Orientalism and Post-Colonial Theory
Fitting Said’s vision of Orientalism into post colonial theory is a fluid meeting of social discourse. As post colonial theory demands a “constant redefinition of both “politics” and “culture” in a rapidly globalizing world,” Said also questions how cultural power and privilege determines modern identity (Nealon and Giroux, 149). Said’s dialogue of “Oritentalism” demands a new look at history and the colonial processes imprinted upon so many peoples. It opens and engages discourses of racism and socio-economic inequality, and intrinsically asks how post-colonial theory translates into our lives today.
Recasting human identity using new conceptions of historical and modern communities of “ “us” Europeans against “those” non-Europeans,” Said challenges European versions of history and authority of knowledge (Said, 7). The pursuit of a more complete understanding of how“ “our” world” and the “other” are connected requires a challenge to the referential power of European historical texts and its “exteriority to what it describes” (Said, 20). Deep “analysis of postcolonial relations is necessary” within all bodies of academic thought (Nealon and Giroux, 142), Said contends; even the study of English literature is rooted in colonial purposes of assimilation and control (Said, 145). How we conceptualize ourselves extends beyond scholarly print to other modes of experience and the everyday assumptions of our culture about the “other.”
If “politics and culture work in collusion” (Nealon and Giroux, 142), it is in this interface that social identity finds root and means for change. Post colonial theory realizes the socio-economic inequality of nations and peoples as consequence of colonial systems, and attends to the question of how cultures maintain autonomy when modern media and military forces “divide world in ways astoundingly similar to the era of colonialism” (Nealon and Giroux150).
The Don Valley Brickwork consists of many different layers of geological deposits, allowing us to observe and have a better understanding of how the sediments we see today are formed. The most bottom layer in the Brickworks are from the Georgian Bay Formation, and consists of grey- shale bedrocks. Fossils are often found in this layer and it is estimated that this deposit of sediments is around 445 million years old. Above the bedrocks is a thin layer of grey clay sand and gavels left behind by the Illinoian Glacier. This layer is called the York Till and occurred around 135,000 years ago. The next layer consists of a sandy deposit called the Don Formation, which is formed by the Sangamonian Interglacial Stage. Many plant and animal fossils are found in this layer due to warmer climate around 120,000 years ago. Above it lies the Scarborough Formation, which consist of clay and sand. This sediment likely occurred 115 - 106,000 years ago. The next layer above is the Poetry Road Formation, and consist of sand and gravel. This layer is likely formed during the early Wisconsin glacial substage around 106- 75,000 years ago. Higher is the Sunnybrook Drift which was formed 60 – 75,000 years ago. And on the surface, is the Halton Till, which was left behind by the final push of the Wisconsin Glacier.
Over the course the experiment, Ehrenreich takes on various jobs in three different cities becoming a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide and a sales clerk at Wal-mart for short periods of time. When describing these experiences, Ehrenreich occasionally delves into the strain these jobs are having on her motivation and her perspective. Lines like, “I don’t cry, but I am in a position to realize…that the tear ducts are still there and still capable of doing their job,” and “no one will notice my heroism on that Saturday’s shift,” clearly demonstrate the overwhelming feelings of depression and low self-esteem that many readers can relate to from through their own personal experiences. By allowing herself to experience first-hand the emotions that derive from the poverty that she is analyzing, Ehrenreich solidifies her credibility to not only her audience but also to
This sedimentary rock has hardened over the many years with sand shells, small pebbles, grains of sand and rocks of various sizes. In comparison to our 4.5 billion year old Earth, these sand shells might as well be brand new, when in reality they could be up to 1,000 years old. If the sandstone were to be replaced with calcite it would completely change the subclass of rock, it would then be chemical & organic limestone. The variation in sand stone is due to different rates of deposition and change in patterns of the sediment movement (Mc Knight, p. 384). These tightly compacted varying stones and shells will be weathered away by wind and waves over time and could eventually be reduced to a rock the size of your hand.
In today’s society, the question of minimum wage is a large political topic. Many people argue that it is impossible to live on a minimum wage lifestyle. In her novel Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich looks into this issue. In an experiment in which she mimics the life of a single woman, she moves into the low-wage workforce in three different cities in America. Within these cities, she attempts to make a living off of low-wage work and records her experiences, as well as the experiences of the true low-wage workers around her. Throughout Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich utilizes both vivid imagery and data in order to persuade the audience to agree that the low-wage lifestyle is truly un-livable.
First, Both stories show that the main characters Peeta, Katniss, Bill, and Tesse follow tradition because no one would dare go against it. In “The Hunger Games” demands are given from the capitol for two tributes to be chosen from a district regardless of their status. “The Hunger Games” began because of civil uprising and to remind citizens to stay in their place. One of the characters Peeta says “I wish that I could show the Capitol they don't own me, that I am more than just a piece in their games”(Collins). He knows that the districts having to suffer because of the lost against the capitol is wrong but he knows that tradition must be followed or else. In the beginning of The Lottery citizens from a small town all gather together in the town square for the lottery. With only three-hundred people in the town the lottery only takes two h...
While both The Lottery and The Hunger Games have shared content ideas. The Lottery is more associated with the idea of ritual while The Hunger Games is more associated with Punishment. These two stories value tradition so much and those who oppose do not challenge it because of social conformity, human hypocrisy and rituals. These three topics are very essential to understand why the presence of false tradition is very much real in both stories The Lottery and The Hunger Games.
