The study concentrates on the theory of postcolonilaism and its main features. It tackles three features: oppression, resistance and political satire. These features are reflected in the poetry of Peter Horn. His poems portray the misery of the South African citizens during the apartheid regime.
Horn is a white poet who takes the side of the oppressed black majority. He expresses their suffering, and he pushes them to have the courage to resist the colonial oppression in order to lead a free and better life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment
Abstract
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1: Theoretical and Historical Background
Chapter 2: Diaspora and Colonial Oppression
Chapter 3: Post-colonialism and Political Satire
Chapter 4: “Culture of Resistance”
Conclusion
Works Cited
Summary
Arabic Abstract
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Prof. Anwar Abdelkareem for his patience, wide knowledge and continuous motivation. Without his precious guidance, this research would have never been conducted. So, I want to thank him because he gave me the opportunity and honor to be one of his students.
Also, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Amany Eldiasty for her sincere support and kind help that have enriched my thesis. I would like to thank her for her time and effort.
I am also so grateful to Prof. Hamid Hawass who gave me the great honor by recommending me to be one of Prof. Anwar's students. God bless his soul.
Abstract
The study concentrates on the theory of postcolonilaism and its main features. It tackles three features: oppression, resistance and political satire. These features are reflected in the poetry of Peter Horn. His poems portray the misery of the South African citizens during the apartheid regime.
Horn is a white poet who takes the side of the oppressed black majority. He expresses their suffering, and he pushes them to have the courage to resist the colonial oppression in order to lead a free and better life.
List of Abbreviations
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Introduction
The study aims at exploring three features of the theory of post-colonialism in the poetry of Peter Horn (1934- ) which are colonial oppression, political satire and resistance. In general, post-colonialism signifies a political, social and cultural reaction to a period of colonialism of a specific nation. It describes the major consequences of the imperial system, especially its oppression, exploitation, slavery and segregation.
After realizing the bad ills of colonialism, the colonizers' main purpose becomes very clear, as it is not for the good of the colonized nation. The true purpose of colonialism begins to be released, as it is not for spreading civilization and advanced life to the colonized people, but the true aim behind it is a disastrous one. Many thinkers have talked about the deep ills of colonialism and its harsh reality like Edward Said.
Said argues that the most remarkable result of the colonial policy is the division of the world. It divides it into the First World which has the imperialistic power and cultural supremacy, and the Third World that is uncivilized and needs to be controlled. As a result of that, it is very normal for the colonizers to deal with the colonized people as slaves and humiliate them. Racism also becomes the inevitable result of that unjust rule, and many people have no choice but to accept that.
Many countries in the world have been affected by colonialism and its dire consequences. One of these countries was South Africa, as it suffered from the imperial domination implemented by its government. The influence of the authoritarian system in South Africa, presented in the apartheid system, had a very bad impact on its society. Suffering in this country started when it was colonized by Dutch settlers who made a unique and isolated community for them inside the South African nation. They had already formed the concept of diaspora once they chose to leave their homelands and come to another land to make a sort of racial discrimination followed by the oppression implemented by the English colonialism. The post-colonial era took its place in South Africa after the departure of the British colonialism and the inheritance of segregation still has its clear impacts. The post-colonial era in this country was not so different from the colonial one, as both of them had the same discriminatory policies and even the Dutch settlers doubled their oppression by the authorization of the English colonizers.
The theory of post-colonialism and its features have affected literature clearly. Many dramatists, novelists and even poets have reflected on the political situation in their country. The art of poetry is like a mirror which shows the deep ills of colonialism; Horn's poetry is a typical example of that. Horn manages to portray the tyrant system in South Africa in many of his poems.
Horn is a South African poet who is deeply influenced by the apartheid regime. He was born in Teplice Czechoslovakia (currently in the Czech Republic) on December 7, 1934. After World War II, he had to immigrate from his homeland and settle with his parents first in Bavaria and later in Freiburg in Breisgau, where he completed his high school in 1954. He then moved with his parents to South Africa, where he studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and the College of Education (Johannesburg) .
