Post Colonial And World Literature In English - Essay Example

Post-colonial and World Literature in English Word Count: 1533 Post-colonial literature developed after the end of the colonial period in mid-twentieth century when a significant number of European colonies ended up gaining independence. Most of the movements which led to the granting of independence to colonies came about as a result of the great number of inequalities that individuals in the colonies experienced from their colonizers. Among these was racism as well as lack of opportunities for advancement as a result of the need to keep the subject nations under control. The end of the colonial period brought about a situation where there developed a variety of literature that was aimed at addressing colonialism as well as the negative consequences it had towards the subject nations that were affected by it. Colonialism and racism are among the most important themes that are addressed in post-colonial literature. The legacy of colonialism has remained a permanent part of the way through which post-colonial writers express themselves. This is because colonialism was one of the most traumatizing experiences that took place in the lives of the many nations that ended up being colonized by European power. The subject nations were often forced to give up their way of life and adopt the European way of living; essentially depriving them of their own culture (Franz 1970, p.23). Furthermore, there were instances where there developed a situation where colonial administrations forced children to go to boarding schools in order to ensure that they were influenced as little as possible by the cultures of their own people; essentially isolating these children from learning and being a part of the traditions that had been practiced by their ancestors for many generations. The European way of life was considered to be the best and superior to that of indigenous people meaning that many people in colonial society had to adopt European culture in order to ensure that they were able to achieve a level of advancement in society (Bhabha 2004, p.13; Said 2003, p.6). Colonial societies were made up of not only indigenous people but also European settlers and the latter tended to be given precedence over the former; resulting in a sense of resentment that would eventually lead to nationalism. European colonists were treated as a race apart and were not only given land at the expense of the indigenous people but the latter were also forced to work the land that had been taken away from them as forced labour. It was through colonialism that the capitalist system in Europe developed and through it, Western economic dominance. The ability of European powers to establish colonies with the purpose to enhance trade helped in the transition of countries from a feudal system to a capitalist one. The need to ensure that they acquired resources from their colonies meant that there developed a system of economic exploitation not only of the colonized lands, but also of their people to such an extent that most European powers ended up being almost completely dependent on their colonies. However, this system also brought about various problems for indigenous people because they ended up being deprived of their land in addition to being forced to work for the colonizers in order to exploit the resources on their ancestral lands (Mcleod 2010, p.8). Furthermore, the colonization of the Americans and the need to exploit it encouraged the development of the African slave trade to facilitate it. The slave trade can be considered to be the among the greatest manmade disasters to have taken place in modern history because human beings were bought and sold as property. Forced labour is one of the aspects of colonialism that led to the development of resentment among indigenous people towards the colonists. This is because apart from the land that had been taken away from them during the process of colonization, these people were often put into a situation where they had to work for the colonists in order to earn a living. The demand for labour among the colonists was satisfied through ensuring that the economic systems that had sustained indigenous people for centuries were broken down and a European one was imposed (Spivak 1985, p.245). The European economic system required that individuals had to work in order to earn the money that they needed to make ends meet. As a result of no longer having enough land to sustain themselves, many indigenous people were forced to seek employment among the colonial farmers who had been granted their ancestral land. Moreover, it was customarily the colonial policy to maintain a constant labour force through putting restrictions on their movements. The negative treatment that many indigenous people received from the colonial governments as well as their European employers helped in the development of a sense of nationalism among the colonized. Nationalism would lead to grievances that led to the creation of political movements to seek the rectification of the colonial policies. However, these developments did not often make colonial administrators change their policies and in some cases, these administrators imposed harsher regimes. The result was that a significant number of indigenous people rose up in rebellion of colonial authority and these were brutally crashed as seen