Projekt

The project focuses on the colonial scandal of Atakpame (1902-7) which was widely covered by the media of the German Empire. The planned book will not only elucidate the medial impact of the scandal which, like almost all colonial scandals, hinges on colonial administrators' sexual predation and excessive violence (and its representation in the media), but also analyse the underlying events in Atakpame, a village in German-Togo. Preliminary research has shown that the events in Togo stand in tension with the way newspapers reported them in Germany. The difference as such is not surprising but rather a hallmark of all forms of transfer processes. It is much more interesting to note the consequences which follow from the fact that the medialised events in Togo had hardly anything to do with the actual events in Togo. The most important consequence was - and this is the thesis of the project - that framing the events as a scandal led to the silencing of inherent contradictions within the colonial system rather than the revelation of its "abuses". The scandal therefore had a far reaching impact not by transferring facts or fictions from the colonies to Berlin, not by revealing some hidden secrets and abuses, but instead by silencing. Put in a more general perspective, the project wants to point out that entanglement is not only about transfer, but also about silencing.

• Prof. Dr. Rebekka Habermas

  Universität Göttingen
  Philosophische Fakultät
  Seminar für Mittlere und Neuere Geschichte
  Lehrstuhl für Neuere Geschichte
  Göttingen