An overview of the theory of Postcolonialism.
...y by evaluating the cultural and historical forces that were exerted by colonisation. It is suggested that aspects of colonialism remains in the former colonies, even after independence has been achieved; this neo-colonialism or ‘new’ colonialism, is also analysed by postcolonialists. The second part of the postcolonial objective, the articulation and appraisal of postcolonial diasporas, is achieved by means of studying the literature of the colonised and ex-colonised. It is stressed that diaspora, in this sense, signifies “an ongoing dynamic of heterogeneity and diversity” (Lopez 8), rather than the mere geographical scattering of native groups. For instance, diasporic writers such as the Nigerian Chinua Achebe and the Trinidadian V. S. Naipaul simultaneously showcase the culture of their colonised homelands and the impact of colonialism in their novels Things Fall Apart and A House for Mr. Biswas respectively. In analysing postcolonial diasporic writing, since it is recognised that culture and language are inextricably bound, attention is paid to the language of the writers of the ex-colonies and the ways in which they challenge Western norms. In writings deemed “counter discourse,” postcolonial authors utilise two main methods to resist occidental hegemony: they write back to the European master texts, and they also adjust colonial language to suit their own experience of colonisation. Several Caribbean authors, in particular, have sought to dispute the depiction of the West Indies by writings inspired by – and aimed at - the canonical texts. Walcott’s play Pantomime reconsiders Robinson Crusoe by depicting an English Harry Trewe, and his islander servant, Jackson, in Tobago which is believed by many to be the very island described in Defoe’s novel. Trewe, who is mired in his past and cannot understand that his lifestyle is deteriorating, is placed in juxtaposition with Jackson, who takes decisive action about his future towards the end of the play. Hence, Walcott defies the European conception of the master-servant relationship, by showing that Trewe lacks the necessary control to dominate Jackson – after all, Jackson is able to master himself, whereas Trewe is a servant to the past. The twisting of the Western depiction of the oriental has been compounded by the practice of postcolonial writers to subvert the very language used to construct the binary coloniser and colonised identities. Again, the manner in which this is carried out is dualistic in nature as there are two main processes utilised by postcolonial writers: abrogation and appropriation. The process of abrogation denotes the rejection of imperial culture and all it comprises, especially its “illusory standard of normative or ‘correct’ usage” (Ashcroft et al 38) and conventional meanings of words. This is seen in Louise Bennett’s aptly entitled poem, “Colonisation in Reverse,” where the persona speaks in the Creole: Wat a devilment a Englan! Dem face war an brave de worse, But I’m wonderin how dem gwine stand Colonizin in reverse. (41-4) The phonetic spelling of the words highlights Bennett’s evocation of the Jamaican tradition of speaking, which contrasts sharply with Standard English. Furthermore, it is observed that conventional syntax is also ignored, as seen in the line “Wat a devilment a Englan!” Western discourse is thus discarded and the non-Western discourse is privileged. The other process by which diasporic writers manipulate the language of the centre is termed appropriation; this refers to the procedure by which the coloniser’s language is commandeered by writers and used to portray the postcolonial experience. This process is illustrated in Olive Senior’s “Colonial Girls’ School” which appears as a diatribe against the process of occidental hegemony, in Standard English. It may be suggested that appropriation is more successful than abrogation in undermining the colonial language, since it allows for greater universality – for instance, “Colonial Girls’ School” may be considered more acceptable throughout the entire globe since the language can easily be understood, even by readers outside of the country in which Senior was writing. On the other hand, it may well be difficult for non-Jamaican readers to grasp the meaning of the Bennett poem in which words such as “gwine” are employed, hence the argument for such writers to combine the two processes. Arising from this is the hybridisation of language and cultural forms, which occurs from the overlapping of colonial and native discourse. In the Caribbean region, this has spawned what is known as the Creole continuum which has allowed writers greater creativity and diversity since they are able to move between Standard English, indigenous Creole, and even a combination of both. In the poem “Listen Mr. Oxford Don”, John Agard utilises the Creole continuum since it is observed that the immigrant’s speech moves between sentences that are constructed in Standard English and the Jamaican Creole language with significant ease. Yet, any consideration of postcolonialism would be incomplete without examining the ideas proposed by theorists such as Said, Bhabha and Spivak, who are regarded as the ‘holy trinity’ of postcolonial thought. The Palestinian-American Edward Said’s seminal text, Orientalism, was responsible for the formal construction of the binary division existing between the eastern Orient and the western Occident. Drawing upon the work of various theorists such as Gramsci and Foucault, Said showcases the Western attitude to the institution of the Orient, which is viewed as an inferior other in relation to the Occident. The Western notion of its own superiority is heightened by its imposition of negative qualities on the oriental – it is pointed out that “the East becomes the repository or projection of those aspects of themselves which Westerners do not wish to acknowledge” (Barry 193) including laziness, sensuality and decadence. However, at the same time, the Orient holds a certain allure for Westerners due to the mystery and exoticism with which it is associated. This double-sided notion of the Orient is made manifest in gender identities of orientals: the male oriental is negatively depicted as weak and effeminate who, paradoxically, is still dangerous because he presents a threat to European women; and the oriental woman is “both eager to be dominated and strikingly exotic” (Bahri). This is aptly summed up in recurring portrayals of the East, which include images of harems filled with exotic women guarded by black eunuch servants. John McLeod points out that additional stereotypes are inflicted upon the Orient, including that of its timeless nature, and assumptions about race - for instance, the African male is linked with excess sexual urges (seen in Shakespeare’s Othello, where Othello is linked to animals “as hot and prime as goats and monkeys”), the Indian is viewed as deceitful and the Chinese is purportedly inscrutable. Furthermore, the Orient as a whole is seen as feminine and degenerate. Although a central concept to postcolonialism, Orientalism has been severely criticised for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it is viewed as ahistorical, since it ignores historical accounts and instead “makes totalising assumptions” (McLeod 47) about the extremely large and wide-ranging geographical and cultural constituents of the East over a long stretch of time. Moreover, Said ignores resistance to the Orient/Occident construct, both by the colonised and within the West itself. He therefore simultaneously posits that every Westerner and oriental accepts the identities allotted to him or her within the framework of Orientalism. The Westerner was also consequently “a racist, an imperialist and almost totally ethnocentric” (McLeod 48). However, these shortcomings are addressed by Homi Bhabha, who alludes to Foucault’s notion of discourse, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and deconstruction as advocated by Derrida in his expansion of Said’s Orientalism and analysis of stereotypes of the Orient. He contends that colonial discourse aims to “construe the colonised as a population of degenerate types on the basis of racial origin, in order to justify conquest” (Bhabha 295). That is, Westerners validate colonisation - and the resulting derogatory generalisations about the colonised races - via the polemical distinction between the Orient and Occident. These stereotypes attempt to “fix” the colonised peoples into specific categories, which are aimed at translating their strangeness into terms that the Europeans understand, so that the gap between the West and the Eastern Other is reduced. This lessening of the gap consequently brings the otherwise unfamiliar orientals within the limits of Western understanding. However, at the same time, the disparaging stereotypical identities assigned to the orientals work conversely to preserve the distance between the West and the East. Thus, Bhabha’s concept of ambivalence arises, as the colonised or orientals are always in a state of motion, split between the poles of coherence and unfamiliarity impressed upon them by the stereotyp...