Cahiers d'études africaines
études et essais
Most obedient servants
The politics of language in German colonial Togo*
Résumé
Des serviteurs très obéissants : la politique de la langue au Togo sous la colonisation allemande. -- La politique éducative représentait une composante majeure de l'activité missionnaire chrétienne dans le bassin de la Volta et elle fut un élément central de l'administration allemande du Togo dans son entreprise de germanisation de ce pays. Cependant, des divergences surgirent quant au choix de la langue d'éducation. L'auteur analyse cette situation en termes de colonialisme linguistique et s'appuie sur les travaux de Fabian. Les documents de l'époque révèlent l'existence d'un conflit entre d'une part des volontés et des personnalités, d'autre part les langues anglaise, allemande et ewe. Ce conflit est vu comme l'anticipation de la lutte nationaliste. En 1904, les administrateurs allemands décidèrent de supprimer l'instruction en anglais au sein des missions et des écoles publiques et à cette fin firent pression auprès des leaders écclesiastiques pour qu'ils propagent l'usage de la langue, des moeurs et des habitudes économiques allemandes. Mais la population du sud du Togo ne l'entendait pas de cette oreille et profita de chaque occasion pour apprendre l'anglais et accroître l'image de la langue ewe dans sa nouvelle forme standardisée.
Abstract
Education policy was an integral component of Christian missionary activity in the Volta Basin, and remained central to the German administration's Germanization of Togo. Differences arose, however, as to the choice of language for instruction. This is interpreted as struggle of linguistic colonialism drawing on the model of Fabian. Documents from the period point to a complicated battle of desires and egos, and between the English, German and Ewe languages, that was a precusor to the nationalist struggle. In 1904 German administrators decided to eliminate English instruction in mission and state schools, and to this end pressured church leaders to ensure the spread of German language, customs, and economic practices. But the southern Togolese population had a very different opinion and took every opportunity at their disposal to learn English and aggrandize the influence of the new standardized and grammarized Ewe language.
Texte intégral
Education policy was an integral component of the colonial administration's Germanization of Togo. The first decade of German rule saw minimal interaction between the government and mission schools. By circa 1900, however, a very different policy developed, partly in response to German lobbyists in Berlin, and partly due to African demands and expectations of a European education. In 1904 German administrators decided to eliminate English instruction in mission and state schools, and to this end pressured church leaders to ensure the spread of German language, customs, and economic practices. While there was some reluctance on the part of missionaries to this new agenda, evidence of African attendance or otherwise provides more powerful examples of resistance. But in Togo the struggle over language instruction often concealed many other aspects of African agency. Battles over language and the lingua franca are illustrative of the African colonial encounter, providing insight into African forms of resistance and education policy. In Togo, however, the forces which I will argue are characteristic of linguistic colonialism, are but a backdrop for the birth of Ewe national consciousness. The German period was crucial for later Ewe hegemony in proto-nationalist movements. Leaders of nationalist groups which reached their peak in the 1940s and 50s during the UNO Trusteeship prior to independence, reflected on the defining experience of German rule.
The paper's title is a jibe at the ironies of German language policy between 1900 and 1914, and is lifted partly from a document discovered in Lomé. The simple story of colonial policy is that of abject failure by Germany, and African initiative and survival. The three main languages in question, Ewe, German and English were all taught in mission and state schools. Evidence from the German colonial archives clearly shows English outstripped German as the popular choice of African students. Despite the determination of German officials to outlaw English as the medium of instruction, complex forces combined to ensure its rapid spread as the preferred medium of communication. The precursor to the struggle between German and English, however, was the formalization and grammarization of the Ewe language by German and Swiss missionaries. Many schools offered instruction in Ewe throughout the colonial period; toward the end of German rule, government officials considered introducing it as a component of the curriculum. This development was part of the process of standardization that ultimately resulted in a high proportion of Togolese learning to speak, read and write the Ewe language. Ewe books and newspapers were commonplace in Lomé from 1910. Many non-Ewe people spoke Ewe fluently. Ewe speakers, not just Ewe people, became the dominant group of Africans resident in Togo; they largely controlled the native auxillaries of the government, intellectual occupations, merchant class and churches. By championing Ewe unity these Togolese "nationals" opposed the post-war division of their small country by Britain and France. Thus, in the face of colonial domination, Togolese were later to turn to their experience under German rule as a defining moment of their national awakening.
Essentially, the irony of the German education policy was that the language considered least important and least threatening by colonials, performed an integral role in nation-building. The complex story of language instruction in Togo reinvigorates the old debate about African choices in education and African resistance to colonial imposition. English was taught by Protestant missionaries both to spread Christianity and encourage local marketization for subsequent exploitation by the underwriters of missions. German was introduced to Germanize Togo, and to "civilize" Africans so they might efficiently serve their European masters. Ewe was initially seen by missionaries as a useful device to spread Christianity; a formalized language was necessary for translating the Bible. Ewe was later considered useful by colonial officials, especially as the failure of German instruction became steadily apparent. All the while though, Ewe in its standardized form, spread along the coastal strip and further inland. It was simultaneously a vehicle of colonial encroachment and an African escape from colonial impositions. It enabled African collaboration and resistance. Coastal Ewe people in Togo, Ghana and Benin, and Mina, Guin, Akposso and many other ethnic groups found political unity under the hegemony of Ewe-speakers. Ultimately, it became such a powerful unifying tool for Africans within Togo, that French officials sought to recreate linguistic divisions by redefining certain Ewe-speaking regions as culturally distinct and populated by Mina people so as to thwart the Ewe nationalist movement of the 1940s and 50s (Amenumey 1989: 62-64).
A formulaic end to a great deal of nineteenth century European correspondence, "Most Obedient Servant" can be viewed at once as an indication of submission to authority, a polite disregard of that same authority, and the sign of "a lesson learned". Examining minutes of meetings and conferences, and scrutinizing margins for scribbles and comments provides a beginning in the long process of piecing together the intentions of the various colonial actors. In Togo, manners, attitudes and lessons learned were not restricted by linguistic or ethnic borders, and this is clearly apparent from the profile of later Togolese nationalism. While the documentary record is incomplete and heavily biased toward the German rulers, it is possible to read between the lines and capture glimpses of the indigenous response to colonization. My research in the National Archives of Togo focused on the means employed to enforce institutional change in the language of instruction in colonial schools 1. The earliest discussions of this complex issue can be traced back to the formative years of German rule. In 1892 the main concern of the administration was that English-speaking Methodist Wesleyan missionaries in Klein-Popo should commence instruction in German 2. At this time German requests were only half-hearted, motivated more by fears for national security than any particular interest in educational development, and contradicted by the fact that the vast majority of German missionaries also taught in English. The Wesleyans pleaded a form of religious immunity, and alongside promises not to involve themselves in political matters 3, the issue of the language of instruction was effectively placed on the back burner for a decade.
