Week 14 Quiz - Class Collaboration & Postmodernism

Fanon, Orientalism, Critical Race Theory, Omi & Winant // Foundations of Postmodernism

1. What is Fanon’s “White Mask?”

2. Why do colonized people wear it?

1. “White Mask” is metaphor for assimilation.

2. Colonized people adopt the language, culture, and behaviors of the colonizer in hopes of being accepted.

Define double consciousness and alienation according to Fanon.

Black people in colonial societies experience a fractured identity. They see themselves through the eyes of the dominant white culture, leading to internalized inferiority and a feeling of not truly belonging.

What happens to a Black person when they have to wear the “white mask?”

erase and repress own identity and still face racism

1. How is language a tool of cultural domination?

2. Give an example.

1. assume culture and values of colonizer at the cost of one’s own

2. colonized societies are often judged by how well they speak French/English which reinforces the idea that their native language and cultures are inferior

People of color are characterized as ———— ————.

phobogenic objects

phobogenic objects (def.)

embody unconscious fears; not seen as individuals but as objects of fear, danger, or threats because of deep-rooted cultural and colonial associations

List three forms violence can take according to Fanon.

1. psychological

2. physical

3. symbolic

4. emotional

5. economic

6. political

7. historical

8. geographic

Why does Fanon consider violence a path to liberation?

colonialism is inherently violent; decolonization must involve violence as a necessary tool for reclaiming humanity and freedom.

“violence is a cleansing force. it frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction.”

—— and —— are the most important players in resistance to colonization

peasants, lumpenproletariat

1. What is Fanon’s definition of psychological impact of colonization?

2. What example does he use?

1. colonization does not only exploit economically, it shatters the psyche of the colonized.

2. as a psychiatrist, Fanon explains how colonialism creates trauma, alienation, and internalized self-hatred.

Why can’t the postcolonial elite be revolutionary?

the postcolonial bourgeoisie…

1. replicate the same systems of exploitation

2. seeks power, not liberation

3. accomplices to European colonizers

What does true decolonization involve?

• cultural and structural transformation

• economic redistribution

• cultural renewal

• building of a new national consciousnesss

How are tariffs an example of continued colonization?

while colonizers are not physically present, the colonial social structures perpetuate continued forms of colonization.

What does Fanon mean by “culture is a battlefield?”

• colonizer tries to erase indigenous culture and replace it with European norms

• make culture an “opiate of the people,” using culture to distract people from fighting back

—— , —— , and —— culture is central to true liberation.

1. reclaiming

2. reshaping

3. reimagining

How does Said describe the “Orient” as a social construct?

the Orient is not a real, unified place but a Western invention to depict the East.

What is Orientalism?

a system of thought used by the West to dominate, stereotype, and control the East

What the three ways Orientalism influences society?

1. representation and stereotypes

2. institutional Orientalism

3. continuity into modern media and politics

continuity into modern media and politics (matching term)

it lives on in Hollywood films, news coverage, foreign policy, and academic disciplines

institutional Orientalism (matching term)

it is an entire system of universities, museums, bureaucracies, leisure, land travel writing that reniforced colonial narratives

representation and stereotypes (matching term)

literature, art, media, and academia have long depicted the East through romantic, dangerous, mysterious, despotic images

Where is race deeply ingrained in society?

1. social strucutres

2. institutions

3. laws

1. What theorist talks about interest convergence?

2. What is interest convergence?

1. Derrick Bell

2. racial progress only occurs when it aligns with the interests of the dominant (white) group

What is the social construction of race?

race is not a biological fact but is a social construct that changes over times and across cultures to justify inequalities

1. What groups use storytelling and counter-narratives?

2. Why?

1. marginalized communities

2. challenge dominant perspectives

Where is structural and systemic racism embedded in society?

1. laws

2. policies

3. institutions

Based on Omi and Winant’s theory, how is race a social construct?

race is not natural or objective, it is made meaningful through social and institutional practices

What role does the state play in racial formation?

through laws and policies (criminal justice, real estate, immigration), the state has the power to legitimize these policies, and they often reproduce systems of inequality

How do Omi and Winant critique the claim that the U.S. is a post-racial society?

They argue that race and racism remain central organizing features in American life. it is evident the U.S. is not post-racial due to recent upsurge in white nationalism and white supremacist groups.

Give an example of a racial project.

redlining is a racial project that links race to space and access to housing

How have racial ideas become common sense through hegemonic cultural narratives?

hide structural racism and shift blame of inequality onto individuals

racial formation (matching)

the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed

racial projects (matching)

any effort (cultural, political, or institutional) that gives meaning to race and distributes resources or rights based on that meaning

split-labor market theory (matching)

the theory that racial and ethnic tensions develop when owning classes (the bourgeoisie) pit workers (proletariat) from different racial categories against each other

racialization (matching)

the process by which phenotypic differences are made to matter in socially significant ways

Which theorist says that we have lost our belief in “grand narratives?”

Jean Francois Lyotard

1. What does it mean to say that we have lost our belief in the Truth?

2. What do we believe instead?

1. we no longer believe is a single truth that is constructed by a dominant power.

2. we believe in pluralistic truths that come from a variety of voices rather than one universal voice.

What does postmodernism mean?

societies are leaving behind their emphasis on the principles and values upon which modern societies have been built

• emancipation

• equality

• truth and fact

• individualism

• production

• meaning

• freedom/liberation

• opportunity

• progress and development

• identity

• history

• objectivity

fundamental question of history

whose version?

fundamental question of progress

in what direction?

fundamental question of identity

who decides who/what you are?

fundamental consideration of production

consumption has become more important

fundamental question of freedom

what is the source of oppression?

fundamental question of meaning

ex) what does “Nike” mean?

fundamental question of fact

ex) is “Coke” the “real thing?”

What dominates postmodern society?

• consumerism

• advertising

• texts and their contexts

• credit cards

• shopping malls

• simulations and “virtual reality”

• fashion

• amusement parks

• television

What facilitates the domination of the postmodern society?

mass media creates and reproduces events, images, and experiences that do not exist

Why does mass media exist in the postmodern society?

promotes a world of consumerism; most sophisticated expression of capitalism

hyperreality (Baudrillard)

an imitation of something is more real than reality itself and is treated as real

simulacra (Baudrillard)

simulated copies of objects for which there is no original

Why are things like Disneyland, television, shopping malls, and advertising considered the new reality (Baudrillard)?

reality has evaporated; artificial, manufactured constructions from simulations and mass mediated “spectacles”

How do simulations construct reality?

representations of things have replaced the real things they originally represented; they come before the original and shape how we understand reality.

What does post-structuralism mean?

something has shifted in the structure of everyday life, especially in our ideas about language and what language does

What is a panopticon?

a circular structure with a watchtower in the center meant for guards to watch all inmates simultaneously

How does the panopticon’s structure affect the inmates’ behavior?

inmates do not know whether they are being watched or not, so they self-regulate their behavior

disciplinary power of the panopticon (Foucault)

subtle control through observation and regulation

self-surveillance in the panopticon (Foucault)

people can be controlled when people believe they are being watched, even if no one is actually watching them

normalization in the panopticon (Foucault)

society defines what is normal, and people adjust their behavior to fit alongside society

What is a real-world example of a panopticon?

CCTV, social media, schools/classrooms

What are the three types of control/power according to Foucault?

1. eye for an eye (equal consequence, public execution to teach a lesson)

2. panopticon (centralized authority/surveillance)

3. decentralized (social control is self control)