''The Colonizer and the Colonized'' () is a nonfiction book by

Albert Memmi Albert Memmi (; 15 December 1920 – 22 May 2020) was a French-Tunisian writer and essayist of Tunisian Jewish origins. A prominent intellectual, his nonfiction books and novels explored his complex identity as an anti-imperialist, deeply re ...

, published in French in 1957 and first published in an English translation in 1965. The work explores and describes the psychological effects of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

on colonized and colonizers alike. Colonizers, according Memmi, idolize their own cultures and degrade colonized cultures, as colonization itself valorizes racism as both a foundational premise and the ultimate expression of its power. Memmi argues that the colonized have a complex and contradictory relation with the colonizers, hating them while simultaneously admiring them. Effective decolonization requires the colonized to complete three steps: first, accept separateness and see themselves as individuals as well as a collective people; second, to engage in excessive self-affirmation to encourage their developing political subjectivity; and third, to establish a truthful perception of one's self (and, one's people). He suggests that neither the colonized nor the colonizers have achieved this final step. When it was published in 1957, many national liberation movements were active.

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

wrote the preface. The work is often read in conjunction with

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...

's ''Les damnés de la Terre'' (''

The Wretched of the Earth ''The Wretched of the Earth'' () is a 1961 book by the philosopher Frantz Fanon, in which the author provides a psychoanalysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation, and discusses the broader social, cul ...

'') and ''Peau noire, masques blancs'' (''

Black Skin, White Masks ''Black Skin, White Masks'' () is a 1952 book by philosopher-psychiatrist Frantz Fanon. The book is written in the style of autoethnography, with Fanon sharing his own experiences while presenting a historical critique of the effects of racism a ...

'') and

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

's '' Discourse on Colonialism''. In 2004, Memmi published a follow-up book, ''Portrait du décolonisé: arabo-musulman et de quelques autres.'' The English-language edition, ''Decolonization and the Decolonized'', appeared in 2006.

References

1957 non-fiction books Postcolonial literature Works about the French colonial empire {{postcolonialism-stub