mondo cinema and beyond 1960s — 1980s


neither/nor on civilization


the notion of civ i l ization, in order to have meaning, requires the notion of savagery—it is defined by its opposite, by that which it is not. Borrowed from the French civilisé, in use since the 16th century, it began to gain traction in the English language during the Age of Enlightenment. Tis is the same time frame, approximately, when increased overseas exploration led to the beginning of the European colonial period in earnest. In the concept of civilization, the colonial powers found a readymade justification for their rapacity abroad. Tey were not merely pell-mell draining the natural resources of their new protectorates, but


bartering a trade. In exchange for diamonds and coffee and rubber and human chattel, they would bring the gift of civilization—which included administrative systems, practical infrastructure that might incidentally benefit the colonized people, and spiritual sustenance from whatever subdivision of the Christian church the colonizing country pledged its allegiance to. Te indigenous peoples were, in their current state, deemed a danger to themselves and others—Europeans were fascinated by reports of the Indian sati or the cruelty of the Apaches or incidences of cannibalism among isolated South Pacific islanders—and so they would be


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