ENG 339: Postcolonialism and Globalism/Hybridity

POSTCOLONIALISM

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Edward Said: Orientalism

Said starts the study of the “posy-colonial” with his heavily discussed work On Orientalism. Carries the role of the public intellectual, who uses pop culture to get into intellectual conversation w/o relying on heavy academic jargon. Said is Palestinian—> grew up in Cairo and Jerusalem. Tried to return to Jerusalem many tomes, but is denied access due to his classification as a terrorist (according to US and Israel).

Multiple meanings of “Orientalism”

1. Academic field

2. Basic distinctions between East and West and foundations of various “ancient” and “modern” theories, artistic works, political accounts, policies, etc.

3. Method by which domination is legitimated (since the late 18th C), meaning that the West cannot define itself without demeaning “iDthe other”/Orient.

4. British and French emphasis until the end of WWII; American after

5. Man-made

The Occident (West) and the Orient (East)

Perpetual binary structure that is reinforced. Origins of Western thought/belief. Interrelationship/interdependence between the two.

Fundamental difference between orientalist and occidentalism

Occidentalism is not exported/externalized as much, thus, not as harmful to Occidental/Western countries/its people.

The orient is often portrayed in these two ways:

1. Constructed as being/its people being exotic, sexual, mysterious, and passionated.

2. Constructed as being/its people being super-violent; irrational, un-emotional; having a “different mindset”

What does Said call his audience to do?

-Recognize our “situatedness” or where we are from and how our perspective has been shaped. He pulls from works from famous theorists such as, Franz Fanon. The thing that makes his works/theories special is his claim that Orientalism is our INHERITANCE.

Orientalism and the subjectivity of knowledge

Since Orientalism is the dissemination of images/ideals that Westerners place on Westerners, is knowledge:

1. Objective or beyond issues of politics and power? OR

2. Always bound by who is in power and whose interests are served by it?

What is the role of the postcolonial author?

To uncover what’s under the mask—> orientalist image—> reclaiming and embracing this orientalist image

Negritude or “blackness”

Negritude translates to blackness. Becomes central to Civil Rights Movement/Black Power Movements embracing differences. Leaders are Aime Cesaire and Leopold Sedar Senghor. INTUITIVE REASON (the reason is to embrace—embrace all the limitations previously placed on us)

Leopold Sedar Senghor

He was the first president of independent Senegal and used a multi-party system. He was in power for around 20 years

What is negritude inherently opposition to (according to Senghor)?

Inherently in opposition to European attitudes. It relies on Positive and Purposeful Essentialism, which takes assumptions and generalizations and reclaims them.

“Black Woman” by Senghor (1945)

Uses Orientalist and colonial language and narratives to describe Africa and black women. Question about whether he is reclaiming these narratives or simply feeding into them.

“Naked woman, dark woman”

“Prayer To Masks” by Senghor (1945)

Theme: Black men are deeply connected to and representatives of Earth:
But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain power when they beat the hard soil.”

Rise and Fall of Negritude

Negritude has a lot of traction but eventually gets pushback for being almost too essentialist and obvious (tigertude: a tiger doesn'tt have to single itself out as a tiger). People depart from the movement and create other movements such as, Creolite and Caribbeanness

Chinweizu and Toward Decolonization of African Literature: African Fiction and Poetry and Their Critics

MAIN POINTS

-“three dominant attitudes towards the African past: shamefaced rejection; romantic embrace; and realistic appraisal” (908).

-Africa was not a completely peaceful society. They had slaves of their own before the slave trade.

-Negritude allowed for political mobilization and allowed for a national movement. However, it also reduces blackness to some natural, romantic population/confines African identity.

-Critical realism: Recognizes the realities of the past in a way that is honest and allows for a balanced approach for the present.

Wole Soyinka

-Nigerian (born in 1934—> colonial period). Raised in a Christian home in the Yaruba territory (now Laos).

-Soyinka is sent to London to be London, “westernized.” Returns to Nigeria in 1960 and of

Yaruba/Nigeria History (context for The Lion and the Jewel)

Yarubans were disproportionately involved in the slave trade, which had a huge influence in their traditions (big Catholic/Christian community + abaritia).

-Independence in 1960 brought upon the question of what it means to be Nigerian. Followed by Civil War and a lot of Civil strife. Founder of a theater company and becomes politically involved in Nigerian/Yoruban politics.

-First African to win a Nobel Prize in Literature,

-1997: Charged by the leader/general of Nigeria for planning an uprising. Has not been able to return to Nigeria since.

The Lion and The Jewel

Its four characters deal with the postcolonial reality in different ways (spectrum),

The Lion and The Jewel: Lakunle

Lakunle is perhaps the clearest representation of the psychological effects of colonialism. Internal colonization/cultural alienation/superficial understanding of feminism.

He is educated in a Western-style educational system and believes that European culture represents civilization, intelligence and progress. He wants to transform Ilujinlein to a modern society modeled on European cities. However, his understanding of progress is problematic.

The Lion and The Jewel: Sidi (village beauty, “the jewel”)

Sidi represents the complexity of postcolonial identity. She is proud of her indigenous culture (insists that Lankunle pays the bride-price) but is also influenced by Western recognition (identity is shaped by external gaze(. Her character demonstrates that the struggle for cultural independence cannot be separated from the struggle for women's autonomy.

-Sidi’s autonomy is limited—> her choice to marry Baroka in the end. Her own volition or a result of manipulation/power imbalance?

The Lion and The Jewel: Baroka (traditional village chief)

-Challenges the assumption that traditional African societies are inherently opposed to progress. Believes in preservation of indigenous culture/selective modernization/resistance to colonial economic and political influence/ patriarchy and preservation of oppressive traditions.

-He is referred to as the Lion, symbolising his strength, authority, cunning and dominance. Although he represents traditional Yoruba leadership, he is not simply a man who refuses modernity.

-Does not completely refuse modernity: discusses introducing a stamp-printing machine and other forms of developmen tinto the village. Opposes railway project because it represents possible external and colonial interference in the village.

-Multiple wives

The Lion and The Jewel: Sadiku

Sadiku represents the contradictions of traditional womanhood. She is both a participant in patriarchal structures (is the one who approaches Sidi ab marrying Baroka) and someone who recognises their oppressive nature. Her character demonstrates that resistance to oppression can emerge from within traditional communities. Her character reminds us that decolonisation should not simply mean restoring everything that existed before colonialism.

GLOBALISM/HYBRIDITY

Imaginary Homelands—Rushdie

The Courther-Rushdie

The Third Space—Homi Bhabha