and overt colonial mentality on Filipino American mental health". Asian American Journal of Psychology. 1 (1): 31–45. doi:10.1037/a0018820.
  4. ^ Anderson, Warwick; Jenson, Deborah; Keller, Richard Charles) (2011). Unconscious dominions : psychoanalysis, colonial trauma, and global sovereignties. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822393986. OCLC 757835774.
  5. ^ Goss, Andrew (2009). "Decent colonialism? Pure science and colonial ideology in the Netherlands East Indies, 1910–1929". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 40 (1): 187–214. doi:10.1017/s002246340900006x. ISSN 1474-0680. S2CID 143041214.
  6. ^ Felipe, Lou Collette S. (2016). "The relationship of colonial mentality with Filipina American experiences with racism and sexism". Asian American Journal of Psychology. 7 (1): 25–30. doi:10.1037/aap0000033.
  7. ^ Paranjpe, Anand C. (11 August 2016). "Indigenous Psychology in the Post- Colonial Context: An Historical Perspective". Psychology and Developing Societies. 14 (1): 27–43. doi:10.1177/097133360201400103. S2CID 145154030.
  8. ^ Utsey, Shawn O.; Abrams, Jasmine A.; Opare-Henaku, Annabella; Bolden, Mark A.; Williams, Otis (21 May 2014). "Assessing the Psychological Consequences of Internalized Colonialism on the Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults in Ghana". Journal of Black Psychology. 41 (3): 195–220. doi:10.1177/0095798414537935. S2CID 146178551.
  9. ^ Rabaka, Reiland (2010). Forms of Fanonism : Frantz Fanon's critical theory and the dialectics of decolonization. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739140338. OCLC 461323889.
  10. ^ Srivastava, Neelam Francesca Rashmi; Bhattacharya, Baidik (2012). The postcolonial Gramsci. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415874816. OCLC 749115630.