## CULTURE AND HISTORY Nr. 02 December 2024

## Introduction

Colonialism, Race, and Power in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Daniel Steinbach History

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The 19th and 20th centuries were transformative periods of expansion, consolidation, and eventual unravelling of colonial empires across the globe. These centuries saw the proliferation of imperial ideologies,  practices,  and  cultural  codes  that  permeated  everyday  life,  while  also  shaping  and reshaping  social  systems  and  structures.  Colonial  cultures  emerged  as  dynamic  spaces  where differences were encountered, power asserted, identities constructed, and resistance negotiated. This special issue explores the multifaceted nature of colonial cultures from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, drawing attention to their manifestation in diverse regions and contexts, from the settler colonies of Australia and Kenya to the imperial 'peripheries' of Greenland and Indochina. The breadth of geographical scope across the ten articles contained in the special issue reflects the extensive  reach  of  high  imperialism.  Across  contexts,  the  articles  examine  complex  intersections among material culture, ideology, and social hierarchy. By analysing distinct practices - from dining to  photography,  hunting,  conservation,  and  governance  -  the  articles  illuminate  how  colonial cultures functioned as instruments of control as well as sites of conflict, and in so doing reveal the enduring legacies of imperialism.

## CULTURE AND HISTORY Nr. 02 December 2024

These contributions all emerged from students of the MA History course 'Colonialism, Race, and Power in the 19th and 20th Centuries', taught at the University of Copenhagen during the academic years  2022/23  and  2023/24.  These  classes  brought  together  individuals  from  diverse  academic backgrounds, both in terms of nationality and discipline, united by a shared interest in critically engaging with themes of colonialism, power, and globalisation across various temporal, spatial, and cultural  contexts.  Each  article  is  grounded  in  the  students'  original  research,  drawing  often  on primary source material that has not previously been the focus of scholarly attention. These sources themselves speak to the technological advancements of this period, spanning mass-printed books and newspapers to photographs, radio broadcasts, and early television programmes. Such materials illustrate the ways in which the colonial era facilitated a 'shrinking' of the world, brought about through  the  dense  networks  of  social  connections  and  cultural  exchanges  that  accompanied European imperial expansion.

The  articles  also  engage  with  the  evolution  of  mindsets,  knowledge  systems,  and  ideological constructs  that  shaped  how  Europeans  perceive  the  'others'  they  encountered  through  imperial expansion,  but  also  how  they  came  to  understand  themselves  in  response.  Central  to  these discussions are notions of racial difference, constructions of sex and gender, and attitudes towards nature  and  the  environment.  All  these  categories  and  concepts  were  profoundly  influenced  by Europe's  encounters  with  the  colonised  world  -  but  such  ideas  were  also  inextricably  linked  to 'praxis' and in combination with colonial power shaped social norms and behaviours in ways distinct from metropolitan contexts. For example, in the colonies, forms of violence that were long outlawed in Europe persisted or were reintroduced, sexual relationships were rigidly regulated by intersections of  race  and  gender,  and  family  structures  were  adapted  to  serve  the  logics  of  empire.  Efforts  to control colonised spaces and the bodies of colonised peoples were deeply intertwined, reflecting the totalising ambitions of colonial governance. The articles within this collection collectively illustrate how colonial societies operated as complex, all-encompassing systems, where ideologies and material conditions reinforced one another to sustain imperial rule.

In  the  first  article, Wild  Food:  Culinary  Colonialism  and  the  Construction  of  Australian  Cuisine , Micheala Petruso opens the discussion by exploring how the culinary landscape of colonial Australia

## CULTURE AND HISTORY Nr. 02 December 2024

was shaped through the encounter between Indigenous foodways and settler ideologies. The article highlights how food served as a site of cultural negotiation, reinforcing settler dominance while also exposing underlying anxieties about belonging and identity in an unfamiliar land. Dining practices and their symbolic importance to colonial identity are further analysed by Emilie Bolding Ørum in A Performance for Dinner: Dining Culture and Colonial Identity in the Dutch East Indies, 1880-1910 . Through the lens of colonial photography, the article reveals how dining rituals were employed to reinforce  European  cultural  superiority  and  maintain  strict  social  and  racial  boundaries.  The medium  of  photography,  a  recurring  theme  in  this  issue,  emerges  as  a  powerful  tool  for  both perpetuating and challenging colonial authority.

