Please Accept Colonialism to Continue
I recently finished working on a project which highlights the darker aspects of the Dutch colonial presence in Brazil, and questions the myth of the Good Coloniser. Surprisingly, when you first hear it, there’s an undercurrent, primarily in the Brazilian Northeast, where adherents believe that if only the Dutch had stayed, Brazil would be in a better place, today.
It’s impossible to predict the future, but as the Dutch became harsher colonisers because of their experience in Brazil, Brazil somehow profiting from an elongated Dutch presence is not overly likely.
At the same time, the Portuguese managing to get the Dutch to leave Brazil is seen as the creation myth for the Brazilian armed forces and, in a way, the birth of a unified nation.
Both are fables, but, perhaps more strikingly, are also in a kind of opposition to each other.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Dutch colonial adventure in Brazil is virtually unknown. And, perhaps considering that the Dutch to some extent (but only to some extent) have come to terms with their colonial past, learning about yet another colonial misadventure in the nation’s past, is, in my experience, mostly received with a kind of shoulder-raising; “Whatevs…”
So, I decided to take the material from Sins Beneath the Equator and generatively alter it, to exalt the colonial endeavours. I then realised I could do the same but from both a Black and Indigenous perspective.
In case it needs to be said, this is a work of satire.
So, Please Accept Colonialism to Continue begins with the full text of some article from Sins Beneath the Equator. Two neighbouring paragraphs are chosen at random and fused into one shorter paragraph. This repeats until only one remains. You can choose what the rewrites promote: Portuguese colonialism, Dutch colonialism, Black resilience, or Indigenous resistance. Each merger becomes more extravagantly positive about that choice. Colonial modes invent institutional triumphs; resilience and resistance modes celebrate collective agency and self-determination. The final merger produces one or two sentences of praise.
Historical accuracy gives way to a fictional narrative shaped by your choice. History is progressively improved.