Thus this paper begins with the government's evaluation of language instruction at the turn of the century. Why the language of instruction became again a political issue in Togo is revealed in the frank admissions of colonials in their conferences and meetings, meetings which took on an increasing frequency and formality with the arrival of Governor Julius Graf von Zech auf Neuhofen. The language of instruction in colonial schools was a source of pride and nationalism for Europeans. The schools themselves were a plentiful source of educated Africans, the men and women who oiled the wheels of the colonial machine. Explaining a struggle about language requires that we turn to some linguistic theory.
Linguistic Colonialism in Togo
This paper is a history of language policy; it examines evidence for the choice of the language of instruction and infers that these choices paved the way for proto-nationalism in post-war Togo. For the purpose of interpretation it will be useful to reinvent a popular Lacanian conceptualization of linguistic development, employed with particular effect by Johannes Fabian, known as linguistic colonialism (Lacan 1977: 30, 146). Linguistic colonialism as a theoretical concept is uniquely capable of revisiting the tension of this period because the barriers to the colonial mission presented by indigenous languages, and on the flip side, the obstacles created by imposing an alien language on a diverse group as a legitimizing device, ensure that the dynamism of the struggle remains uppermost in the reader's mind. In Togo many African and European languages battled against one another in a struggle for supremacy: it was a battle that mirrored the colonial encounter in all its complexity. Language was used by the missionaries to control Africans, and by Africans to realize their commercial, educational and political objectives 4. It was used by Germans to "modernize" Togo; and ultimately by the colonial officials, to succor the African entrepreneur and enervate the missionary influence.
In his history of the linguistic situation in the Belgian Congo, Fabian uncovers the integral role of Swahili. Previous theories looked simply at how power was imposed, and disavowed the space for indigenous development. They presented only one side of a multi-faceted linguistic history 5. He argues that the historian and the cultural anthropologist should consider the evidence of language and linguistic development as an unusually vivid indication of the nature of the colonial exchange 6. Fabian conceives of the battle of languages as replicating the struggle between Europeans and Africans 7.
In order that we can explain the complex web of language policy in Togo, we must reconfigure the concept of linguistic colonialism. The evidence from Togo makes plain that there were battles on several levels, and that the struggle between the imposition of German and the extinguishing of English led colonial officials to become complacent about the role and spread of the Ewe language. Specifically pertaining to Togo, this theory demonstrates that the value and emphasis placed on one language had significant consequences for the wider colonial program. Linguistic colonialism in the form of language policy in Togo was used as an authoritative device; it enhanced the authority of German people, German texts, and German colonial ideas in Togo. Germans perceived English as a threat and used language policy officially to demote the importance of English in all walks of life. The same rulers, however, did not consider the Ewe language as a great threat to their wider plans of Germanization. Ewe was used by missionaries, but treated with little more than scientific curiosity by German scholars and colonial officials. This ambivalence meant that Ewe-speakers were permitted the space to realize their own ambitions within an otherwise authoritative environment. Linguistic colonialism as a theoretical concept enables us to explain the rapid spread of the Ewe language, well beyond its ethnic boundaries. Largely outside the colonial equation, Ewe subsequently flourished in the unique hybridity of the colonial encounter.
Three languages are surveyed in this paper. German was probably never the mother-tongue of more than 350 people at any one time 8. English was spoken mainly by merchants and missionaries. Whereas Ewe was spoken by Ewes and missionaries. The colonial régime aggressively Germanized Togo. Their language policies were archetypal colonialism: they imposed a foreign language on an alien culture, with the aim of making it ultimately indispensable to the then subordinate culture. Each of the three principle actors can be placed within the scheme provided by this theory of linguistic colonialism. They attempted to realize their own objectives via the language(s) they adopted. They acquiesced to the desires of other colonial actors by relinquishing their language(s). And in adapting and changing rapidly over several decades they emphasized the fluidity of the colonial encounter.
In this paper the actors on the colonial stage are reduced to three for the sake of simplicity; the indigenous population (concentrating largely on the Ewe), the missionaries in Africa, and the colonial régime, in Lomé and Berlin. Throughout the period of German occupation their paths were constantly intertwined. Each group had a distinct set of objectives, and the history of the colonial encounter is the history of the negotiation of these objectives. This paper is a rather schematic attempt to understand the complexity of colonial interrelationships. A brief survey of the historiography will demonstrate how the construction of a binary historical and linguistic model--i.e. English versus German--resulted in the subsequent neglect of Ewe linguisitic history. Thereafter, I will turn to the languages of education, examining first the spread of English, and then the imposition of the use of German. Finally, I will scrutinize the sources for evidence of the development of the Ewe language and its relationship with English and German. I will argue that this evidence strongly suggests that policies interpretable as linguistic colonialism were important for the later development of proto-nationalism.
The following sketch indicates how complicated the linguistic picture became. The indigenous population spoke many languages, including dialects of Ewe, Mina, Adangbe, Kotokoli, Bassar, Tchokossi, Hausa, Moba, Kabyé, Ga and dozens more. Many people were polyglots. On the coast some learned Portuguese from former slaves. English superseded Portuguese after the 1860s. Non-Ewes also learned Ewe. The missionaries spoke German and English, and then learned Ewe. They produced their own published version of a standardized and grammarized Ewe language. They taught this and English to the indigenous population. The colonial officials spoke German. Some learned Ewe. They communicated to the indigenous population in English, and to the missionaries in German or English. The missionaries published in German and Ewe. The colonial régime later decided German was to become the official language. The Reichstag and private individuals funded schemes to teach German to the indigenous population. Africans were somewhat reluctant to learn German: English had obvious commercial advantages. The colonial régime was able to control the missionaries via funding for their schools. Generally, only if missionaries taught in German would they grant funds. German became the official language. The indigenous population however, continued to speak English, and was doing so as the British and French invaded in 1914. Presently French is the official European language of Togo.
