Vol.2, No 9, 2002 pp. 349 - 357
UDC 820-4

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BENEVOLENT RACISM: CAN THE OTHER REPRESENT ITSELF?
Tatjana Aleksić
Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, Niš, Serbia 

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Power has given the West the 'legitimate right' to define the Other as 'savage' or 'backward', and therefore bring the enlightment of its 'civilisation' by either exterminating or 'taming' the 'savages' of Africa, Australia and India, or by 'civilising' 'rogue nations' by bombs, which was the common practice throughout the XX century, and is bound to continue into the future. The process by which the West imposes various complexes upon non-western nations has to a great degree been effective. However, these attempts would have been futile without the help of the people who are only too willing to accept the Western notion of the backwardness of their own culture and tradition, and the dire need of having them replaced by 'progressive' Western models and ideas. Cultural colonisation is grounded in the belief that one culture is inferior and has to be annihilated and completely written over by another. When cultural domination is seen as the ultimate power the superior nation can have over another, there is no talk of reciprocal influences between cultures. There are only 'winner cultures' and 'loser cultures'. The same stands true of the current events in the Balkans, which have for decades been described and invented. When the silenced Other finally decides to speak and retell its own experience, it is with a distinct foreign accent.

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BLAGONAKLONI RASIZAM:
MOŽE LI  DRUGI  SÂM SEBE DA PREDSTAVLJA? Zapad je sebi dao neotuđivo pravo da 'otkriva', definiše, imenuje i klasifikuje svet oko sebe. Može da narode i kulture sa višestruko dužom istorijom od svoje proglašava za zaostale i primitivne, da ih odrođuje od ljudske vrste i istrebljuje, ako se potreba za tim ukaže, a da svetlo svoje civilizacije donosi čak i bombama. Svi pokušaji Zapada i angažovane snage nauke, sociologije i diplomatije, usmereni ka pokoravanju i kontrolisanju sveprisutne drugosti su urodili plodom: Zapad nije samo sebe i svoje javno mnjenje ubedio u sopstvenu superiornost, već je i definisani 'Drugi' čvrsto počeo da veruje u potrebu da svoju 'zaostalos't i 'kulturnu inferiornost' može da ublaži jedino ako se prilagodi i uveze 'progresivne' ideje i modele sa Zapada. Ukoliko se dugo ućutkivani 'Drugi' ipak osmeli da progovori i proslavi svoju kulturnu tradiciju, njegovo iskustvo će gotovo sigurno biti marginalizovano zahvaljujući težnjama Zapada da svoju kulturu istakne kao superiorniju od drugih, dok sve druge tretira kao žive etnološke muzeje ili bedne pokušaje imitacije visoke kulture koju je sam stvorio. Zatiranje jedne kulture može biti uspešno samo ako se na njenim osnovama ustanovi nova, što su znali i drevni Rimljani, kada su uništili punsku Kartaginu i izgradili svoju tik pored nje. Ove prve se više niko i ne seća, a turisti hrle u razgledanje rimskih ruševina.