Intimate Colonialism
Writing Lives
Ethnographic Narratives
Series Editors:
Arthur P. Bochner & Carolyn Ellis
University of South Florida
Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives publishes narrative representations of qualitative research projects. The series editors seek manuscripts that blur the boundaries between humanities and social sciences. We encourage novel and evocative forms of expressing concrete lived experience, including autoethnographic, literary, poetic, artistic, visual, performative, critical, multi-voiced, conversational, and co-constructed representations. We are interested in ethnographic narratives that depict local stories; employ literary modes of scene setting, dialogue, character development, and unfolding action; and include the authors critical reflections on the research and writing process, such as research ethics, alternative modes of inquiry and representation, reflexivity, and evocative storytelling. Proposals and manuscripts should be directed to abochner@cas.usf.edu
Volumes in this series:
Erotic Mentoring: Womens Transformations in the University
Janice Hocker Rushing
Intimate Colonialism: Head, Heart, and Body in West African Development Work
Laurie L. Charls
Last Writes: A Daybook for a Dying Friend
Laurel Richardson
First published 2007 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Charls, Laurie L.
Intimate colonialism : head, heart, and body in West African development work / Laurie L. Charls.
p. cm. (Writing livesethnographic narratives)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59874-104-9 (hardback : alk. paper)ISBN 978-1-59874-105-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Charls, Laurie L. 2. Peace Corps (U.S.)TogoBiography. 3. EthnologyTogo. I. Title.
DT582.82.C43C43 2007
361.6092dc22
[B]
2007002888
07 08 09 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design by Andrew Brozyna
Excerpts of stories in were published in abbreviated versions by Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY, in: Charls, L. (2006). Young Women Struggling for an Education: Systemic Work with a Village Community in West Africa, Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 18(3), 6383. Article copies available from the the Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH, docdelivery@haworthpress.com.
ISBN 13: 978-1-59874-105-6 paperback
ISBN 13: 978-1-59874-104-9 hardback
To My Sisters
Contents
Bernadette, a single, Togolese mother of three children; once a social worker for a Scandinavian NGO; the authors homologue (work counterpart) in the village
Marguerite Diore, 17-year-old daughter in the Diore household, where the author lives for three months during training in Kpalim
Maxim, a Togolese Peace Corps language instructor; a charming, intelligent, mysterious man who becomes the authors close friend and, eventually, romantic partner
Nyalewossi, a tough, assertive, and charming Togolese teenager and president of the Jeunes Filles (young girls) group in the authors assigned village
Oded, recent romantic partner (and ongoing friend) of the author; lives in Jerusalem
Odette, a beautiful Togolese teenager who exemplifies a typical teenage African girl, who is having an affair with her schoolteacher
Patricia, sister of the author, an artist who lives in Houston
Pre Antoine, a demure Togolese Catholic priest; studied five years in Rome and speaks fluent Italian; one of the authors first Togolese confidantes; eventually reported by the author to the archbishop for sexual harassment
Ren, a Togolese agro-economist, and married man, with whom the author has an intimate, sexual relationship
Shoshana, composite character representing three female fellow Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) who serve with the authorkind, impulsive, insightful confidantes and partners-in-crime
There is one way to understand another culture. Living it. Move into it, ask to be tolerated as a guest, learn the language. At some point understanding may come. It will always be wordless. The moment you grasp what is foreign, you will lose the urge to explain it. To explain a phenomenon is to distance yourself from it.
Peter Hoeg, Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow
Being in a foreign country means walking a tight rope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has his family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood.
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
I sensed immediately that I was at some kind of watershed you know that feeling, when you can almost see the two or several directions your life might take ahead of you, a moment when you know that the next choice you are about to make is going to be crucial and possibly final. That there is no going back and that nothing will ever be the same again.
William Boyd, The Blue Afternoon
Prologue: June 23, 1999
Near the end of my solitary dinner of fried beef liver and fresh spinach, the phone rings. Its Cleo, my recruiter from the Peace Corps.
Ive got good news. Youve finally been cleared. Your hemoglobin is now at an acceptable level and you are eligible for an assignment.
Yea! Finally! I yell as I jump up and down in my tiny studio apartment. Ive wanted to join Peace Corps for years. Now I can stop eating these awful dinners. Ive been eating liver (accompanied by lots of red wine) every Friday, in an attempt to conquer the diagnosis of anemia that prevented my Peace Corps medical clearance. I hate fried liver. When I was a child, my mother tried to feed it to us. I still remember the three of us children sitting at the dinner table in the dark, liver untouched.
Unfortunately, Cleo continues after congratulating me, there is nothing left for this summer in the urban youth program. But Ive forwarded your name to another placement officer for a program in Africa. We received a late request for a volunteer in rural community development and girls education. It requires a French background, which you have, and is set for a late summer/early fall departure. Are you interested?
Yes, absolutely, I tell Cleo. What country is it?
Not sure. I just know its in West Africa. The placement officer for that desk is Jacob Frisco. Hell fill you in on all the details. Ill ask him to call you first thing tomorrow morning.