German versus English: a Historiographical Polarity
Western writers have traditionally taken as starting points for their histories of West Africa, the arrival of Europeans independently as merchants in the 16th and 17th centuries, or officially as rulers in the later 19th century. With respect to Togo, where European involvement on the coastal fringe reaches back into the late 16th century, historians rarely look beyond the mid-nineteenth century arrival of German-speaking missionaries. As these missions were sandwiched between the English colonies of Lagos and Accra, and because many working in the region later named Togo, taught in English, English became the dominant language. The arrival of German rule in 1884 enshrined the polarity of German and English. This binary antagonism has come to dominate the historical writing about Togo. This model inaccurately represents the colonial situation, because it neglects the indigenous linguistic complexity, particularly the instrinsic role of the Ewe language and culture. It is, however, an explicable development of the historiography; and one made more so by the concept of linguistic colonialism.
German rule and its relative merits, long a bone of contention, have made Togo an adversarial subject for historians. During the inter-war years German writers, anxious for the return of their former colonies, portrayed German rule as benevolent and beneficial to the Togolese population (Metzger 1941). Post World War Two, the transfer to United Nations trusteeship and nationalist stirrings, set historical writing on a very different footing. Manfred Nussbaum's polemic (1962) charged the German régime with the most atrocious excesses 9. This book was very influential in returning the African experience to center stage, though Nussbaum himself wrote that the indigenous actors were a passive, dominated population. A former French government official, Robert Cornevin, further entrenched arguments for European linguistic hegemony (Cornevin 1969) 10. While Arthur Knoll (1978), following Cornevin, focused on German economic achievements and ignored the implications of linguistic and educational development 11.
For most historians, linguistic developments play only a minor role in wider economic programs: this is the same of the use of German to eliminate English as the preferred vehicle of the merchant class. Buhler (1975) radically alters traditional presentations of the African as the passive actor in the colonial struggle, but neglects Ewe ethnic complexity 12. Peter Sebald (1988) offers some interesting evidence for the intellectualization of the African identity by the colonial élite, but does not consider African intellectual movements nor Ewe linguistic ascendancy 13. Arguing for a continuum between slave labor and wage labor in Togo, Donna Maier (1987) highlights indigenous resistance 14. She does not recognize, however, the value of missionary documents as evidence of a polarity between the use of German and English. Closer examination shows that during the formative years of the colony few knew as much about indigenous linguistic developments as missionaries in the field.
With the "rediscovery" of missionary records, linguistic history has become more in vogue. Missionaries were complicit in the educational development of Togo 15. Though they essentialize religion's transformative ability, missionaries were attentive to linguistic evolution, which was crucial for the promulgation of vernacular literacy and independent churches 16. The majority of missionaries taught in English, and records reveal them to be often accutely aware of indigenous linguistic demands and developments. More recently, historians have turned to the development of education policies in various colonies, recognizing the importance of a common language for educational progress (Spitzer 1974: 79) 17. Christel Adick (1981) notes that the history of missionary-led education in the Volta region privileged the Ewe people above all others in the protectorate 18. She noted that smaller, ethnically different peoples, such as the Guin and Mina, were displaced by the privileged, standardized Ewe dialect.
This approach is typical of the polarity between English and German. Ewe and other languages proffer only tangential value to the two main European languages. There is no space for Ewe to stand independently. Adick's concentration means that the crucial question of how various indigenous people responded to the changes imposed on their languages during the German occupation, remains unanswered. A recent attempt by the Ghanaian, D. Amenumey concentrates on Ewe political development. His interest is with the later post-war unification movement, and he surveys briefly political developments during German rule which precipitated post-war nationalism (Amenumey 1989). Though identifying significant educational improvements in German Togo, he locates the majority of political action within the Gold Coast Protectorate. Neglecting the precolonial linguistic heterogeneity, Ewe homogeneity is understood as a given. Sandra Greene argues this was clearly not the case for the Anlo-Ewe of Ghana. They were only beginning to inspirit a new homogeneous identity in their small geographical region at the turn of the century (Greene 1996). The nuturing of this post-war identity is attributed to the new Ewe Presbyterian Church (Amenumey 1989: 28f). Adick and Amenumey have led the discussion in the right direction. But what is still required is a thorough examination of the evidence for the depth of German involvement in the standardization of the Ewe language, the responses of the Ewe people to these changes, the growth of Ewe political forces in tandem with their language, and its implication for proto-nationalism.
And so we return to the theory of linguistic colonialism, engaged by Johannes Fabian, to explain and partly disassemble this seemingly impenetrable binary model. Linguistic colonialism attempts to describe a system of colonial imposition, that is, imposition from above. German and English fit within the model, while indigenous languages such as Ewe are ignored by the colonial governments and appropriately marginalized by the theoretical concept. The German government of Togo launched a fierce campaign against the use of English; but it did not perceive Ewe to be a similar threat to the program of Germanization. The antagonism between Britain and Germany over Togo is mirrored in the historical writing. Historians of the period have turned traditionally to the cultural and linguistic complexity of the indigenous population, only when the clash between German and English spilled into this arena.
What is required is a survey of Ewe linguistic developments relative to and independent of the spread of European languages. In the case of Ewe, the hybridity of the colonial exchange necessitated important changes in ethnic and linguistic structure. The economic, social and political demands of the period are only several of the diverse forces which initiated these changes. Fabian's work provides a useful template. The application of colonial language policies is key to proto-nationalism: the more bewildering the linguistic situation appeared to Europeans, the more urgent became the need to create order, either by imposing "vehicular" languages that already existed 19--such as English or German--or by promoting certain local languages to vehicular status--such as Ewe 20.
