South Africa and the Colonial Intellectual

What are the characteristic features of the colonial intellectual? This essay approaches this question via two paths, historical and contemporary, in order to show the persistence of a legacy that shapes our work. Postapartheid South Africa and the debate around justice and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are set in the broader context of nineteenth century colonial language studies. With the benefit of hindsight, the animating aspects of the colonial context are traced to a formative ambivalence regarding property and possession. This reading is extended to recent work on ethics and South African restitution and testimony. Hegel’s treatment of Africa and his reading of Antigone form a thread linking past and present.