Although he was not South African by birth, he was always standing beside the oppressed party, and he devotes most of his poems to criticize the political conditions in South Africa and even mocking them. He calls for freedom and spreading the spirit of resistance through his poems.
Actually, the main concern of most of his poetic production is totally political. It talks about the disastrous consequences of colonialism in South Africa like injustice, slavery and humiliation. Horn has a belief that one of the functions of poetry is to teach people how to think and have such free self-determination. He intends to make his poetry a revolutionary one, as he wants to make a fair change for the sake of the oppressed people. He uses poetry as a tool to secure a better life dominated by justice.
The study is divided into four chapters followed by a conclusion. The first chapter “Theoretical and Historical Background” tackles a theoretical and historical background. It contains the scope of the study and its limitations. Also, it elaborates on the theory of postcolonialism in general and its outstanding features and terms. This chapter also contains the followed methodology that is extracted from Said's perspectives about this theory. Then, it reflects the deep impact of post-colonialism on South Africa as a colony after two kinds of colonialism. This chapter further shows the effect of post-colonialism on the poetry of Horn. It reflects the consequences of post-colonialism on the political regime of South Africa presented in the ills of the apartheid system. Furthermore, it presents some biographical elements of Horn and how they affect him as a poet, and it will finally give some comments on his poetic style.
The second chapter “Diaspora and Colonial Oppression” handles the idea of diaspora and colonial oppression represented in the cruelty of the apartheid regime. Diaspora is one of the causes behind the movement of colonialism in South Africa. That phenomenon describes the case of a group of people who leave their own countries due to political, social or economic circumstances and immigrate to other countries. Actually, Horn had the same situation, and he was one of the European immigrants who fled to South Africa after the consequences of WorldWar II. He refused to take the role of the tyrant colonizer, preferred to be with the colonized people and called for their rights.
Many of his poems tackle the cruel policy of the colonizers. They reflect how enslavement and oppression are the main policy there. Horn shows,in most of his poems, how the colonizers considered themselves the owners of the country while the native peopleweretheir slaves. Oppression and injustice become the maintools to control everything in South Africa, as superiority is for Europeans in the first place, then come the other levels of society. Diaspora brought nothing but many ethnic problems and cultural clashes in the South African society, moreover, it caused an extended series of colonial oppression even after the departure of the British colonialism.
The third chapter “Post-colonialism and Political Satire” presents the connection between the theory of postcolonialism and the technique of political satire. Satire and irony are the most common techniques in Horn's poetry. He uses themto describe the intensity of the political situation in South Africa. This style also explains the negative situation of the citizens towards the unjust government and its policy. Horn uses satire and irony to show the deep contrast between the miserable caseof many classes in the South African society and their absent role to have a reaction against that. Also, he uses themto show the contradictory situation of the colonizers, as in spite of the amount of oppression, the colonizers expect complete obedience from the colonized, and this is the peak of irony. Horn wants to stress the catastrophic circumstances in a way that can arouse such a rebellious action to find a solution. He uses a big deal of his poetry to mock the tyrant style of the government and its discriminatory practices against the poor classes. Because of the tough censorship over many of Horn's poems due to his constant criticism of the authority, he has chosen to use satire to make a sort of revolution inside minds in an indirect way. Many of his poems force people to think and contemplate the situation in order to rise up and play a positive role by resisting the apartheid regime.
The fourth chapter “ Culture of Resistance” presents the mechanism of the resisting reaction to the chain of suffering and subjugation. This kind of culture can be briefly defined as a complete resistance and rejection of the colonizers' culture by searching for a way to rescue the native South African one. The difference in cultures between the colonized and the colonizers brought a sort of clash and struggle. Due to the supremacy of the colonizers, they had cultural domination over other races in all spheres. However, many classes in society resisted that domination and began to protest against it.
The resisting attitude is reflected in many of Horn's poems. He makes such a hard criticism of the political situation in South Africa, and he intends to spread that ideology of resistance to put an end to that tough domination. He believes that resistance would maintain the identity of the South African society and solve its crisis. He presents that attitude as it is like a light which should disperse the darkness of colonial oppression. He does that by arousing the rebellious feeling inside the oppressed people and force them to resist and oppose that imperialistic control over their life and culture Horn divides his resisting poems to three types: The indirect ones that arouse the kept desires for change, the direct poems that give the plain declaration of revolution and then the poems that explore a new kind of resistance which is the dirty one.
