paper.no.11 - Selected Key Concept Of Post-Colonial Literature.

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• Name:- Zankhana .M.Matholiya
• Roll.No:-36
• Paper No.-11- Postcolonial Literature
• Topic:-Selected  Key Concept  Of Post-Colonial Literature.
• Class :- M.A. Sem-3
• Enrollment No:- 2069108420180036
• College:- Smt.S.B.Gardi Department of English
• Email ID :- zankhanamatholiya96@gmail.com
• Submitted:-Department of English M.K.University, Bhavnagar

• Introduction

• Post -Colonial study is a theoretical structure which gives new perspective to look towards the things and also rejects the dominant western way of seeing things. Means we may say that post colonialism rejects the superiority of western culture.

• First we have to discuss colonialism than discuss concept of post colonialism.

• What is Colonialism ?

• The word colonialism comes from the Roman word "Colonia" which means "farm" or "Settlement " and referred to Romans who settled in other lands but still retained their citizenship.Colonialism and Imperialism are often used interchangeably .

•  Accordingly the Oxford English Dictionary ......

A settlement in a new country. ....A body of people who settle in a new locality , forming a community subjects to or connected with their parent state; the community so formed ,consisting of the original settlers and their descendants and successors , as long as the connection with parent state is kept up.

•   View of Ania Loomba’s on colonialism...

Colonialism is the physical occupation of territory and post-colonialism deals with the effects of colonialism on cultural and societies. In her book colonialism and post colonialism, she mainly discussed about how colonialism relevant with the person, place or anything.

• The imperialist Expansion of Europe into the rest of the  world during the last four hundred years in which a dominant   imperium or center carried on a Relationship of central and influence aver its margins or colonies .this relation tended to extend to social , pedologagical ,economic ,political, and broadly culturally exchanges often with a hierarchical European setter class and local ,educated elite class forming layers between the European “mother nation and the various indigenous people who were controlled such a system carried within it in inherent nations of racial inferiority and exotic athemess.

• What is post-colonialism ?

•  Post colonialism claim the right of all people on this earth to the same material and culture well being. The reality through is that world today is a world of inequality and much of different falls across the broad  division between people of the waste and those of the non-waste.

•  Broadly a study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. It is concerned with both how European nations conquered and controlled "Third World" cultures and how these groups have since responded to and resisted those encroachments. Post-colonialism, as both a body of theory and a study of political and cultural change, has gone and continues to go through three broad stages:

1.     an initial awareness of the social, psychological, and cultural inferiority enforced    by being in a colonized state

2.     the struggle for ethnic, cultural, and political autonomy

3.     a growing awareness of cultural overlap and hybridity

•  Post colonialism  as term describes the practice and ideas as various of those with feminism and socialism . It is about changing world . A world that has been changed by struggle . It disturbs the order of the world . It threatens , privilege and power re-forces to acknowledge the superiority of the western culture. Its radical agenda is to demand equality and well being for all human beings on this earth.

• Postcolonial study is all about “language” and “power” . And we find identity crisis in postcolonial literature .Getting idea about such great term post colonialism  now reading literature must find where is the problem ? 

• 'Post colonial' refers to specific group of people rather than to location or a social order, which may include such people but is not imitated to them. Post colonial theory has been  a crossed of  precisely  this : it shifts the focus from location and institution to individual and their subjunctives postcoloniality  becomes vague condition of  people anywhere and  everywhere and specifies local do not matter.

• There is at another issue its in the term ' and this time the problem with 'Post ' but with 'colonial' food, or music. or language or etc of any culture and we think of as post colonial evokes earlier stories and shades of colour that involve the colonial.

• Post-colonial critics: Edward Said, Bill Ashcroft, Nagugi wa Thiongo, Homi Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe, Leela Gandhi, Gayatri Spivak, Hamid Dabashi, Helen Tiffin.

• Some of the writers’ contribution is notable in post colonial writing.

• post-colonial literature have many  key concepts but, here i discuss only five key concepts in detail .

1.     Commonwealth Literature.

2.     Magic Realism.

3.     Decolonization.

4.     Eurocentrism.

5.     Orientalism.  

1.    Commonwealth Literature.

• The term "commonwealth" has a long history. It was first used by Oliver Cromwell, after establishing the republican  government in England in 1649.

• Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with “republic” The English noun Commonwealth in the sense meaning “public welfare; general good or advantage” dates from the 15^th century. The original phrase “the commonwealth” or “the common weal” comes from the old meaning of “wealth” which is “well-being”. The term literary meant “common well being”.

