Reflections on Memmi’s The Colonizer and the Colonized

Memmi himself admits that he “ did not conceive of this book as a work of protest or even as a search for solutions. It was born out of reflection on an accepted failure” (145). He wanted to take an introspective look at what exactly colonialism was and why it could not work; he wan

ted to pass this information on to his readers so that they could understand the shortcomings of this system they called colonialism. It has been said that those who forget the past we be doomed to repeat it. That is why this book has gained such importance in our world literature. It is not for its grand solutions to a world problem but just a vast understanding of that very problem. Once fully understood, only then can one go on to fix the travesties of this world.

Memmi’s work should be regarded as an important sociological study which describes one of the biggest modern human injustices committed by a civilized power. The effort a reader must exert to read this work will be found well worth it for the insight the reader gains. The shortcomings are minor compared to

Some topics in this essay:
Angeles Times, Albert Memmi, called colonialism,