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Features of post colonial theory in literature
Characteristics of colonialism literature
Features of post colonial theory in literature
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The idea of heritage and tradition in the modern world has become an idea of importance to both the indigenous peoples and the descendants of the European colonists who attempted to Westernize the lands they discovered and the people in them. This idea has taken numerous forms in recent years and not-so-recent years. One form it has been examined in is the literary short story. Thomas King’s “One Good Story, That One” and Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path” use characters and conflict to make a statement about the loss of tradition and heritage in order to demonstrate the effect of colonialism on indigenous people and their culture.
The representatives of colonialism in these stories are white men in positions of superiority. In King’s story, they take the role of anthropologists, well-educated and well-dressed, while in Achebe’s story, the white man is a supervisor in charge of overseeing everything the black main character does. The presence of these men, all of European descent, is a metaphor for the manner in which the original colonist behaved. The supervisor’s position of authority over the ‘lesser’ black man is reflective of the attitude that causes loss of heritage, while in King’s story the attitude the anthropologists display is that of the conqueror: expecting to have their wants (to hear an old traditional story) met by those who have been conquered. They do not even deign to sit with the person they are asking this of. “These three like to stand. Stand still.” (pg... p...) These characters remain nameless and faceless, only known by their titles, throughout both stories. Perhaps this is because their true purpose in the story is not as a character, but as a symbol for the attitudes of the colonists.
If the white men ...
... middle of paper ...
...ce if the lessons taught through these literary short stories are taken to heart and lived out in daily life.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. "Dead Men's Path." Short Fiction: Classic and Contemporary. Ed. Charles Bohner. Prentice Hall, 2002. 40-42. Print.
Derry, Ken. "Religion and (Mimetic) Violence in Canadian Native Literature." Literature & Theology: An International Journal of Religion, Theory, and Culture 16.2 (2002): 201-219. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
Heinimann, David. "Trickster Ethics, Richler and King Fiddling." English Studies in Canada 30.3 (2004): 39-56. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
King, Thomas. "One Good Story, That One." One Good Story, That One. HarperCollins, 1993. 3-10. Print
Lindfors, Bernth, ed. Conversations with Chinua Achebe. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1997. Print.
... himself. It seems that Achebe was closed-minded in his essay regarding racism. He did not propose any other possibilities regarding the novel, only to say that a conceivable reason for this is that "it is the desire in Western psychology to set African up as a foil to Europe" (Achebe, p.251). Achebe only set forth his views and did not take into account other interpretations of the same passage, as did Saravan.
In Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “Dead Men’s Path”, the reader is given a glimpse into two different stories but share many similar characteristics of traditions. Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information and cultures within a group of people from generation to generation. However, these two stories will reveal that the protagonists in these stories, Michael from “Dead Men’s Path” and Victor from “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” will ignore their own traditions that they face throughout the story. In other words, the protagonists are westernized and have forgotten their own culture, which reflects the theory of the melting pot. The ignorance of ancestry and traditions brings the worst fates into the lives of the protagonists in each story.
In Thomas King's short story "Borders," a Blackfoot mother struggles with maintaining her cultural heritage under the pressure of two dominating nations. Storytelling is important, both for the mother and for the dominant White society. Stories are used to maintain and pass on cultural information and customs from one generation to another. Furthermore, stories can be used both positively and negatively. They can trap individuals into certain ways of thinking, but they can also act as catalysts that drive social change within society.
How can you write about a culture whose history is passed on by oral traditions? Better yet, how can you comprehend a culture’s past which a dominant society desired to assimilate? These two questions outline the difficulty in understanding the historiography of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. In 2003, Paige Raibmon published her article, “Living on Display: Colonial Visions of Aboriginal Domestic Spaces.” Her work, although focused on Canada’s colonial “notions of domesticity,” presents the role of Aboriginals as performers to European notions of indigenous culture and identity. Early social historians believe that Aboriginals’ place in history is in their interactions with European Jesuits. A decade later, historians argue Aboriginals exemplify a subordinate culture fighting against assimilating and hegemonic forces. More recently, social historical perspective shows Aboriginals as performers of the white-man’s constructed “authentic-Indian.” Obviously, there is disparity between historians’ viewpoints but each decade’s published histories concur with James Opp and John Walsh’s concept of local resistance. Using Raibmon’s paper as a starting point, a chronological examination of select histories reveals an evolving social historiography surrounding historians’ perceptions of Aboriginals’ local resistance attempts.
Eastman and Zitkala Ša reveal the truth regarding of their people’s culture and history. Their memoirs give readers an understanding of their government, religion, and customs. They show their people as respectable and hospitable beings. Furthermore, they reveal the deceptions and frauds which Native Americans have suffered. They dispel misconceptions and prejudices regarding Native Americans and demonstrate that their people are deserving of the white’s sympathy, justice, and respect.
Dare, Tim. "Virtue ethics, lawyers and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird." Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 19.1-2 (2007): 81+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
In Thomas King’s “’You’ll Never Believe What Happened’ Is a Great Way to Start,” a battle of stories can be seen in how different cultures tell the story of creation. These stories and the manner in which they are told are at the core of different possible belief systems, one Christian and the other more “traditional”. Each story suggests a different framework for viewing the world in its entirety. In some ways they may be interpreted as the root of such framework; in other ways these stories can be seen as small embodiments of a larger meta-narrative. It is within the larger narrative of colonialism that I will attempt to dissect several examples of this battle of stories.
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
May, C. E. (2012). Critical Survey of Short Fiction: World Writers (4th ed.). Ipswich: Salem Press.
...heir superiority. Achebe embraces the beauty of humanity while simultaneously addressing its flaws. With his ability to contemplate conflicting perspectives, Achebe illustrates the benefits of cultural relativity. Achebe does not target religion or even the colonizers; he addresses people universally, encouraging global consideration and individual reflection. To accentuate the forcefulness of the colonizers, Achebe contrasts it with his own temperateness—he portrays his characters without generalization, he presents his opinions with a carefully restrained perspective, and remains calm in his writing, never resorting to hatred. Instead of passively resenting his village’s colonization, Achebe productively channels his specified anger into global compassion, showing his readers the value in considering different cultures with objective and thoughtful rationality.
Nnoromele, Patrick C.. “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1958. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Expanded Edition, Vol. 1. Ed. Maynard Mack. London: Norton, 1995.
In these examples, we can see the reasons that stories truly do have the power to change things and fight colonialism, the multiple authors mentioned throughout “Home and Exile” were very influential, even if they used their power of narrative in corrupt ways to justify their action. Throughout history, there will always be an author whose words will be strong enough to fight the problems of society, truly Chinua Achebe was the author of the 1900’s whose words were powerful enough to fight for what he believed in and help end the problem known as colonialism.
... of the colonial mentalities and post-colonial perspectives into the Middle Passage. In doing so, he highlights, indirectly, the philosophical position of the West in relation to African beliefs considered pagan and perhaps savage. He identifies the rationale for the European conquest of Africa being rooted in the concept that Africans were somehow sub-human and inferior to whites. In addition to that, Johnson advances the post-colonial concept of the “middle man” in Rutherford Calhoun’s character and in the greater context of the mulatto Negro in America.