America, by Jan van der Straet. Portrays the cultured and noble European man bringing civilisation and religion to the American natives.
In Dr Nicole Perry’s lecture this week on Indianthusiam, she discussed the connections Germans felt with Native Americans. One phrase in particular stuck with me – blood brothers. Only a few days beforehand I was discussing this exact concept, but in relation with Spanish identity and Moroccans in the 19th century.
For Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries, national identity and imperial identity were deeply intertwined. To cement their identity, they needed to expand and colonise. Based on what Dr Perry discussed, I would gather the same or similar about Germany. Both desired colonisation over inferior (that is, less developed in the eyes of the conqueror) nations, and to do that they needed moral justification. Proving that their act was undeniably good, they could commit atrocities in good consciousness. On a side note, the same concepts can be seen with the Christian Crusades. It was viewed as an armed privilege, and that those who died during it would earn a place in heaven.
Like the Germans with Native Americans, Spaniards pushed their connection with Moroccans out of this desire for colonisation. Perry discussed how Germans viewed themselves as better, more humane colonisers, and therefore more worthy of colonising the stoic Native Americans from the “greedy yankees”. Spaniards viewed Moroccans as in cultural decline due to their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Since it was the Spaniards who had caused this loss of culture (and by extension, civilised identity), they were morally obligated to help restore their ancient splendour.
In both cases, the term of blood brother wasn’t used in fraternity. Rather, it appears to be used to mentally validate colonisation of a different cultural group.
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For those who have interest in reading further about imperial identity, I would recommend the following text, specifically pages 50-62: Martin-Márquez, Susan. Disorientations: Spanish Colonialism in Africa and the Performance of Identity. Yale University press, 2008.
Written by Sarah Albom