The Indispensability of English
The rapid rise in the popularity of English as a medium of communication for the purposes of commerce and conversion is a fascinating phenomenon. Commercial transactions along the coast, largely slave-trading, were conducted in English as early as the seventeenth century. From the late eighteenth century growing communities spoke and operated in English in Freetown, Monrovia, Accra and Lagos. Large missionary organizations operated in these regions and their influence spread beyond the immediate area of British/American commercial interest. Settlers, free or former slaves, were aided by US colonization societies and the British Anti-Slavery Society from the early nineteenth century. These organizations and others encouraged commercial enterprise along the coastal region and fostered links between entrepreneurs in the UK, USA and West Africa. Missionaries began to arrive in large numbers about the same time. They occupied sites already under UK/US influence, and spread to areas vacated by the declining merchant navies of Portugal, Denmark, Brandenburg and Holland. And while this multifarious activity served steadily to embed English in coastal Guinean society, similar influences came also from traditionally non-English speakers. Hanseatic merchants, for example, and their pious missionary colleagues, worked closely with their UK and US partners and chose English as their modus operandi. These choices and developments--the paths of least resistance--were self-evident to Ewes encountering Europeans.
Ewes were able to realize their own objectives via a missionary education 21. Bremen missionaries' comments about the Gold Coast indicate that interest in education was spreading into Togo 22. English offered a direct link to mission work, and to coastal entrepreneurs 23. Both missionaries and government officials complained of the difficulty they had in retaining the services of their young graduates within Togo itself 24. The men left to other coastal towns, or they continued their education in Lagos or Accra 25.
Protestant missionaries, the main source of these trained Ewe, instructed in English. Some missions, like those of Bremen Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft (NDMG), were bankrolled by merchants who operated in English, and employed only English-speakers 26. Vietor and Sons 27, Oloff & Co. and Firma Goedelt were particularly successful examples 28. The majority of Ewes thus followed the lead of missionaries and merchants, choosing English as their language of commerce and Christianity 29. And as time passed some in government were fearful that Togo was becoming anglicized 30.
Looking back at the mid-nineteenth century, there is evidence of considerable tension accompanying the arrival of missionaries in Ewe-land. Some Ewes perceived the Germans (who taught in English) to be one arm of the encroaching British influence, which in the Gold Coast colony favored some Ewe clans over others (Buhler 1975: 43f). There were also cultural differences. Peter Buhler (ibid.: 62) writes:
"For a variety of reasons, the earliest efforts to establish schools were not very successful. Aside from the difficulties of language and the fear among the Ewes that the missionaries might sell their children on the slave market, there were problems of relevance. Beginning at Peki, but even in the successful station of Ho, it was difficult to convince the parents of Ewe children that literacy had any real value. Moreover, there were social problems involved in attending schools. If children were seen spending their days with the missionaries, it might be degrading for the parents. Ewes frequently expressed the worry that their children might be viewed as pawns [for debts to] . . . the Europeans by their peers and neighbors."
Tensions soon subsided however, once increasing indigenous coastal prosperity allayed these fears. In the face of a consistent increase in commercial activity in the mid-1880s, the German colonial administration could hardly question the success resulting from instruction in English 31. Any increase in commercial activity was welcome, and insisting on German account-keeping methods was considered counterproductive 32. Some coastal mission schools were so oversubscribed they made Christianity a prerequisite. And yet it would be quite inaccurate to judge the missionaries' work as a success on their terms 33. They had few seminarians, very few nominal Christians, but hundreds of budding merchants. Instead of a corps of catechists, the NDMG and others created an entrepreneurial class, who, by virtue of their history of affiliation with Europeans, could circumvent coastal middlemen and trade directly with foreigners (Buhler 1975: 74f).
Interestingly this development dovetailed nicely with the colonial régime's desire for a fast-growing, export-oriented economy 34; a desire for which they unfortunately could not provide the necessary infrastructure 35. In the first decade colonial authority barely extended to the central mountain range, while economic control did not leave the swampy coastal strip 36. Thus Ewe traders operated with relative freedom. While the government imposed rather punitive taxation, it was usually lower than that of Britain and France. The slow redirection of trade through the Togolese strip was perhaps due more to Ewe economic autonomy than the "effective occupation" of Germany.
After English was replaced by German as the language of instruction, the value attached to English is evidenced by Ewe migration. Ewes learned English at any cost and by any means necessary. They quit schools that switched to teaching in German 37. Some went to Klein-Popo (Anecho) where the English Wesleyans might offer some clues as to where to find English instruction. Ewes also had allies in many German missionaries 38. Or sometimes they learned it among themselves; from Ewes in the Gold Coast, or from the elderly who had stayed in Togo. Men sent their children beyond Togo, to Accra or Lagos, to find schools 39. Great numbers left of their own volition 40.
When the question of whether or not schooling should be offered in a second language arose--the so-called Einführung fremdsprachlichen Unterrichts--English was again on the agenda 41. In a discussion of plans for a new government high school--(Fortbildungsschule)--modeled on those in Accra and Lagos, Kaufmann Beselin stated that only by offering this type of education would young Togolese leave the English regions and return to school in Lomé 42. Many missions complained that their pupils, after four years of German instruction, repeatedly asked to learn English "as a foreign language" 43.
Von Zech was against permitting the reintroduction of English. He held that the natives were neither capable of learning two foreign languages adequately, nor able to maintain both 44. A reintroduction of English, even as a second language, would only be to the detriment of the spread of German. He also argued, contradicting his earlier assertions about natives' lack of intellect, that teaching English again would push Togo in the direction of other colonies, like Dahomey, Southern Nigeria and the Gold Coast, where "colored" lawyers, doctors and journalists were a reality. The ultimate (disastrous) consequence could only be equality between whites and blacks! 45.
The battle against the spread of English was clearly one being fought and lost on every level 46. Germans reported that Togolese left Togo in droves 47. They knew that "die wenigen Schwarzen aus guten Familien", those who could afford to leave Togo, had a strong influence on the others. The majority of affluent Loméens (those who sent their children to school) had family in the Gold Coast town of Keta (Quitta) who spoke English. Kaufmann Fuls even claimed that "every native in Togo already knows some English from living at home" 48. Though von Zech clung naively to the idea that by building a good school in Lomé, Togolese would stay and learn German, he also accepted that even teaching conversational English would undermine the little progress that had been made 49. In Accra and Dahomey, conversational German was offered alongside French and English respectively. In both places, German was rarely chosen 50.
The Intractability of German
In 1884 German was spoken by the colonial administrators and by most of the missionaries among themselves. Few missionaries were British: most were German or Swiss. On the surface one might expect that colonial affairs would be conducted in German. Administrators and preachers, despite alternate world views, had some aims and a language in common. Would they not govern their realm in their mother tongue? The answer lies in the resistance by the Togolese--mainly Ewe--to the imposition of German and their clear preference for English.