Through mentioning the third type of resistance, Horn gives a hint about the feature of hybridity and its danger presented in the hypocritical and fragmented South African people. He calls for the application of communism with all its options to get out of this dilemma. He commemorates the freedom fighters who can adopt this resisting attitude and rescue the South African dignity.
The conclusion will entail a critical evaluation of the findings of the study.
Chapter One: Theoretical and Historical Background
This chapter explores the theoretical and historical background of the theory of postcolonialism. It also mentions some of its basic features that have contributed to supporting the authority of the imperialistic regimes in the colonized countries. It also reflects the perspectives of Said about the movement of colonialism and its sequences in the period of postcolonialism. It further introduces biographical elements about the poet Horn and how these elements affected his poetic production as an anti-apartheid poet.
Colonialism can be defined as a sort of exploitation and subjugation to a powerless nation implemented by an imperialistic country. There is a brief description of the case of suffering during colonialism. According to Catherine Lu:
Historical colonialism, of course, did fundamentally entail colonized states violating the self-determination of colonized peoples, through practices such as military conquest and political subjugation, enslavement and exploitation of subjugated populations, the annexation of territories, expropriation of property, and resource extraction. (262)
Through the period of colonialism, colonizers make a sort of distortion to the actual identity of the metropolitans. After military, political, economic and social domination, colonizers begin to practice their tyrant role against the colonized nation. The major policy is to humiliate and exploit the native people of the colonized lands. That entire amount of bondage and suffering creates a reaction, which is called postcolonialism.
Post-colonialism is a cultural, political, economic and social reaction after the process of colonialism. It illustrates the consequences of colonialism that are tough imperialism, racism, slavery, exploitation, and segregation. Kelly Harding and Jim Parsons believe that Post-colonialism theory asks for justice: It seeks to speak to the vast and horrific social and psychological suffering, exploitation, violence and enslavement done to the powerless victims of colonization around the world. It challenges the superiority of the dominant Western perspective. (2)
The previous quotation shows the amount of suffering of the colonized nations during colonialism and even after its departure. The violent policies practiced by the colonizers against the colonized make them feel like slaves on their native land. The superiority is always for the colonizers and their policies. Just like what is declared by Paul Pierre:" a smug acceptance of here over there, after over before, us over you, along with the valorization of margin over center" (190). Pierre argues that the interests of the colonizers' come first. The ugly face of the colonizers is so clear in spite of their false attempts to persuade the colonized that the act of colonialism is for their modernity. The truth is about accomplishing greedy interests for the good of the colonizers by exploiting the colonized lands as well as their people.
During the process of colonization, colonizers are such cultural holders who afford their cruel policies in many different spheres. Geng Yang, Qixue Zhang and Qi Wang argue:
From the post-colonialist point of view, cultural colonization and cultural hegemony can invade into people's "marrow", capture people 's soul, assimilate people's worldview, values, wayof thinking, and lifestyle, and unnoticeably have the effect that politics and economics cannot have (284).
The previous passage illustrates another face of post-colonialism, which is the cultural one. The post-colonial theory figures out the relationship between the culture of the colonizers and that of the colonized. It studies the limitations of the difference between the powerful and the powerless. It also reflects the true aim behind the invasion of a country. It is about affording the colonizers' culture and the obedient people of the native land should accept that peacefully. The colonizers intend to impose their own culture and make it an actual tradition that should be completely followed by metropolitans. The native culture of the colonized people is ignored and underestimated by the colonizers. There is a new way of life that invades all its spheres. The most well-known justification for that hegemony is to improve the uncivilized nations and spread democracy, while the hidden purpose is disastrous and brings more amount of ravage. It reflects the actual meaning of tyranny.
The colonizers justify their existence that they will apply modernity on these uncivilized and poor nations. The claimed purpose is to build a kind of liberation from the restrictions of chaos and the barbaric life, so the role of the colonizers does not sound a harmful thing to be resisted. Unfortunately, the real target behind it is to spread exploitation with all its faces. Said talks about this in his book Orientalism:
Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice. [sic] (16).
