The Colonies of Culture:The Postcolonial Self in Latin America and Africa

The Colonies of Culture:The Postcolonial Self in Latin America and Africa

The colony is not only a possibility in the geographical; it is a mental dominance that can imperialize the entire self. Entire continents have be domineered, resources completely dried, and at colonialism’s usual worst, the mental devastation of the indigenous culture has left a people hollow. Indigenous culture is no longer that. In the globalized world, no culture is autonomous; culture cannot breathe without new ideas and new perspectives, perspectives that have traditionally come from the people who have lived within the culture. But, the imposition of dominant cultures has certainly benefited from culture’s own vulnerability, as global similarities now exist throughout most different, yet not separate cultures. Postcolonialism is imperialism with a mask on, nothing less. As Franz Fanon puts it “that imperialism which today is fighting against a s true liberation of mankind leaves in its wake here and there tinctures of decay which we must search out and mercilessly expel from our land and our spirits.”

Postcolonial power is a hidden monster, it still do this day dominates the economies and pyschologies of Latin America and Africa. This has led to violence, both guerilla and dictator violence, and this violence is an unforgettable part of the past of African and Latin American culture.

Culture and the self exist symbiotically, one cannot exist without the other. Culture is the all encompassing social-structure of a given society. It is the child of people, a child that grows to adulthood quickly, and begins to control its parents molding of itself, it encompasses those who create it. Culture is fluid.

Violence is an essential part o...

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... has been labeled “terroristic”, yet this was completely overshadowed by the colonial government and vigilantes killing over 11,000 suspected rebels. The Mau Mau movement and the heavyhanded response helped to bring an end to British rule, but when Kenya was granted independence, Mau Mau had nothing to do with it. The poor people of Kenya were terrified as the government responded to the Mau Mau movement, the armed forces didn’t know where to attack, so they used terrorist tactics in response, murdering whoever they could find, destroying entire villages, in order to stop the Mau Mau.

These culture of violence created a self in fear, a self that has been trained that it is under attack. The self of the indigenous person has been enslaved, labored, tortured and murdered, all due to the violent power colonialism and postcolonialism spread throughout the world.