Week 6: Postcolonial Ponderings

Hey everyone! This week I combated my initial hesitation by diving into theories and found that I enjoyed connecting various points in history to different philosophies. I read some theories of famed scholars including Homi K. Bhabha, Edward Said, and a little bit of Gayatri Spivak. While I won’t claim to completely understand the ideas of each, I’ll share what I have read and comprehended so far. The first two aforementioned scholars are some of the most influential postcolonial theorists while Gayatri Spivak is a widely regarded literary and feminist theorist with notable insights into postcolonial feminist theory.  

Intro to Postcolonial Theory: 

As defined by Oxford Bibliographies, postcolonial studies review the impact of European and North American rule on previously colonized territories. It’s also based on the understanding that the histories, culture, and politics of areas are impossible to understand without the context of imperialism and their previous colonization. As interpreted by J. Daniel Elam, the prefix “post” is slightly misleading in the sense that it implies the end of colonialism. Instead, the theory means to review the remaining effects of colonial rule even after the historic ends of empires. This field of study, often analyzed alongside fields of feminist and critical race inquiry, originated from anticolonial thoughts in South Asia and Africa, making these two previously colonized areas the primary focus of postcolonial scholarship. In recent decades, however, the histories, cultures, politics, and social spheres of Latin and South America are also being analyzed in regards to their colonial pasts. This brings about my project’s connection to the theory since my second text, The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea, requires a deeper understanding of postcolonial theory in regards to Latin American history and heritage.  

Homi K. Bhabha: 

Bhabha is an Indian-British critical theorist and often credited with trademarking the following terms in postcolonial philosophy: mimicry, hybridity, and ambivalence. The terms are interconnected in their meanings and describe the relationship between the colonizer and those who are colonized. “Mimicry” is where the colonized are expected to conform to the Western principles of the colonizers and adapt their social and cultural behavior to “mimic” those of the dominating power. As Bhabha and other scholars argue, this creates an incomplete copy of the original habits as there will always be an element of difference. This creates a fragile line between mimicry and mockery, revealing errors in the original system and creating potential for disobedience or aspects which the colonizing power cannot control. Furthermore, the colonized subjects cannot exactly mimic the colonizing power as this would threaten the colonizer’s control and claims of authenticity. As described in an article by Abdennebi Ben Beya, “hybridity” refers to a union of the cultures of both the colonizer and colonized; the dominating power’s culture is immersed with fragments of native cultures. This serves as a “counter-narrative” and “critique of the canon” of the Western power, highlighting the colonizer’s “ambivalence” and uncertainty. From this emerges a new culture where there’s strength in uniting the contrasting elements of the original, and this creates room to critique the dominating authority. “Ambivalence” is defined as a dual understanding between contrasting elements in colonial discourse. One example from my interpretation of the term is how the colonized subjects may be both complicit in some regards to colonial rule yet rebel against others. Similarly, colonizers may both exploit natural resources and labor yet may also justify actions by claiming to spread religion or impart Western wisdom. Nasrullah Mambrol’s interpretation of Bhabha’s theory is that ambivalence “disturbs the simple relationship between colonizer and colonized,” and poses risk for self-disruption if implemented by the colonizer. It connects to the idea of “mimicry” in that the colonizer wishes for the colonized to follow Western ideals yet does not wish for the colonized to fully realize elements of Western thought that might disrupt the established power dynamic; for example, the risk of imparting Christian doctrines is that the colonized people would then realize the hypocrisy in Western ideals as the colonizers preach ideas of equality and liberty yet deny the same rights to the colonized subjects. To avoid this, Western powers adjust the lessons they impart and create “hybridity” and form hollow “mimics,” in turn setting up their own seeds for destruction as they will inevitably reveal the fragments in Western power and undermine their own authority.  

Edward Said:

Said was a Palestinian American professor and also helped found the subject of postcolonial studies. He’s most renowned for defining the term “Orientalism” and for his work Culture and Imperialism where he focuses on culture as a point of unity and finding strength in hybridization rather than reinforcing identity through Western philosophies or simply through national identities. By reflecting on works such as Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Robinson Crusoe, among others, Said analyzes the interconnected nature of Western imperialist power and the marginalized territories it controlled. From reading the introductory sections of his most notable work, Orientalism, I’ve gained a better idea of how the “Orient” was defined by European powers and how its effects have carried into recent decades. The term was mostly influenced by the British and French due to their respective colonization of India and parts of Africa, and through their dramatic contrasts to the “other,” they defined Western culture. Said describes the term as a man-made idea that people have reinforced with geographical boundaries, though explains how this is an inaccurate depiction of entire global regions as the populations within the “Orient” possess unique histories, cultures, and languages that are independent from any European definition of “Oriental.” An example given in the text is Flaubert’s encounter and description of an Egyptian female, Kuchuk Hanem, saying “she never represented her emotions, presence, or history,” (Said, 14) instead Flaubert spoke for her. This is just one of many examples where a European male’s differing background and social circumstances increase chances for misrepresentation of those he describes. Original academic theories of Orientalism were meant to depict the historic Orient, though Said says that his understanding of the theory is more in revealing the nature of Western power over the Orient.  