• In the 17^th century the definition of “commonwealth” expanded from its original sense of “public welfare” or “commonweal”, to mean…

             “A state in which the supreme power is vested in the people; a republic or democratic state”.

•  In the area of colonialism, it indicates the former British Commonwealth of Nations. Ex:-  the former British empire consisting of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and certain former colonies that are now sovereign nations.
• The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, has manifested a distinctive literary development, marked by its cultural and historical diversity. The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization of 54 nations which were formerly part of the British Empire. The Commonwealth aims to provide a framework of common values, facilitating cooperation between its member states in the field of democracy, human rights, rule of law, free trade and peace.
• Some scholars,argue that the very notion of Commonwealth Literature is in it self narrow and misleading. Others criticize the term as anachronism. Debates are centered also on the distinctions, similarities or overlapping of the term Commonwealth Literature and Postcolonial Literature.
•  “Salman Rushdie” defined this type of fiction in an essay entitled Commonwealth Literature does not Exist,.......

"A body of writing created in the English language, by persons who are not themselves white Britons, or Irish, or citizens of the United States of America."

• Famous names among Commonwealth writers include:

Salman Rushdie,

R. K. Narayan,

Nayantara Sahgal

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Japanese Nobel Kazuo Ishiguro.

• Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie is one of the key representatives of contemporary Commonwealth literature. As an Indian-British novelist, he is world famous for his novel Midnight Children (1981), which won the Booker prize. Most of his books are set in India and have a particular emphasis on history. He is classified as a magical realist writer. Rushdie triggered protests in the Muslim world with the release of his novel The Satanic Verses (1989). Even the Iranian government pronounced a fatwa, or a death sentence, against Rushdie.

• Midnight Children (1981)

Midnight's Children is a book by Salman Rushdie that deals with India before independence and after independence. The book has a point of view of post colonialism, as we can see in the film that first there were British who have colonized and after independence there were Indians with powerful positions and were rulers of India. The movie not only represents the condition of India but Pakistan and Bangladesh are also there. Salman Rushdie has selected the historical event of independence but with fictional aspects, which reflects the term Historiography Metafiction.

            The plot is very complicated because of the confusion of parenthood of Shiva and Saleem. The whole life story of Saleem has been told by him to the audience. He starts from the marriage of his grandfather and grandmother, and also includes his mother’s life. Saleem was born at the exact movement when India became an independent nation, so the life of Saleem starts with the life of independent India and we can say that both are quite similar with each other. India got the power of democracy and Saleem got the telepathic power, even all the children who were born at exact 12 o’clock midnight of 14th August got different kind of powers. By using his power Saleem created a link with all the states of India.

• Imaginary Homelands

                                                Imaginary Homeland is a collection of essays, reviews, and interviews which were made from 1981 to 1991. Rushdie's writing deals with the political, cultural, and imaginative exchanges which took place in the East and the West. Rushdie shows how although past geo-political colonialism largely continues as a cultural process in the present things are nevertheless unavoidably changing. Things always have changed, but the difference is that now subaltern groups are writing their/our own stories.

                                               In Imaginary Homelands Rushdie admits to the fictional polishing up of history/memory so as to be able to represent it as either history or fiction. (The result is meta- fiction) It is this inquiry into reality and memory, and how one is affected by historic and cultural movement, translation, migration, that underscores much of Rushdie's writing. He establishes his political context in the first two chapters, and then, the paper "Commonwealth Literature Does Not Exist" acts as a kind of preface to the literature he reviews.

2-Magic Realism.

• Magic realism is a "kind of modern fiction in which fabulous and fantastical elements are included in a narrative that otherwise maintains the reliable tone of objective, realistic report".
•  The words 'magic' and 'realism' do not seem to be compatible with each other. Realism is all about events that have happened, largely dealing with historical settings. On the contrary, magic concerns with the use of fantastic or magical elements in the narrative.

• Dictionary Meaning :- . "A literary or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements".

• This term which has a long and quite distinctive history in Latin American criticism, was first used in a wider post-colonial context in the foundational essay by Jacques Stephen Alexis, Of the magical realism of the Haitians' (Alexis 1956).

• Characteristics of Magic Realism.

Hybridity.

Fantastical Elements.

Sense of Mystery.

Irony Regarding Author's perspective.

The Supernatural and Natural.

Metafiction.

Political Critique.

• in this Way It can be seen to be a structurıng device in texts as varied as Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Ben Okri's The Famished Road, Keri Hulme's The Bone People or Thomas King's Green Grass, Rug Water.
•  In texts like these and many others, the rational, linear world of Western realist fiction is placed against alter/native narrative modes that expose the hidden and naturalized cultural formations on which western narratives are based.

