DFG Research Group 5472: Bells, Drums, Muezzins – Colonial (In)Tolerance of Religious Sounds

How did the German, French and British colonial governments manage conflicts over religious sounds? Stephanie Zehnle, Professor of Environmental and Technological History at the University of Passau, is leading a subproject on historical practices of tolerance in the DFG Research Group 5472.

Modern colonial empires were multi-ethnic and multi-religious entities. In some cases, they legitimised conquest and domination by claiming that they had to ‘pacify uncivilised peoples’ by offering them religious freedom and tolerance. In the DFG-funded project ‘Bells, Drums, Muezzins – Colonial (In)Tolerance of Religious Sounds’, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Stephanie Zehnle from the University of Passau is examining the contradictions in the history of religious tolerance and intolerance in the colonial societies of colonial empires. It focuses on practices and negotiations of tolerance with regard to the noise of other religions.

When colonial urbanisation in the 19th century led to a confrontation between different religious rules and ideas regarding noise in public spaces, religious authorities complained to colonial police stations about ‘noise pollution’ from secular groups or other religious communities. At the same time, residents living near churches, mosques or traditional African initiation societies called for a ban on the Muslim call to prayer, church bells or nocturnal drumming.

Noise intolerance as an indicator of conflict

In the multi-religious colonial context, belonging to which group determined which sounds were accepted or rejected. The research team from the Chair of Environmental and Technological History at the University of Passau is analysing the technical, political and legal measures used by colonial governments to manage these local conflicts. The project is divided into three work packages:

• In the first work package, the historians examine which sounds were considered tolerable from a religious or secular point of view and which sounds were considered unbearable blasphemy or a public nuisance in terms of quality and quantity.
• In the second phase, the team will conduct more detailed research into the cases in which religious sounds were disapproved of or profane sounds were rejected by religious historical actors. It will examine how colonial institutions negotiated respect or disrespect or how it was imposed.
• In the third phase, the project bridges the two meanings of tolerance as an attitude and as a practice. It reflects on tolerance and intolerance of noise as an indicator of intergroup conflict.

In the project, the historians are concentrating on selected West African colonial metropolises – in particular on Freetown (Sierra Leone), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Accra (Ghana) and Lomé (Togo). The research group is examining these cases comparatively with the help of the rejection-respect model of tolerance.

Part of the DFG research group on the concept of tolerance

The Passau project is part of the DFG research group 5472 ‘The difficulty and possibility of tolerance: the manifold challenges of the concept and practice of tolerance’. The group's research focuses on the rejection-respect model, which is based on insights from several disciplines, in particular political, social and moral philosophy, and social psychology. The main goal of the research group is to develop a theoretically coherent and empirically robust framework for understanding the foundations, dynamics and (intended and unintended) consequences of tolerance in plural societies. The Passau research team contributes important insights into the historical dynamics of tolerance practices based on different religious beliefs and in multicultural contexts.

For more information about the project click here.

Picture: Drum of a religious women's group (Bundu) from colonial Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone National Museum, SLNM.1965.10.01A).