Postcolonial Feminist Theory: 

In her paper published in the International Journal of Language and Linguistics, Dr. Ritu Tyagi defines postcolonial feminist theory as focusing on the “representation of women in once colonized countries,” and references the term “double colonization” (coined by Kirsten Holst Peterson and Anna Rutherfold) where “women have simultaneously experienced the oppression of [both] colonialism and patriarchy,” (Tyagi, 45). Dr. Tyagi goes on to describe ways in which gender roles complicate postcolonial ideas and have therefore been left out of theory. An explanation offered by her is that historic struggles of nationalism and feminism have contrasting rhetoric for similar aims; postcolonial scholars have critiqued feminist theory by claiming it to be too universal, whereas feminist theorists have stated that female struggles against cultural patriarchies are not discussed enough in postcolonial writings. One example by Tyagi is that the Indian nationalism movements often depicted females as passive and constrained them to the domestic sphere in order to improve the movement’s public image. An intriguing example of the ways in which cultural identity complicates the female struggle is the situation of Bertha Mason in Bronte’s work, Jane Eyre. Gayatri Spivak criticizes an analysis of Jane Eyre where Jane is characterized as a proto-feminist, and emphasizes how Jane’s growth to self-reliance and sense of control over her marriage would not have been possible without repressing Bertha Mason, a Creole character of Jamaican descent. Furthermore, Gilbert and Gubar’s interpretation of Bertha (which Spivak is criticizing) as “Jane’s ‘truest and darkest double,’” (Tyagi, 47) disregards Bertha’s imprisonment in relation to her colonial past and differing ethnicity. Spivak interprets Bertha as being Jane’s “other” and rightfully claims that Jane’s fabled ‘happy ending’ would not have been possible without Bertha’s suicide. Spivak’s main critique lies in the ways in which Bertha’s ethnicity raised controversy in the novel’s setting and in how her personal struggle as a female with Caribbean heritage on British soil were smoothed over by Jane’s journey of independence and self-fulfillment, a path to self-determination which Bertha was denied.  

Wrap-Up: 

I truly enjoyed exploring the thoughts of different postcolonial scholars and regarding certain works of literature from different perspectives, uniting theories and views from traditional feminism and the lasting effects of postcolonialism. Even though the majority of the postcolonial theories I read were more pertinent to South Asia, the concepts created a vital foundation for my understanding while leaving me with lessons about my family’s cultural history, something I was subconsciously looking for. In the next week I’ll try to examine postcolonial thought more related to Latin America as well as Chicana Feminism, in addition to examining Critical Race theory and feminist thought relating to African American heritage for the text Salvage the Bones.  

Thanks for reading! 

Citations:

2. Elam, J Daniel . “Postcolonial Theory”. In Obo In Literary And Critical Theory. 14 Apr. 2023. <Https://Www.Oxfordbibliographies.Com/View/Document/Obo-9780190221911/Obo-9780190221911-0069.Xml>.
3. Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Mimicry In Postcolonial Theory.” Literary Theory And Criticism, 12 Sept. 2020, Https://Literariness.Org/2016/04/10/Mimicry-In-Postcolonial-Theory/. 
4. Beya, Abdennebi Ben. “Mimicry, Ambivalence, And Hybridity.” Postcolonial Studies, Oct. 2017,Https://Scholarblogs.Emory.Edu/Postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/Mimicry-Ambivalence-And-Hybridity/
5. “Hybridity.” Oxford Reference. . . Date Of Access 16 Apr. 2023, <Https://Www.Oxfordreference.Com/View/10.1093/Oi/Authority.20110803095952517>
6. Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Ambivalence In Post-Colonialism.” Literary Theory And Criticism, 12 Sept. 2020, Https://Literariness.Org/2017/09/27/Ambivalence-In-Post-Colonialism/. 
7. “Culture And Imperialism Summary And Study Guide.” SuperSummary, Https://Www.Supersummary.Com/Culture-And-Imperialism/Summary/. 
8. Said, Edward W. “Said-Introduction And Chapter 1 Of Orientalism.” The Evergreen State College, Routledge & Kegan Paul, Https://Sites.Evergreen.Edu/Politicalshakespeares/Wp-Content/Uploads/Sites/33/2014/12/Said_full.Pdf. 
9. Tyagi, Ritu. “Understanding Postcolonial Feminism In Relation With Postcolonial And …” International Journal Of Language And Linguistics, 2014, Https://Ijllnet.Com/Journals/Vol_1_No_2_December_2014/7.Pdf.