The previous section demonstrated the indispensability of English in commerce and Christianity. German, on the other hand, was never popular, never properly taught, and never methodically introduced. German was imposed from above without adequate research. Colonial officials were evidently beholden to other forces, as the evidence shows. This imposition threatened to undermine the delicate economic success of the early years of German Togo. Moreover, there were so few German-speakers resident, that there was little likelihood that the language would become a lingua franca 51.
Togo's situation is characteristic of the struggle between various colonial interests: the German military, commercial centers, manufacturing towns, empire builders and social democrats. In the opinion of many of Germany's industrialists, Togo had the potential to become a successful, profitable enterprise. In the deluded eyes of some politicians and rhetoricians Togo was to become the jewel in the crown of an empire rivaling Britain and France. In the opinion of the extremem left-wing Social Democratic Party, Togo could follow Liberia in freeing the black man and woman from bondage and allowing them political independence. Political infighting between pro- and anti-colonialist lobbies and more profitable investment opportunities on the home front strangled colonial growth and development, however, and meant that none of these ambitions was ever realized. German rule of Togo was the least expensive and most efficient of any colony. Money was just not provided 52.
Before the arrival of von Zech, administrators encouraged missionaries to teach in German. Their efforts were concentrated on the more obvious exceptions, such as the Wesleyans, and that was apparently in response to a fear of treachery by the British residing in Klein-Popo 53. Yet with the arrival of the Styler Mission, largely because of their willingness to teach in German where possible, the question became a dead issue for about a decade.
Rising nationalism and patriotism within Germany demanded a change in course 54. By 1900 Germans were clamoring for the Germanization of their colonies and the elimination of anglicizing elements 55. The appointment of von Zech, a champion of such policies, indicated the influence of the nationalist school of educationalists. The first session his Gouvernementsrat was a disorderly discussion of how best to induce Togolese to adopt German. Various committee members spoke of mission schools, weights and measures, bookkeeping techniques and office vernacular 56. And yet out of this jumbled dialog came a detailed five-tier education system (Lehrplan) for Togolese mission schools, to be taught strictly in German 57.
The Lehrplan emphasized German language, script, culture, history, commercial practice, music and geography 58. Either the Latin or Gothic script was permitted. The first level consisted of reading and writing in German, learning the names of the body parts, counting from one to twenty and singing two German songs. Arithmetic began in the second class, as did grammar. In the third, pupils learned German phrases and sayings, Germanic cursive writing, German weights and measures, and the geography of the immediate region, Togo. The fourth level required pupils to translate German stories into Ewe and the reverse, further grammar, measurements, the history of German Togo and the Kaiser's family, and the geography of West Africa, German protectorates and Germany. The final level required advanced reading and writing of essays, grammar, bookkeeping, German history from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, German and European geography, and the names of the continents and oceans.
Immediately upon the creation of this Lehrplan, von Zech returned to Germany. The minutes indicate the urgency of the matter at hand and the pressure exerted by nationalists wanting results. Von Zech explained to the committee that he was anxious to settle the question of instruction in German so that he could bring favorable news with him to Berlin 59. Immense financial pressures burdened the debate. Various organizations offered money to ensure the teaching in German, largely to signal their commitment to the imperialist enterprise 60. Von Zech expressed his complete trust (volle Vertrauen) that the missions would abide by and not contravene (zuwiderhandeln) his new regulations 61. He cajoled both the mission delegates and the merchants into accepting the full import of his new law, eliciting a modicum of support for his endeavors 62. The missions, led by Kost and Härtter expressed some reservations about the timetable--von Zech expected that no institution teach in any European language but German by January 1, 1906. The merchants, represented by Grunitzky and Hundt, assured that the matter of using German in all commercial transactions especially when working with Africans, would be brought forward in official business before the next meeting of the Handelskammer (Chamber of Commerce).
When the issue was again the subject of a governmental meeting, it was evident that little progress had been made in the intervening period. Von Zech gave the standard excuses for the reluctance to learn and use German among Ewe and others--German was more difficult than English (an unproven and entirely baseless statement) and German education had a shorter history in the protectorate 63. He warned that financial austerity demanded by Berlin meant that Togo could afford to hire no more white personnel. Thus it was imperative (mit aller Kraft) that trained "colored" people make up the expected shortfall. He cited prejudice against Africans in government offices as unhelpful. Praising the proactive stance of English-speaking colonial governments with regard to native employment, von Zech demanded support for his initiatives to draw more native personnel into the system and to extend the number of years of schooling.
Von Zech's Lehrplan was having more than just the usual teething problems. There were complaints about the arithmetic instruction; questions about the inclusion of map-reading; tension between the government-employed Headteacher Ehni and von Zech about which branches of the administration should receive the better graduates; complaints about the poor teaching standards of the primary school teachers; proposals to abolish the most basic first year in order that the final class could be raised one level to compete with the Lagos schools while not also adding to the expense of schooling; and other even more absurd suggestions 64. Neither Ehni nor Schönhärl had even finished the German language text books they had promised 65. Clearly there had been little if any progress in the incorporation of German into the daily workings of the colony 66.
Less than one year later further divisions in the German government program were apparent. The differing ideologies and intentions in education were manifest at a government conference. Ehni's statement of purpose differed strikingly with what we have already observed to be that of the missionaries. He announced that it made no sense to "hang on every word" in the expression "Volksschule". The schools in Togo were not to promote ideas of the Volk, but rather "we Germans are here in Togo, to spread our culture and language, and not to dwell on every aspect of the native languages" 67. Däuble sharply disagreed; instruction (Unterricht) itself was the purpose of the "call to Africa". Surely, if natives are to have a better understanding of German grammar, etc., they need a good knowledge of their own language 68. Von Zech came down on the side of Ehni: "The government has no appreciable (wesentlich) interest in spreading the native languages and we ought not to give them special standing in the schools" 69. Moreover, he hoped that mission schools would fall in line, and referred to the question of funding just in case anyone was still unclear as to exactly what he meant. Then he mentioned that the Styler mission did not instruct in Ewe with the same intensity as the NDMG, and (surprisingly) they were increasing in size, numbers (and government funding) rapidly. The implications of these statements were all very clear to the participants. Petty Catholic-Protestant hostilities within Germany transported themselves with full vigor to the Togolese context.
