Postcolonial Theory and Sámi Archaeology—A Commentary

It was with some hesitation that I accepted the organizers’ kind invitation to act as discussant in the 2014 Nordic TAG session on Sámi Archaeology and Postcolonial Theory. I have for long been convinced of the positive potentials for postcolonial theory in archaeological analysis, but with my main focus being Southeast Asian heritage studies, my knowledge of Sámi archaeology was close to none. And despite an almost vertical learning curve, my skills in Sámi archaeology remain rather slim. So I better begin with a humble apology for any mistakes that my lack of expert knowledge in this field may cause.

That being said, I am now glad that I accepted the invitation. Not only has it meant a much-welcome boost of my knowledge about Sámi archaeology, but the papers presented in the session and in this volume have also presented me with stimulating theoretical challenges, and they have pointed out inspirational new ways of matching postcolonial theory and archaeology in critical and creative analysis. In this short commentary I will bring out some important strands and key concepts of postcolonial theory which I find particularly relevant for Sámi archaeology. I will give some examples of how they have been used in the papers of this volume and point to a few points and issues where I believe that postcolonial theory could contribute in a fruitful way to further analysis.

Postcolonial Criticism and Postcolonial Theory

Despite the “post” indicating that it has to do with a situation after colonialism, the field of postcolonialism is better defined as “the contestation of colonial domination and the legacies of colonialism” (Loomba 2005:16). The usefulness of postcolonialism is therefore not restricted to situations of direct colonialism or decolonization. More broadly, it is a useful perspective for critical reading and contestation of politics, culture, or enterprises that involves colonial (-like) domination or legacies of colonialism. Accepting this wider definition means that most cultural, political, and business structures in our contemporary world (which cherishes the idea of globalization and at the same time displays very real, historically contingent inequalities between people) qualifies for postcolonial analysis. This leaves decisions of whether or not a cultural event (for example involving interactions between Sámi and other Swedish, Norwegian, or Finnish people) is a case of “real” colonization superfluous when it comes to finding postcolonialism a useful framework to think with. It is sufficient to say that the general history of Sámi in Scandinavia contains elements of colonial (-like) domination or legacies of colonialism that make it clear that postcolonialism has something to offer to the field of Sámi archaeology.

In my navigation through the wide and sometimes bewildering field of postcolonialism, I have found some consolidation in the division between postcolonial criticism and postcolonial theory (e.g., Moore-Gilbert 1997; see also Hood, this volume). Postcolonial criticism came first. It was born out of colonial situations in the early 20th century and can be described as the direct contestation of colonial or colonial-like domination. Often formulated by the oppressed subjects themselves, or intellectuals who act as representatives of the oppressed, it has a clear radical agenda and is often paired with activism. It is characterized by an acute desire to turn the structures of inequality upside down and offer extra privileges to the historically unprivileged. The négritude and Black Power movements are two examples of postcolonial criticism, and Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon are two well-known founding figures. Today postcolonial criticism is most commonly expressed in art, literature, “antiracist” political movements, and blogs like Rummet (rummets.se). Indigenous archaeology (e.g., Ojala and Nordin, this volume) is akin to postcolonial criticism with its direct claims of extra privileges as a means to contest historical oppression.

Postcolonial theory is an academic phenomenon of much more recent date. Edward Said’s (1978) seminal work Orientalism is often said to mark the foundation of this field of critical academia, focusing on the identification and analysis of legacies of colonialism in mundane discourses. Postcolonial theory is formed around the burning radical nerve of postcolonial criticism...