Colonial Memories in Beligan and Congolese Literature
Author(s)
Kongolo, Antoine Tshitungu
Abstract
This essay represents a deliberately and necessarily modest contribution to our understanding of an undeniably complex set of issues, namely, the ways in which colonial memories have been operating, both in Belgium and in the Congo, with a particular emphasis on the last quarter of the twentieth century. One cannot deny that certain erosions of memory have been taking place on both sides. They have resulted in the burying of painful subjects under layers of silence, a phenomenon caused in no small measure by a legacy of guilt. Yet, there have also been signs of renewed interest in the colonial past in recent decades. This has had a noticeable impact on Belgian and Congolese literature, as well as on the parallel adoption of a genuinely critical stance.