in various parts of Africa and Asia. In addition, colonialism developed mainly as a result of the diverse European powers seeking to ensure that they not only gained markets for their goods, but also for the purpose of prestige. The need to gain prestige through getting involved in imperialist adventures was one of the most fundamental aspects that led to the dominance of the world by a handful of European powers (Howard 2010, p.141; Miranda, 1658). The number of colonies and the amount of land that each European colonial power held was considered to be a means of enhancing its prestige through a display of military prowess as well as the people over whom it had control. The result of the desire for prestige was that a significant number of European powers participated in such events as the scramble for Africa which ended up being solved in Berlin Conference where the entire continent was partitioned. The partitioning of Africa meant that each European power involved had a sphere of influence where none of their rivals could interfere with their activities (Loomba 2004, p.1101). Through the attainment of these spheres, it became possible for the colonizers to attain markets for their goods and this was only possible through making sure that the various indigenous nations under their control were made to adopt European lifestyles. The result was that these people ended up becoming dependent on European goods leading to their being essentially tied to the labour force in order to earn a living. However, the adoption of a form of European lifestyle also meant that some of these people abandoned aspect of their indigenous cultures. The abandonment of cultures and traditions by the colonized is one of the most significant aspects of post-colonial literature in the discourse on colonialism. The pacification of indigenous people in colonies was completed through the conversion of these individuals to Christianity because it was believed that it was the true religion and that the practices of these communities were satanic. The adoption of Christianity was considered by colonial administrators to be a means to not only pacifying the colonized, but also as the first step of achieving their civilizing mission (Morrison 1984, p.327). This process was brought about through European missionary activities during the colonial period. Missionaries tended to believe that indigenous cultures were ungodly and that they promoted the worship of idols and spirits rather than God. Therefore, they encouraged indigenous people to adopt European culture because it was considered to be superior to all other cultures in the world. During the colonial period, in order to justify their dominance over other races, Europeans came up with the idea of cultural superiority where the West, of the Occident, was differentiated from the Orient, or the East. The West came to be associated with the height of intelligence and civilization while the East was associated with barbarism (Ashcroft 2002, p.164). The result was that when European powers undertook colonization, they did so with the intention of making sure that they also brought European civilization to the colonized. These attempts brought about a situation where a significant number of cultures were essentially annihilated in favour of Western culture. The discussion above has shown that colonialism and racism are among the most important themes that are addressed in post-colonial literature. This is because the legacy of colonialism has remained a permanent part of the way through which post-colonial writers express themselves. Moreover, it was through colonialism that the capitalist system in Europe developed and through it, Western economic dominance. Furthermore, colonialism developed mainly as a result of the diverse European powers seeking to ensure that they not only gained markets for their goods, but also for the purpose of prestige. In addition, the discussion has shown that forced labour is one of the aspects of colonialism that led to the development of resentment among indigenous people towards the colonists. Finally, the abandonment of cultures and traditions by the colonized is a significant aspect of post-colonial literature in the discourse on colonialism. References Ashcroft, B., 2002. The Empire Writes Back. London: Routledge. Bhabha, H.K., 2004. “Introduction.” In Bhabha, H.K. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Franz, F., 1970. “Algeria Unveiled.” In Fanon, F. translated by Haakon Chevalier. A Dying Colonialism. London: Pelican Books. Howard, D., 2010. “Cartographies and Visualization.” In S. Chew and D. Richards (eds) A Concise Companion to Postcolonial Literature. New Jersey: Blackwell Publishers. Loomba, A., 2004. “Situating Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies.” In Rivkin, J. and Ryan, M. (eds). Literary Theory: An Anthology. New Jersey: Blackwell. Mcleod, J., 2010. From Commonwealth to Post-Colonial. Manchester University Press. Miranda, S. 1658. Viajes de varones prudentes, Libro IV,Cap. XLV, Lerida. Morrison, T., 1984, “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation.” Black Women Writers (1950 – 1980). A Critical Evaluation. Anchor Books. Said, E. 2003. “Introduction.” In Said, E. Orientalism. London: Penguin. Spivak, G.C., 1985. “"Race," Writing, and Difference.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 243 – 261. Read More