• Magic Realism in Midnight's Children.

• In post-colonial literature we generally found that many writer uses this term in their writing. In this method of literature in describing the imaginary life of indigenous cultures that experience the mythical, magical, and supernatural in decidedly different fashion from western one. Rushdie uses this magic realism in his book 'Midnight's Children'. He use of magic realism as a narrative technique is intentional.

• Magic realism as a postcolonial device in Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" Salman Rushdie artistically incorporates the elements of magic realism in Midnight's Children. Salman Rushdie's writing, and in particular Midnight's Children, provides us with perfectly illustrative examples of how magic realism can work with historical postmodernism.

• Salman Rushdie use "magic" in the Midnight's Children. In Midnight's Children, history is seen through the eyes of Saleem Sinai, thus reflected predominantly through individual experiences. For Saleem, born at the very moment of India's independence, his life becomes inextricably interlinked with the political, national, and religious events of his time. This gives him a strong desire to restore his past identity to himself. Realism plays a big role here in terms of describing the significant events that have happened.

• Saleem Sinai is a protagonist of Midnight's Children. born at midnight on 15th August, 1947, at the exact moment India gained its independence from British rule. . He imagines that his miraculously timed birth ties him to the fate of his country .

• He later discovers that all children born in India between 12 AM and 1AM on 15 Saleem thus attempts to use these powers to convene the Midnight Children's He acts as a telepathic conduit, bringing hundreds of geographically disparate children In particular, those children who are bom closest to the stroke of midnight possess Shiva of the Knees, Saleem's evil nemesis, and Parvati, called Parvati-the-witch', are August, 1947, are gifted with special powers.

• Conference into contact while also attempting to discover the meaning of their gifts. more powerful gifts than the others. two of these children with notable gifts and roles in Saleem's story.

3-Eurocentrism

• Eurocentrism is a term which shows a worldview that puts European norms and values as normal and superior to others. It shows the European dominance around the world.
• The main thing is eurocentrism is the binary opposition between the white world and the black world. These two binaries are juxtaposing with each other. In this term Whiteman’s world is shown and considered as modern, civilized, developed and progressive while the ‘other’ world is seen as uncivilised, backward, underdeveloped and dark. The term sees black and indigenous people as barbarian. In a way this term is juxtaposing with post colonialism and orientalism.
• Samir Amin’s Eurocentrism (1988) have pointed out the production of Eurocentric knowledge by Europe’s connection with orient. Eurocentric knowledge has constructed the orient as distinct identity and entity.The difference between orient and occident is not accommodating the experience of Latin America, which is a part of occident. In America, Eurocentrism works in different ways.
• Eurocentrism has a discursive tendency to donate the histories, societies and cultures of non-Europeans from a European or Western perspective. When this happens in any form of literature, it is called a Eurocentric literary work.

• These are some characteristics and common features of Eurocentrism:

• Ignoring or undervaluing non European societies as inferior to Western.
•  Ignoring or undervaluing what Asians or African do within their own societies, or seeing the histories of non European societies simply in European terms. And as a part of “The Expansion of Europe” and its civilising influence.
•  Non-European people and societies are seen as dependent, weak and slave like. And in comparison to it Western people see themselves as free and individual.
•  Non-European societies are Islamic or pagan, or believe in strange religions which are inferior to Christianity, or lack its truth.
•  Non-European societies are seen as cruel and feelingless. They have less concern for human life. And they practices barbaric customs.
•  Non-European societies are seen as stagnant, unchanging and rigid. Some European thinkers have attributed this inflexibility to climate that is with extreme heat and dryness.
•  Non-European societies are believed as less rational and they are lacking scientific approaches.

• “The White Tiger” as a Eurocentric novel:-

•  In this novel we can find many aspects of Eurocentrism. This novel basically deals with negative sides of India, but there we can find constant comparison with America and China also. Yes, China is an Asian country. And considering our country as inferior to China can be seen as new form of Eurocentrism. Because the economical and industrial condition of China is now strong like Europe has once.
•  Eurocentrism is in a way not a negative term, because it shows a mirror image of a country with all bad and bitter aspects. But it is also true that to slander our own country only because it is not like European country is quite a problematic thing. The reason is we all carry our country within us. We are not at all separate from our country. Our country and we both are mirror image of each other. Both are reflection of each other.

•  Ignoring or undervaluing non European societies as inferior to Western.