A revision of the Lehrplan of 1905 extended the schooling to six years. There were other changes too. There was greater emphasis put on German weights and measures. German Druckschrift was introduced; a printing style popular in clerical work and in vogue among educationalists. Stricter attention was given to spelling and composition. Health education and Pflichten der Eingeborenen (the responsibilities of the natives) was added to the fifth level. And in sixth class, interest and discount calculations, geometry, the geography of Asia, America and Australia, and agricultural classes and animal husbandry were added 70.
The conference then turned to a lengthy debate on how to teach German to the Togolese. This is one of the more interesting indications of just how at odds German educationalists were with the desires and interests of the Togolese people. Togolese were not learning German, largely because English had long been proven to be more advantageous. Yet, in spite of all the evidence government officials, teachers, and missionaries seemed convinced that merely by changing the script being taught, or by employing a conversational approach to language instruction, the problem could be overcome 71.
Each and every debate revealed a curious double standard: conference participants were constantly trying to enforce the instruction and use of German among the Togolese, and yet were aware of its perilous unpopularity. Take, for example, the comment of von Zech when he opened discussion on the subject of foreign language instruction (other than German). He implied that the hold of "German-ness" (die Befestigung des Deutschtums) on Togo would be undermined by any other language 72. At the same von Zech, like all the others, knew that Togolese were leaving for schools that taught in English, and he feared the product if and when they returned to Togo 73. A similar case happened a year later, when von Zech recalled the unwelcome news of examinations taking place in English in the Togo capital 74.
The administration persisted with its authoritarian program, disregarding the threat of Ewe emigration. Von Zech insisted on instruction in German and continued with funding programs that promoted German language and culture 75. In the urban setting he opened a government-run Fortbildungsschule and later a Handwerkschule (technical school). Regions which offered resistance were quelled by the erection of "effective occupation" stations. But in some of the more uncharted areas this often resulted in bloodshed 76.
While it would be melodramatic to say that von Zech returned to Germany a broken man, he certainly failed in his aim to enforce the instruction of and thus, the use of German in Togo. He failed because of the absurdity of his ambition. Von Doering made no mention of the disinterest in German instruction in his first educational conference after being informed of his appointment as von Zech's successor 77. He turned to realistic administrative objectives; the finance for creation of a Lehrplan for a girls' school and the funding for work to standardize the orthography of the Ewe language mentioned earlier, and the latter continues today under the guidance of the Académie nationale de langue évé.
The Ascendancy of Ewe
The coastal Ewe were often the first Togolese people to make contact with Europeans. As early as 1660 Europeans attempted to understand the Ewe language and spread Christianity (Debrunner 1965: 22). From the 1840s various German and Swiss Protestants attempted to establish missions and schools. An initial unspoken agreement among Europeans not to compete in the proselytization process, meant the catchment areas "allocated" the German-speakers were populated by Ewes. Germans encountered problems communicating and filling their schools and chapels. Their activity was permitted by the patient consent of Ewe chiefs; the slightest disruption often resulted in the destruction of the mission. Missionaries trained young boys as catechists, as part of their scheme for an independent Ewe church 78. Thus, accommodations were made, and on occasion in order that Ewe children attended school, missionaries submitted to regional customs. They accepted pawned children, to assuage parental debt--often to the missionaries. They "ransomed" enslaved children, and raised money in Europe for this cause 79.
Contemporaries expressed concern that the purchase of slave children would encourage the slave trade. Missionaries disagreed. Their children were ransomed, not bought, and were deemed entrusted to the missionaries by the Lord 80. While obviously believing they were rescuing children from a worse fate--and they perhaps were on one level--they were also oblivious to the complexity of the internal slave trade. But it is not the focus of this paper to evaluate that phenomenon. Only two aspects are of immediate concern here. Firstly, children from many different inland cultures and languages were brought together by the missionary schools. Secondly, these schools operated in and increased the area of Ewe-speaking territory.
These two consequences together formed the foundation for the ascendancy of the Ewe language. "Ransomed" children spoke an incongruous number of dissimilar languages. While Germans spoke little Ewe, these children had no common tongue. One solution to this predicament--as the missionaries saw it--was to teach the non-Ewe children to speak Ewe 81. In such circumstances children quickly forgot their mother-tongue 82. In Togo, the majority of these children were totally alienated from their birth cultures. And, as Ewe instruction required a standardized form of Ewe, it fell upon certain linguistically-minded Germans to create an Ewe language recognizable within the European linguistic intellectual paradigm 83.
Ewes began attending the German missionary schools in significant numbers in the 1870s, as the commercial value of an English education became steadily clearer 84. In order to increase the number of Ewe students, English had to be the medium of instruction. Furthermore, certain more progressive Germans envisioned an independent Ewe church. These concerns intensified the demand for formal Ewe. For missionaries to preach in Ewe to Ewe and non-Ewe people, a comprehensible, uniform language was necessary 85.
Evidence abounds for this increasing interest in formalizing, learning and teaching Ewe. Fabian has demonstrated the value of early documentation of the publication and standardization of a language 86. Of Swahili he wrote that dictionaries and other such documents can be read with great profit "if we manage to turn their vices into methodological virtues" 87. The same is true for publications from the colonial exchange during the German occupation of Togo 88.
Ewe publications can be divided into their different readerships. For example, many of the extant texts are those by Germans for Germans and British in Togo and Ghana; dictionaries and grammars. A number of education books written for Ewe-speakers exist, while others exist only as fragmentary editions. Publication in Ewe began in 1848 89. Between 1848 and the establishment of the German Schutzgebiet in 1884 eight books were published in various Ewe dialects: song books, grammars, arithmetic, geography and religious textbooks 90. Missionaries Ernst and Anna Bürgi were early champions. Together they published no fewer than twenty individual books 91. Though often overlooked, it is quite conceivable, that their enthusiasm for publication and translation did more to standardize the Ewe dialect among Ewe speakers in Togo and Ghana, than that of any other individual.
The Bürgis translated what was most useful to Christianized Ewe people; song books of different levels 92, bilingual texts in Ewe and English 93, history books 94 and small pocket dictionaries 95. They wrote pedagogical guides in Ewe, which themselves relied on the competence of Ewe teachers 96. Their fervor was matched by Johannes and Anna Knüsli, who wrote four serious academic volumes. The first was a large arithmetic textbook 97, followed by an orthography of the Ewe language 98. Knüsli then became the first to attempt a trilingual dictionary. If any single work captures the linguistic complexity of the lower Volta region, it is this 99.
