It should not be surprising that the accounts of former house servants often
speak past, rather than back to, the colonial archive and the nostalgic memoirs
of their Dutch employers. People's memories were clearly shaped by dominant
historical narratives, by popular literary representations of domestic service and
by contemporary concerns. But if the different orientations of these accounts
are predictable, their uneven densities were not. Rather than tapping into wellhoned,
circulating stories, most people seemed unaccustomed to and uneasy relating
their colonial experiences. Certainly what people chose to say to us was
textured by what we inadvertently solicited and by what they thought we wanted
to hear. Still, reticence about the colonial seemed to signal a discomfort that
extended beyond the interview dynamics. Subtle shifts, evasions and formulaic
responses located the fault lines of memory, the places of discomfort and disinterest
as well as those of safety and concern