postcolonialism: race, identity and nation (1) general introduction: colonialism, orientalism and...

Postcolonialism: Race, Identity and Nation (1)

General introduction: Colonialism, Orientalism and Racism

[2. Race and (Post-)Colonial Identities –Homi Bhabha, the subaltern, diaspora, 3. Nation and Narration]

A misnomer A monsterDifferent from

the other ‘post’s.’

Gender and Race, Canon, Postcolonial history,

Postcoloniality, (literary) strategies of resistance,

center vs. margins, globalization. . . etc. Re. chap 3 p.200.

Q 1:

How is the racism against Afro-Americans or the other minorities (e.g. Chinese, Foreign Laborers here) related to colonialism?

Racism and Colonialism

Social Hierarchies of

Class, Race, Gender, and Culture

Racism = Colonialism =

Economic, Military,

Cultural.

Individual

(inverse racism)

Institutional,

Linguistic/

cultural,

Physical.

More systematic than personal

Starting Questions 2

What are the examples of colonialism? Is KMT’s regime an example?

What are the examples of colonial thinking (e.g. the racial/cultural prejudices and stereotypes) in “English” culture and literature?

Is de-colonization possible? How do we or the colonized resist

colonialism in life and through literature?

Outline

Colonialisms Definition Cultural Imperialism & Orientalism:

Theories & Examples Racism & Cultural Containment an

d Appropriation Summary Reference

Colonialism –two kinds

1. pre-capitalistcolonialism: Before it, the Crusades in the 2nd century; Genghis Khan's invasion of Middle East as well as China in the 13th century.

2. European invasion of Africa, Asia and the Americas since the 16 century onwards. Causes: modernization, nationalization, capitalism

Colonialism –two kinds (2)

major differences: "Modern colonialism did more than extract tribute, goods and wealth from the countries that it conquered -- it restructured the economies of the latter, drawing them into a complex relationship with their own, so that there was a flow of human and natural resources between colonised and colonial countries.

Modern Colonialism: Definition and Kinds

Definition: colonialism --military, economic, cultural oppression & domination of one country/race over another.

Kinds:

1. Invasion-colonization;

2. Settlement-colonization;

3. Internal Colonialism;

4. Neo-Colonialism

frequently related to immigration caused by the push of poor environment at home and the pull of capital.

internal colonialism

1. Racial Domination within an existing territory

2. Uneven wave of industrialization → Inter-group differences in power → Ethnic division of labor → Ethnic identities are forged and ethnic colonies formed (ghettos, or internal segregation).

Related to minority discourse or immigrant culture/literature.

Colonialism: Flows of Natural Resources and People

1. Triangular

Trade

2. Middle Passage

Colonialism: flows of migration

Flows of Migrants

1st World Colonial powers:

Adventurers, Army, travelers, missionaries, immigrants

“Third World”:

Slaves,

Contract laborers,

Students, businessmen, etc.

Cultural Imperialism (1): Theories

1. Culture (e.g. literature, language, popular culture) supports imperialism and is one way to spread it.

2. The definition of the self and others are based upon representations rather than reality;

3. A series of binary oppositions (exact opposites) were employed to at once define the colonized subjects and the colonizing masters.

The West/Self as civilised, just, moral, industrious, rational, Masculine

The Oriental/Other as savage, lewd, lazy, superstitious, feminine

Cultural Imperialism (2): Theories

Decoration and support for building the Empire (e.g. Mansfield Park);

Biological Differences: Justification of Racism

Cultural imperialism (2): E. Said’s OrientalismTextbook chap 3 p. 203

1. Examining ‘scholarly works, works of literature, political tracks, journalistic texts, travel books, religious and philosophical studies” (Said 23)

2. As a discourse—constructing knowledge and within power networks;

3. Eurocentric (even in some more sympathetic writings);

4. East vs. West 5. e.g. Orientalism –presenting the East as “the

Other” (weaker, less civilized, inscrutable, wicked), or as “the exotic” e.g. Arabian Nights, Madame Butterfly and all the images of Oriental women as sumissive, sexual and sweet.

Cultural Representation of the Other

binaries exotic/sexy; evil/wickes/animal

Serving (as a symbol, a background) for their constructions of or search for the Self

The Other as(e.g.1): a Dark Continent for one’s psyche

1. Africa: as a stage for the whites’ moral, sexual, or existential struggle

"The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look at it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it: not a sentimental pretence but an idea; an unselfish belief in the idea something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer sacrifice to…“ (Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness)

Others: Out of Africa, Sheltering Sky, The English Patient (*clip).

The Other as (e.g.2): mapped Terra Incognita –by a discoverer figure

1. Heros (scientists) mastering a new land and its treasures

E.g. Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia, The Jungle Book, The King and I, King Solomon’s Mine.

