White … or Not Quite: The Representation of African Soldiers of the First World War

ABSTRACT The ‘cultural archive’ is a concept that is central to Gloria Wekker’s White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race. In my contribution, I apply the concept to the study of the First World War. After outlining the various discourses within the colonial empires on the deployment of African troops in the war, I take a closer look at how the African soldier was portrayed in the press and propaganda of the various belligerents. What was the impact of the deployment of African soldiers on the creation of the cultural archive, both among the colonized and the colonizers, and how is this reflected in the way the First World War is studied, remembered and commemorated, both within and outside academia?