Re-presenting Africa: commemorative postage stamps of the colonial exhibition of Paris

During the Exposition Coloniale Internationale of Paris in 1931, France issued six commemorative postage stamps. Several scholars have written about the human exhibits, representations, and products of the fairs, but no one has examined the commemorative stamps that accompanied these exhibitions. These stamps were sold in France and its colonies and distributed by stamp dealers throughout the world. Since colonial fairs and exhibitions were mediums of colonial propaganda and trade, the commemorative issues represented Africa through evolutionary models and racial classification and commercialized the people as well as their resources. These postal images were invented and manufactured by the French government to give themselves an illusion of control over the colonies. The repertoire of stamp images was quite similar to other media, such as colonial photographs and postcards of Africa (Geary 1991, Prochaska 1991). Besides the obvious stereotype of the "other," the representations fall largely within the realm of the iconology of the French Revolution of 1789. It is apparent that the metaphors of liberty, equality, and brotherhood were subtly subverted and distorted to justify the subjugation, colonization, and exploitation of Africa.

The French issued their first domestic postage stamps, with the head of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and symbol of liberty and of the Republic, on January 1, 1849. Later stamps honored French rulers such as Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and on other occasions stamps documented the realities of French political, social, and economic life.

Goree Island (Senegal) was the site of the first French postal establishment in Africa. The colonial stamps issued from Paris for the African colonies were not different from those of the other French colonies around the world. In 1859 the French Postal Service shipped 6,000 non-perforated Eagle and Crown (2) stamps to Africa with the text "Colonies de l'Empire Francais" overprinted with "Goree" (Y&T 1859-1865:1-6; French Colonies Scott 1-6). These were followed by the perforated series Napoleon laurelled and nonlaurelled, Ceres, Sage, and Commerce (Y&T 1871-1872:7-8; French Colonies Scott 7-15) and a few years latter the series Balay, Faidherbe, and Palm Trees (Y&T 1906-1908:1-17; French Colonies Scott 21-36) were added. General Louis Leon Cesar Faidherbe was the conqueror and colonial administrator of Senegal from 1854 to 1865 and Dr. Noel Eugene Balay accompanied Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza in his exploration of the Congo (Durand 1943). Dr. Balay became the governor of French Guinea and later governor of French West Africa. Other notable explorers and administrators who were honored with postage stamps were Louis Gustave Binger, Renee Caillie, Joseph-Simon Gallieni, Emil Gentil, and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, among others. These stamps were overprinted with names of the various territories: Benin (later Dahomey), Haute-Volta (Upper Volta), Senegambie et Niger, Gabon-Congo francais, Moyen-Congo. Added to these designations were AOF (Afrique Occidentale Francaise) and AEF (Afrique Equatoriale Francaise).

Whereas the images of the initial colonial stamps reflected French history and the allegory of the empire, the subsequent ones were of an Africa derived from the imagination of French artists and engravers advised by their colonial agents. On the whole, one could classify the topical issues of French colonial stamps for Africa into the following categories: flora and fauna (panther, flowers), public works (Faidherbe bridge), native/ethnic types (Poula shepherd), women (negresse de Fouta-Djalon), warfare (Targui warrior), material culture (drum), villages and architecture (gate of Djenne, Mali), local scenery (markets), economic resources (cocoa or palm oil), mosques (Mosquee de Diourbel, Senegal), and archaeological sites (Djemila, Algeria). This colonial propagandist iconology was equally exploited in media such as postcards, posters, paintings, advertisements, newspapers, magazines, cartoons, and film.

The interwar period in France, however, required special stamp iconography. There was sagging support for colonies and criticism from the anticolonialism parties such as the French Communist Party. This period also saw the beginning of a rigorous campaign for independence in the colonies. Subsequently, the French government decided to intensify colonial propaganda to renew the public's interest in the colonial enterprise and also to convince the colonized peoples that France was a powerful empire. One of the best ways to do this was through international exhibitions where the French government would showcase her colonial resources and inform the French public of the benefits derived from colonial possessions.

Marechal Lyautey, who was famous for his military exploits in Algeria, Madagascar, and Morocco, was appointed by the government to organize the colonial exhibition of 1931. He already had some experience organizing the Franco-Moroccan Exhibition in Casablanca in 1915. He was assisted by Albert Sarraut, a former minister of colonies, former governor of Indo-China, and ardent supporter of the colonial enterprise as outlined in two of his books, Grandeur et Servitudes colonials (1931) and La mise en valeurs de colonies francaises (1923). Both men and their collaborators believed in the potential of colonies to invigorate a France exhausted from war and to infuse vital native energy, natural resources, and monopoly over markets (Palermo 1998).