Though many societies are different from each other in appearance, they have more aspects in common than some may expect. This is very true in the societies in the movie, The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, and the short story, “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson. The Hunger Games is about the struggle of a young woman who is trying to survive a deadly competition between multiple people drawn and nominated to fight to the death for sport due to a failed revolt against the government. “The Lottery” is a story about how families are picked at random with one member getting stoned to death and how a young woman decides to stand up to her society. Both The Hunger Games and “The Lottery” have many similarities in regards to tradition
Shintoism has no founder ,and the history behind the technicalities of the rise of Shinto are rather obscure. Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion more than just a label to give to the different faiths of Japan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, Shinto referred to the many local cults of the prehistoric Japanese people. These people were animists; devoted to the worship of nature and spirits. These spirits were the Kami; found in living things, nonliving things and natural phenomena. The early Japanese created a spiritual world—and rituals and stories to accompany it—that seemingly gave them control of their lives. It wasn't considered a religion at those times, early Japanese people regarded their faith as a commonality as a part of the natural world. The realms of Earth and the supernatural were closely integrated into each other for them. (“Religions”)
When she moves to Portland she come across a Motel that is $ 120 week. She also is able to grab two jobs one at a nursing home for $ 7 an hour and the other is at The Maids for $ 6.65 an hour. At the nursing home her job is to feed the residents then wash the dishes after. While at The Maids her jo is to clean, dust vacuum houses. Her work is exhausting, especially the maids must continuously move at a fast pace. They are shuttled from house to house and clean the rooms as fast as they can. As an employee the maids are making $ 6.65 an hour per person, Dr. Ehrenreich figures out that The Maids actually charge customers $25 per hour. She then starts to wonder why does she only gets such a small fraction of that money. They have poor work conditions as well they are not allowed to eat or drink on the job. Dr. Ehrenreich later develops an intense rash and her boss Ted told her to work through it but it got so bad she had to rely on one of her restrictions and contact her dermatologist for a prescription. One day while cleaning a house her partner Holly hurts her ankle. Ehrenreich tells Holly that she can’t work with her ankle injured, but all Holly wants to do is call Ted. Ehrenreich takes the phone from Holly and tells Ted that she does not like the way he treats his employees but Ted tells
In the stories of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, both authors deliver the dangers of blindly following tradition that can lead to death, fear and no advancement in society. In “The Lottery” their tradition is to kill a person that is randomly chosen by using a lottery. To compare, in “The Hunger Games” children are also picked out of a lottery from each district and if they are chosen, they need to fight against each other to death. Both stories share a tradition of cruel and murderous behavior but they have a slight difference in tradition.
They both held annual drawings that choose people for a ritual. The districts of The Hunger Games called it a "reaping" which chose two people to fight for their district having a great chance of being killed. "The Lottery" held a "lottery" which first drawn families then draws a person from that family to certainly be killed. First, the fear that was instilled in the people. In The Hunger Games, the people of the districts feared speaking out against President Snow because of the consequences they would face. While in The Lottery, the villagers were also very fearful of being condemned if they were to express opposing views.(Yarmove, 1994) Next is the free will of the two stories. There was no freedom at all in the way of living in The Hunger Games they had no say so in their lives. In The Lottery the villagers were pretty free living except when it came to the lottery itself, there was no way of getting out of that situation. Since the characters in both stories did not have free will, the conformed to the ways of the law. In The Hunger Games, there were strict rules to abide by, it was follow or die. No one would speak out against President Snow because of fear. In The Lottery, all villagers followed the routine of that day the people do not speak out just accept what it to be. Now in both stories, there are people in each story who finally speak out but for different
Mohanty is drawing upon theoretical perspectives of postmodernism to understand difference and by that uncover essentialist and Universalist interpretations (Uduyagiri 1995:159). In particular she is drawing upon approaches familiar to Edward Said’s Orientalism and Focault’s approach to discourse, power and knowledge. Foucault’s theories are especially useful in a postmodernist argument since he acknowledge that there are several structures of power, and that the there is a diversity of localized resistances ( Udayagiri 1995: 161). Mohanty uses Foucault’s conception of power to uncover Universalist categories and how feminist writers define power as a binary structure – to be in possession of power versus being powerless (Mohanty 1991:71). This limited way of theorizing power fails to recognize counteroffensives and the varied forms of power. Mohanty uses Said’s Orientalism to show how the way Western cultural perceptions of the Orient “became a means of controlling the regio...
Every human being, in addition to having their own personal identity, has a sense of who they are in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
Shinto has ancient origins that can be traced all the way back to 500 B.C.,but it wasn’t called Shinto until 8th century Japan when Buddhism started to threaten the Japanese way of life. The religions begun, of course, in Japan. Shinto has no founder, it has been practiced by the Japanese since they appeared on the earth apparently so nobody knows who the heck started it (). There is no specific person who spread the religion, due to the fact Shinto didn’t spread much, There are some temples in Hawaii, South America, and Europe, which are most likely from immigrants into those regions from Japan (). Some say that Shinto is tied in with the land of Japan. If your mom was Shinto yo...
The origin of the Shinto religion dates back to the beginning of Japanese history. Shinto was first used in the 6th century C.E., even though the roots of the religion date back to at least the 6th century B.C.E. Shinto does not have a founder and does not have any sacred scriptures that correlate directly with the religion. Shinto bases the majority of its principles on ancient books. Two of the most important books of the Shinto religion are the Kojiki and the Nihongi. While preaching is a usual practice in Christianity, it is uncommon in Shinto. This is due to the fact that Shinto is already deeply rooted into the Japanese people and traditions. Shinto is a local religion and the percentage of people who practice Shinto quite small. The word Shinto originated from the Chinese characters “Shin” meaning “divine being” and Tao meaning “way of the spirits”. All together this translates into “Way of the Spirits”.