Others, like Spieth 100 and Schlegel 101, gathered knowledge of the Ewe language via texts on customs, religion, fables, festivals and family and tribal history. They prided themselves in the "scientific" nature of their endeavor 102. While the ordinary spoken Ewe of the missionary always remained "rather stiff and scanty in its vocabulary" 103, a few worked diligently towards a standardized and "scientific" grammar of Ewe, mostly notably, Diedrich Westermann 104. They reflected on the ease with which they were able to use Ewe in different regions, especially among small enclaves of non-Ewe who lived among the Ewe 105. Ewe penetrated the Adangme-speaking Agotime and the neighbouring people of Nyogbo, Avatime, Tafi and Logba in the region of Amedzowe. Some missionaries even held that they were able to restore peace between some smaller clans who perceived themselves to be discriminated against by larger clans 106.
The Catholic Styler mission embraced the Ewe language with even greater enthusiasm. They launched a periodical about their revelations, including claims that the Ewe religion was actually a primitive monotheism 107. They facilitated the spread of Ewe by traveling to Atakpamé (a language of the Yoruba family) and elsewhere and preaching in Ewe 108. Unlike the Protestants, they published also in the Anlo and Anecho dialects of Ewe, when clearly their intention of mass conversion would have been better served by time devoted to Guang, Avatime and Akpafu.
The colonial régime was also complicit in the process. Their disregard for the complexity of language and culture in Togo is documented 109. Less widely known, however, is how the government's ambivalence aided this process, and assured the relegation of other languages to below even third-class status 110. They encouraged Europeans to employ Ewe-speaking catechists in their missions. They funded schools that taught only in Ewe, and aided the publication of text books and religious material in Ewe 111. The government also gave the Styler Missionary Society a very firm footing in the colony 112. Moreover, the competition for government funding for schools and missions ultimately resulted in a pact between the Protestants and Catholics in 1912, producing a standardized orthography. This competition did more for the ascendancy of Ewe than any other single action by the colonial government. Ultimately, between 1909 and 1914 this part of the linguistic struggle was settled by the publication of the Ewe Bible 113.
*
The linguistic situation was complex in colonial Togo. The progress of Ewe, which subsequently fueled proto-nationalist movements, however, is made clearer via the concept of linguistic colonialism. The departure of Germany led to the first in a series of proto-nationalist movements, the Bund der deutschen Togoländer (Amenumey 1989: 27f). Until 1918 German was still taught in some missionary schools. Debrunner even cites some evidence for resistance to the banning of German instruction in 1918 by the occupying French and British forces (Debrunner 1965: 153). Though this was a small movement, it was part of a much wider phenomenon not restricted simply to the urban élite, and well-documented by James Coleman (1956) and D. E. K. Amenumey. Ewes today still point to the defining national experience of German (mis)rule (Mamattah 1976: 449).
Instructing in German and insisting on its necessity among a population that clearly knew otherwise posed an intractable problem. The indigenous population and the missionaries resisted German: their relative success within their own linguistic paradigms led them to believe German to be unnecessary. German instruction in Togo functioned as linguistic colonialism; the imposition of a foreign language on an alien culture, with the aim of making it ultimately indispensable for the functioning of the then subordinate culture. Though the number of people who understood the language to some degree certainly increased significantly, German never ascended to the lofty level of indispensable.
This paper is an exposition of a colonial educational battle and its consequences for wider political development. It is perhaps insignificant with regard to the small number of people involved, the resources expended, and the sparse documentation, but it speaks volumes about the array of different languages and social complexities. The colonial administration encountered major obstacles to its agenda. The region did not lend itself to the dogma and stubbornness of von Zech and other ill-advised educationalists. On the flipside, the determination and fortitude of the Togolese people themselves is very vivid in this brief linguistic nexus. Their intentions and desires are clarion, their methods of resistance and adaptation striking, and their persistence and success obvious.
Struggles like this shed light on the inner workings of colonial states and societies. Unfettered communication channels, i.e. a common language, are a necessity for every community. Investigating the enthusiasm with which individual African and European languages were instructed and learned via European intellectual mechanisms, the classroom, textbooks, et cetera, provides a little of the African perspective in a period for which the sources are very scarce. And examining the nature of the imposition of language upon a colonized population sheds light on indigenous recourse to political mobilization.
The indigenous population displayed remarkable linguistic skill. Many of them were polyglots from childhood. In addition, many learned to communicate in English, French, Portuguese and German. By far the majority who were learning European languages, were doing so in order to further their own, largely commercial, ambitions. The language of choice was English, and this is evidenced by among other things, the high attendance at schools offering English instruction, and the economic success of former pupils, and the mass departure of Togolese from schools that taught only in German.
On the reverse (European) side, the force with which languages were imposed upon a population is evidence of a similar phenomenon. Europeans believed they were utilizing Ewe to the benefit of the Ewe people; whereas in reality, they were significantly altering the structure and content of an indigenous language in order to enhance communication between the two groups. The new, "scientific" Ewe language of circa 1912 would be considered a new language in some contemporary linguistic scholarship 114; to be sure, it clearly precipitated new political possibilities. Ewes and non-Ewes throughout Togo and Ghana adopted this language.
This paper begins to answer some questions about the nature of the colonial encounter in Togo. The theoretical conceptualization of the battle of languages in Togo--linguistic colonialism--goes some way towards recovering the voice of African actors in early colonial archival records. Colonial educationalists faced problems than went beyond those of merely imparting literacy and numeracy. The school teacher, missionary or layperson, saw him/herself as the representative of a new way of life: she imparted "knowledge" in the form of languages to facilitate the spreading of this new way of life. The evidence shows that far from simply receiving this doctrine and imbibing it, Africans molded it and in doing so created entirely new possibilities, often confounding Europeans. The results indicate African entrepreneurship and European obdurance. Education was only a means to an end for all of the actors of the colonial encounter.
Stanford University, Stanford.
