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Nicole Ceulemans

Autor/a de Jean Linden

4 obres 15 Membres 1 crítiques

Obres de Nicole Ceulemans

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Ressenyes

Unique testimony of a young Belgian who joins the Compagnie de Lomami for a stint in the Congo Free State between 1905-07.

The accompanying pictures reveal all: Carl in front of a string of African servants of the Force Publique carrying a whip; Carl sitting on the veranda with a Congolese wife embracing him. And yet… Probably out of shame and a feeling of embarrassment, Carl’s granddaughter Nicole, who found his diary and the pictures, goes in denial about the murky side of Carl’s experiences in the Congo Free State. She can do so, because Carl as a young, inexperienced, boy of 22 years old expresses shock at the behaviour of his fellow travellers during his two month trip up the river on a small, dirty steamer. This kind of dismay would be typical for a novice, who has not yet undergone local acculturation. Hence his shock at the foul language expressed by old hands, his dismay at the continuous bickering and gossiping about fellow whites, his surprise at the complete indifference towards the drowning of two African soldiers, and his growing silence on the racist and degenerate remarks about the stupidity of black Congolese. Carl deliberately does not participate in the drunken orgies that other whites engage in during stop-overs in villages along the river bed. He takes care of his health and refuses to drown himself in alcohol or sexual intercourse to fight bouts of boredom, frustration at the lack of pace or flights of homesickness.

It is unclear what makes Carl travel to Congo in the first place – he is not looking for adventure, but does try to make the best of this (temporary) labour migration. If anything he wants to gain status in the eyes of his loved ones. So perhaps he engaged in some kind of mischief at home, in Leuven or Antwerp? Did he impregnate a girl and leave in shame? We will never know. What I do suspect is that if evidence of such a cause for his departure were discovered, it would be suppressed by his granddaughter Nicole Ceulemans, who refuses to place the travelogue and Carl’s adventures within the moral time frame of the early 20th century.

In the course of his journey Carl grows apprehensive – certainly after the news that two white men have been brutally murdered by local Congolese inhabitants at the very trading post that Carl will end up in. In his diary Carl does not reveal the cause of this terrible event, and yet it is unlikely that he or his superiors did not know. Historical records highlight the brutal campaign of exploitation that preceded the killings.

After his placement in Yanga, Carl’s diary stops. Nicole then draws parallels with Conrad’s heart of darkness and the river journey that Conrad made as vice captain on a similar steamer, ten years before Carl’s journey. But her comparison falls short. She places Carl as an innocent observer, suggesting that he would not have participated in any mal practices. But how likely is that? He was sent to a place where two whites had been brutally murdered. Where a heavy prize in revenge was exacted by the Company and the Force Publique. And then the pictures tell us more. Carl adjusted successfully as a representative of a Company that imposed violence and exacted forced labour for harvesting rubber and ivory. He took a local concubine. He likely whipped his subordinates into submission. He became morally corrupted by the very practices which his bosses asked him to engage in. His consciousness probably prevented him from writing anything about his daily practices.

He managed to come back early (after 2.5 rather than 3 years). The first thing he did once back in Belgium was to apply for a certificate of good conduct and sound morals. Why would he do such a thing, if his behaviour in the Congo would have been morally exemplary, as Nicole would rather have us believe? Carl keeps silent about the Congo the rest of his life. He marries, becomes a father of three children and migrates to England during the Great War, practising as a chemical engineer at a waste water treatment facility – a job he also takes on upon his return to the Belgian Ardennes in 1920.
… (més)
 
Marcat
alexbolding | Jul 14, 2022 |

Estadístiques

Obres
4
Membres
15
Popularitat
#708,120
Valoració
3.0
Ressenyes
1
ISBN
4
Llengües
1