Empires and Culture

Catalog description

In 1800, Europeans controlled 35 percent of the earth's land surface. By 1914, it was 84 percent; American and Japanese imperialism soon followed. Beyond political control and economic exploitation, culture was instrumental in legitimizing imperial rule through the discourses of civilizing mission, scientific racism, social Darwinism, and in the Japanese case, a co-prosperity for Asians through assimilation. However, colonized peoples contested imperialism and colonialism through cultural practices such as mimicry, 'signifying', literary practice, and critique of liberalism and humanism. This course examines how culture is inscribed in the workings and failings of empires and their legacies. 001291