In this novel we can see this thing very clearly. Each and every event of the novel shows the West as something superior. We can see the attitude of Pinky madam, who always wants to go back to America. The father and brother of Mr.Ashok also see America as something superior. Mr.Ashok wants to stay here. But it is also because here he can get servants in an easier way than America. He also does not see India as an individual country. See these lines which, Ashok speaks to Pinky madam.

• “...The way things are changing in India now, this place is going to be like America  in ten years. Plus, I like it better here. We’ve got people to take care of us here-our drivers our watchman, our masseurs. Where in New York will you find someone to bring you tea and sweet biscuits while you are still lying in bed, the way Ram Bahadur does for us?”

So, in this way these lines show that India is mostly the country of servants. And another thing is India will be erica is the standard to evaluate India’s progress. This is a kind of ignorance towards India.

4-Orientalism.  

•  “Orientalism”  is a term used  by art historians and literary and cultural studies scholars for the imitation or depiction of aspects of middle eastern and Asian cultures Ester cultures by writers , designers and artists from the west , in particular , Orientalism painting , depicting more specifically “the many Middle East” was one of the many specialism of 19^th  century academic are , and the literature of western countries took  a similar interest in oriental themes.

• “Orientalism” is the academic field of Post colonial studies. The West sees the Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African society by the only word “the East”.

• In simple words ‘orientalism’ is the term used to show Western approach and attitude towards Middle , North African and Asian people, society and culture. Western people see them as unintelligent, undeveloped, uncivilized and lower than themselves.
• So, in this way they think themselves superior than the Eastern people. This is the simple meaning of the term ‘orientalism’.
• As this term suggests, ‘orient’ that is east and on the contrary there is ‘occident’ means west.

• After the coming of the book “Orientalism” by Said, in 1978, this term started getting place in the field of research and education. Said argues against western’s prejudiced views towards east in this book.

• “Orientalism”- a work by Said:

“The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic being, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences.”

• The very first line of this quote from the introduction part of the book is very much suggestive. Said is concerned with it that ‘the orient- the particular orient with some particular characteristics- is a European invention’. And this European eye sight to see the orient with particular image is never changed. In Western minds the picture of orient is stagnant from many years, that is the picture as ‘exotic East”. Here the word ‘exotic is not taken in its simple way. Here ‘exotic’ means something ‘unusual’ or ‘strikingly different’. So, the west sees east in this way.

• For Example:

• Early Orientalism can be seen in European paintings and photographs and also in images from the world’s fair in the U.S in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The paintings created by European artists of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries depict the Arab world as an exotic and mysterious place of sand. Harems and belly dancers, all those things are reflecting a long history of Orientalism fantasies.

• As demonstrated in, The colonial Harem, these photographs were circulated as evidence of the exotic, backwards and strange customs of Algerians, when in fact they reveal more about the French colonial perspective than about Algerian Life in the early 1900s.

• Examples of Orientalism from the Western pop-culture:

• This is the example of how the west depicts east in their literatures and the other things.
• This is the example of Alladdin- a character of “Disney Land”. Alladdin is an Arab character from a cartoon series named “Arabian Nights”. It was the show for children. So, before putting the example I want to quote some lines:

“Movies that children watch for enjoyment and pleasure rather than instruction, unfortunately leave a deeper imprint on a fresh, impressionable mind than does an unexciting textbook.”

(Kincheloe, 159)

          In that cartoon series, by Walt Disney Pictures, Alladdin was the most celebrated character. But that series had faced criticism for wrong and unjust portrayal of the Arab people and world. In that series Alladdin was ridiculed and mocked a lot. This becomes problematic because he was shown as the representative of Arab society and people. And the theme song of that cartoon series was also very much criticized for its words, that show Arab as uncivilized world. The lyrics of that theme song are:

“Oh, I came from a land

From a faraway place,

Where the caravan camels roam,

Where they cut your years if you

Don’t like your face,

It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.”

          We can see in this song lyrics that how the Western world does mis-portrayal of Arabic world. And in this way they prove themselves more civilized that the Arabic world. And such films or series are consumed a lot, and became popular also. After facing enormous criticism about such lyrics, Disney Pictures had changed them. So, instead of the line “…where they cut off your…”, This lines was put:

“Where it’s flat and immense

And the heat is intense.”

• contemporary Orientalism:

In this type of Orientalism Said describes the Western typical attitude to see the Eastern people esp. Arabs as“irrational, menacing, un-trustworthy, anti-western…and prototypical”.  These mental states are the result of pre 19^thcentury Orientalism.

And Said writes:

“This is the culmination of Orientalism as a dogma that not only degrades its subject matter but also blinds its practitioners.”