Enlightened Colonialism? French Assimilationism, Silencing, and Colonial Fantasy on Madagascar

Abstract

This chapter develops a case study exploring in greater detail the consequences of the Enlightenment narrative on a local scale. It focuses on French colonization attempts (and writings related to such attempts) on Madagascar. Schemes to colonize this island after the Seven Years’ War played a great role in the propagation of the assimilationist ideal and led to the first formulations of the French “civilizing mission.” Tricoire argues that the appropriation of the Enlightenment narrative by authors of schemes to colonize Madagascar introduced new “silences” about native cultures and colonial experience. The “enlightened” colonial discourse about Madagascar and its colonization even worked to transform the reports and memoranda into an almost fictional genre of literary production. As a consequence, the Ministers of the Navy had a distorted view of the circumstances on Madagascar and developed colonial policies on false premises. The Enlightenment had favored dreams about colonization, rather than colonial expansion itself.