This duality of photography is particularly evident in Behind the Mask: Counternarratives in John Møller's Photographs from Greenland, 1889-1922 , where Nanna V. H. Emtoft examines the work of Greenland's first Indigenous photographer. Through a close analysis of Møller's images, the article uncovers subtle critiques of Danish colonial rule embedded within the photographer's compositions, which challenged conventional representations of colonial hierarchies. Similarly, Elizabeth Megan Kiemel Clewett in Frames of Domination: Connecting the Chaining of Aboriginal 'Prisoners' and Settler Emotions,  1900-1950 analyses  how  colonial  photography  in  Australia  was  used  to  assert  settler control over Aboriginal bodies. At the same time, this piece interrogates the ways in which these images  were  framed  to  appeal  to  humanitarian  sensibilities,  revealing  the  conditional  nature  of settler empathy and its inability to confront the broader violence of the colonial system.

Moving from visual culture to bodily violence, Atrocities in the 'Heart of Darkness': Sexual Violence as a Weapon of Colonial Control in the Congo Free State, 1885-1908 by Daniel Fabricius provides a harrowing  account  of  sexual  violence  as  a  systematic  tool  of  colonial  oppression.  The  article examines how practices such as rape, abduction, and forced incest were employed to subjugate the Congolese population, simultaneously enforcing racial hierarchies and consolidating economic and military control. This deeply gendered and racialised violence exposes the brutal underpinnings of colonial authority and its devastating impact on Indigenous communities.

The relationship between colonial power and the environment is explored in two articles focusing on East Africa. In 'Managing' Wildlife: Hunting and Conservation in the 'White Highlands' of Early

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Colonial  Kenya Susann  Heidecke  examines  the  contradictions  of  settler  conservation  practices, highlighting how European settlers in Kenya sought to preserve 'pristine' nature while engaging in hunting and agricultural activities that decimated local wildlife populations. The article argues that these practices reinforced settler dominance by delegitimising Indigenous ecological knowledge and dispossessing precolonial landholders. Similarly, in Colonial Nature: Hunting in Karen Blixen's 'Out of Africa ' Laura Soland Wang Larsen investigates the symbolic significance of hunting in colonial British East Africa, using Blixen's experiences as a lens to explore gendered and racial dimensions of colonial  life.  The  article  reveals  how  hunting  rituals  and  narratives  upheld  imperial  ideologies, shaping perceptions of masculinity, femininity, and power in the colonial context.

The  economic  and  social  transformations  wrought  by  colonial  rule  are  addressed  by  Zoe Robakiewicz in Shifting  the  Centre:  The  Transformation  of  Greenlandic  Society  from  Subsistence  to Market Economy in the Nineteenth Century . This article traces the mechanisms through which Danish colonial administrators integrated Greenland into a capitalist market system, dismantling subsistence  economies,  and  reshaping  Indigenous  governance  through  reforms  such  as  the establishment of local representative councils. These societal transformations are echoed by Ida Kaae Antonisen in Métis Child Removal in French Indochina: Change and Continuity from the Second World War to  Decolonisation ,  which  examines  the  persistent  colonial  practice  of  removing  'mixed-race' children from their Indigenous mothers. Despite shifts in rhetoric and priorities during and after the  Second World War, the article reveals how these practices were rooted in enduring colonial anxieties about race, memory, and the preservation of French influence.

The final article, Portuguese Africa through Danish Eyes and Ears: Danmarks Radio's Portrayal of the Portuguese  Colonial  State,  1961-1974 ,  Alex  Alexandre  provides  a  unique  perspective  on  colonial cultures  through  the  lens  of  media  representation.  By  analysing  Danish  radio  broadcasts  and television news, the article traces the evolution of public discourse on Portuguese colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique, from early uncritical reporting to a later, more pronounced anti-colonial stance. This shift reflects broader global trends in anti-colonial activism and the changing dynamics of public opinion during the second half of the 20th century.

## CULTURE AND HISTORY Nr. 02 December 2024

Together,  these  articles  present  a  wide-ranging  exploration  of  colonial  cultures  and  practices, uncovering  their  role  in  shaping  identities,  governing  societies,  and  reinforcing  hierarchies.  By focusing on  diverse geographies and  themes, this special issue contributes to  a  nuanced understanding  of  the  cultural  dimensions  of  colonial  power  and  resistance.  It  invites  readers  to reflect on the legacies of colonialism that continue to shape our world and to consider the ways in which  historical  narratives  can  be  re-examined  to  illuminate  hidden  stories  of  resilience  and transformation.

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