The Other as (e.g.3): Rape and Rescue Fantasy

3. Rape and Rescue Fantasy –virginal white women, or black women sometimes, rescued from black men.

E.g. The Birth of a Nation, The Last of the Mohicans,

or as Harem

Jean-Aguste-Dominique Ingres' The Turkish Bath, 1862 Credit: The Artchive

The Other in (e.g. 4): the “White Man’s Gaze”

"A  study of black and white" from a postcard, 1901

The Other as (e.g. 5):Darkness symbolized

White vs. Black: Edouard Manet Olympia, 1863

cultural imperialism (2): Literary Examples

2. The Caribbean: -- The Tempest– Caliban Robinson Crusoe– Friday Jane Eyre –the madwoman Bertha Mansfield Park– dependant on the business fro

m the West Indian Estate (in Antigua; clip)

And many other Victorian novels.—as decoratio

n or evil margins.

as servant, barbarian or double.

cultural imperialism (3): White Man’s Burden

2. The Orient: English Studies in India Taiwan: Popularity of translations of American

novels such as those of Hemingway and Jack London.

Taiwan: Un-self-reflective absorption of English literary canon/values

cultural imperialism (4): Consuming Ethnic Colors

Furniture from Artikeln

Cultural Imperialism: Effects

self-hatred [inferiority complex] or

Split Subject (e.g. Black Skin, White Mask) (e.g. Delacroix)

Assimilated

Resistance

Are they racist? (1) Internet Jokes on Cultural Differences –

Aussies: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad.

Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Americans when abroad.

Americans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad.

Brits: Can't possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad.

Aussies: Are extremely patriotic to their beer. Americans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing,

and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness.

Canadians: Can't agree on the words to their anthem, when they can be bothered to sing them.

Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a

large brass band to perform the anthem.

Internet Jokes on Cultural Differences –

Internet Jokes on Cultural Differences –

Americans: Spell words differently, but still call it "English".

Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it "English".

Canadians: Spell like the Brits, pronounce like Americans.

Aussies: Add "G'day", "mate" and a heavy accent to everything they say.

Languages

British Accent: sounds aristocratic and thus elegant;

American Accent: sounds democratic and open-minded;

Black Accent: sounds streetwise and 豪放 .

Dealing with Cultural Conflicts

When you have problems working with a person of another race (e.g. Japanese or Indian), you then assume that all the Indians/Japanese are like this.

How racism is explained away the culture of poverty thesis

The culture of poverty thesis holds that aboriginals are poor because their culture does not value hard work, economic success, and private property.

However, this argument has been criticized because it confuses effect with cause.

(or model minority) – using, for instance, Asians as model monorities against Blacks or the Aborigines.

cultural containment

Cultural Containment

Roots – criticizes the individuals but not the system.

Cosby Show – an image of success.

Cultural Appropriation:

A subtler and more complicated form of racial inequality

e.g. The use of black cultures Madonna’s use of vogue dance –

(as opposed to Janet Jackson’s “If”) Jazz, Blues, Rap . . . etc.

Cultural Appropriation (2):

Dances with Wolves: (Shohat 194)

1. pro-indigenous 1. Bad Pawnees/good Sioux (to be a dead species)

2. Respecting their language & cultures (e.g. costume)

2. Euro-American man marrying a non-Indian woman.

3. Changes the direction of the industry

3. Ignoring the present lives of the aborigines.

Cultural Appropriation (2):

Cry Freedom – not really a story of Steve Biko, an apartheid fighter.

Mississippi Burning – FBI investigators as the heros,

You have learned . . .

Definitions of Colonialisms Cultural Colonialism (Orientalism &

Cultural Imperialism): Theories & Examples

Racism: Theories and Examples

Next Week you will learn . . . Definitions of Race and Ethnicity; Different kinds of (post-)colonial

Identities.

Race: Definition

Are racial attributes (e.g. what being a “Chinese” means) naturally born, or socially acquired?

The classification of humans into races is now widely regarded as arbitrary from a biological viewpoint because actual genetic differences between racial groups are trivial.

However, racial groups are real in a sociological sense insofar as people with different skin colour, etc., are commonly treated differently. (www.soc-canada.com/ppp/ch09.ppt)

new racism

involves the belief that the races are inherently different from one another in a cultural and behavioural sense, and problems result when they try to live together.

The Hong Kong Prayer

Our Brother Who art in Beijing, Xiao Ping be thy name. United Kingdom gone, Thy will be done, in Hong Kong As it is in China. Give us this day, Our daily bet, And forgive us

Our speculations,As we forgive those Who speculate against us. Lead us not Into Communism But deliver us From gweilos.For this is The Sovereignty, The Power of Authority

Forever and everChow Mein.

Reference

Ella Shohat, Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media by Routledge; 1994.