* This paper is dedicated to my parents, Robert and Pamela Lawrance, who continue to make everything possible. Conceived in a graduate research seminar, it was first delivered at the 1998 Joint Paris-Berkeley Fund Conference entitled Imperialism and Indentity: Remapping the Cultural Politics of Representation organised by Mariane Ferme and Jean-Loup Amselle, and benefitted from an excellent symposium on anthropology and education convened by John and Jean Comaroff at the University of Chicago. I owe eternal gratitude to: my generous hosts in Togo, the Dagbovie-Byll, the Bock & the Alderman families; the assistance furnished by the Adjoint-Chef, Mr. Julien Bekoutaré, and staff of the Archives nationales du Togo, Pierre Alì Napo, of the Université du Bénin in Lomé, Kossi Amoua, Ruby Andrew, and Awino Kueth; and for the various comments and criticisms from Jean-Loup Amselle, Yves Marguerat, Judy Rosenthal and the anonymous reviewers of the Cahiers, numerous friends and colleagues along the way, but most of all my supervisor, Richard Roberts. It is somewhat superfluously that I iterate any faults and inaccuracies are entirely my own.
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Annexes
Appendix I
The Sources
The archives in Lomé are well preserved and accessible. There is a complete record of the German occupation of Togo from 1884 to 1914 and Jürgen Real has professionally cataloged the entire collection. Professor Real's tool and the assistance of the staff in the archives, meant that with little difficulty I found evidence for colonial education policy and the imposition of instruction in German. There are pseudo-scholarly articles on educational developments and theories, newspaper clippings, government minutes, private letters and instructions, petitions and requests, scholarly articles and missionary treatises. The affairs of the missionaries and their activities in education feature with increasing regularity from 1888. The arrival of the Styler mission in 1892 provides the additional angle of personal bias and prejudice in religion matters. It is quite apparent that the Togo administration was staffed by a high number of Catholic clerks 115.
From 1903, with the arrival of the new Governor Julius Graf von Zech auf Neuhofen, the documents become more formal and methodical, and very detailed minutes of meetings are typed clearly and corrected by hand. Von Zech created various committees and fora for discussion and bullied some into reaching a consensus. From 1904 education in Togo was formalized and standardized and made--allegedly--universally accessible to the indigenous population 116. 1905 saw the publication of an order permitting teaching in the German language only. It also created a five tier Lehrplan (education system) 117. Immediately thereafter, an emergency meeting took place to formalize the application of the law, in order that von Zech himself could report to his superiors when he returned to Berlin that same month 118. In September 1908 a meeting reflected how the Togolese were "taking to" the German language 119. It compared Togolese schools unfavorably to English schools in Lagos and Accra. Von Zech also complained that the missions were diverting all the best students into their seminaries, leaving the administration undersupplied with suitable trainees. As part of this comprehensive review new textbooks were published.
In July 1909 we encounter the lengthiest discussion of the status of education in Togo 120. There are frank exchanges reaching into the many dozens of pages. Missionaries, merchants and government clerks discussed the difficulties of learning German; the contradictions of the Lehrplan of 1905 and proposals to extend instruction to six or even seven years; the possibility of foreign language instruction; the different approaches of the Catholic and Protestant missions; the use of Germanic or Latin script; the preferred method of teaching German; and the dangers of English. Many of these questions drove at the very purpose of educationalists in Togo, particularly the serious problem of why Togolese were turning away from German and indeed even leaving Togo.
Thereafter, a new Lehrplan was issued, with significant alterations and a much heavier Germanizing emphasis 121. In December of the same year, there were further reports of the apparent failure of many of the aims of the teaching programs 122. The Governor questioned why there had been no noticeable improvement. Indeed a much broader question is voiced: is the purpose of teaching to spread the German language or rather "der deutsche Geist"? No particularly conclusive resolution to this pressing issue was offered. And one of the last documents into this window of educational introspection, from October 1910 under the deputy governorship of von Doering, concerns the distribution of new money to the schools for more modest objectives 123.
Appendix II
Status of Missionary Schools in Togo 1912
1. Die evangelische Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft (Sitz: Bremen, Wandrahm 7)
Sie besitzt 7 Hauptstationen mit 155 Außenstationen, nämlich Lomé mit 23, Ho mit 23, Amedschovhe mit 36, Agu mit 11, Akpafu mit 25, Palime mit 18 und Atakpame mit 19 Außenstationen. Sie zählt 47 europäische Missionsarbeiter, 26 Missionare, 15 Frauen, 6 Schwestern, von denen ein Teil sich immer in Europa zur Erholung aufhält, 188 eingeborene Gehilfen, 5 953 Gemeindemitglieder und 162 Schulen in 151 Orten mit 5 643 Schülern (4 373 Knaben, 1 771 Mädchen).
2. Die katholische Mission von der Missionsgesellschaft des Göttlichen Worts (Steyler Mission) (Mutterhaus: Steyl, Niederlande; Adresse für deutsche Postsendungen: Kaldenkirchen, Rheinland).
Sie umfaßt 8 Hauptstationen, nämlich: Lomé (Sitz des apostolischen Präfekten), Porto Seguro, Togo (Stadt), Anecho, Atakpame, Agome-Palime, Kpandu und Gbin-Bla, 4 Schwesterstationen, 6 Filialstationen, 144 Nebenstationen (Schulen mit Lehrerwohnung und Gebetslokal) und besitzt 11 Kirchen und 17 größere Kapellen. Ihr Missionspersonal besteht aus 42 Priestern, 13 Laienbrüdern, 23 Missionsschwestern und 209 eingeborenen Katechisterlehrern; ihre Gemeinde umfaßt 12 572 Getaufte, und ihre Schulen werden von 7 778 Schülern (6 571 Knaben, 1 207 Mädchen) besucht. In Lomé unterhält sie eine Handwerksschule, in der 73 Zöglinge Unterricht in neun Handwerken erhalten.
3. Die Wesleyanische Methodisten-Mission (W M. Missionary Society) (Sitz: London EC, 24 Bishopsgate).
Sie besitzt eine Hauptstation in Anecho mit 5 Nebenstationen, wo 8 Laienprediger, 10 Lehrer und Lehrerinnen, sowie 1 eingeborener Prediger tätig sind. Sie zählt 586 Gemeindeglieder und unterhält 6 Schulen mit 499 Schülern (429 Knaben, 70 Mädchen).
Source: Deutsches Kolonial-Handbuch, 13th ed. (1913: 14).