Said believes that every country that invades a nation has a good cause for that. In the beginning, the claimed purpose appears to be for the good of that nation, but after that, the brutal purposes appear. The colonizers' good comes after everything, even if it will cause cruel consequences to the metropolitans. There is nothing but a sort of legal violence, exploitation, segregation and a great amount of bondage. The colonizers do nothing but turning the native people of the colonized countries into slaves for the colonizers' good.
According to the colonizers' point of view, colonialism is getting along with modernity, as once the country becomes an imperialistic power and has many colonies around the world, it will have the features of modernity and its development. The policy to invade a nation can be considered a step towards the best for a greedy country that uses tyranny and injustice for achieving its goals.
The imperialistic countries justify the process of colonialism to have their share in the movement of modernity and globalization. The claimed purpose for that is illuminating the colonized countries. However, the sacrifices of souls and lands are the price for that. There is another kind of sacrifice which the colonized people should accept: it is the rewriting of their own history at the hands of the colonizers or even neglecting their whole heritage. What is mentioned by Shaobo Xie and Fengzhen Wang can support this point of view; "to use a language of modernity which everyone must use whether or not it is probably expresses their reality" (281). They express the cultural imposition that the colonizers are trying to impose on the colonized people. It is so clear that whether they accept that or not, they have no choice other than that. Rewriting their history and even its elimination is not a problematic thing for the colonizers, but actually, it is needed to reinforce their imperialistic power, even after the end of the colonial period.
The term postcolonialism is not only illustrating the sequels of colonialism during that cultural occupation, but it also describes its influence after the declaration of the independence of the colonies as Yang and Zhang et al mention:
From the point of view of a historical background, post-colonialism has three foundations: first, the flourish of national liberation movement after World War II; second, the self-identity of national culture; third, total reflection of modernity (280)
In the previous quotation, it is very clear that some of the colonizers' policies still have an influence on the governments and institutions in the ex-colonized nations. The colonizers' culture cannot be eliminated after the declaration of independence, as some of it become a factual part of the main culture of the metropolitans. The liberation after colonialism is restricted by the culture of the colonizers and its impacts. The national identity will never reach the level of modernity without the influence of this foreign culture. Actually, the colonizers' culture inculcates its roots in many colonies around the world to have repeated paradigms that are similar to the colonizers' main country. Harding and Parson express that:
The areas of the worlds most impacted by colonization, Africa, Latin America, Asia, are “miserably poor”, and though they are no longer controlled politically by foreign powers, the influence of ‘Western' ideas of ‘how things should be done. (2)
From the previous lines, the sequels of colonialism can be figured out: they are still haunting the ex-colonized nations. Many areas around the world are affected by colonialism and still suffer from its impacts until now. Africa, Asia, and Latin America still have the influence of the Western cultures in different fields. The political and economic affairs are still under the control of the colonizers. Though they leave the land of the metropolitans, they still have their ideologies and lifestyles. Lu acknowledges the same concept:
Although half a century has passed since the declaration, the colonial past is still a raw and corrosive ingredient in contemporary international relations between former colonizing countries and their colonial subjects. (262)
In other words, Western cultural imposition makes the colonized people forget their original heritage of culture. It is replaced by the culture of the colonizers that invades every sphere. The liberation after the departure of the colonizers is a deceitful one. The colonized nations have not the temerity to be attached to their original culture. They are living a case of contradiction, as they are protesting against the existence of the colonizers, but at the same time, they accept their hegemonic style.
After the claim of liberty, they still have the attributes of colonialism as if they cannot live without it. Their callings for freedom and independence are such a kind of altercation that has no use. After the end of colonialism, the governments still have the elements of capitalism and materialism that are the main features of the colonizers' policy. Therefore, the colonizers do not completely relinquish the authority of the colonized nation and still have control over it.
Post-colonialism as a theory has many features to be discussed. These features elaborate on the actual relationship between the colonizers and the colonized. It can figure out the limitation of the problem of colonialism and its impacts on the colonized nations. While discussing these features, the complete influence of postcolonialism and its disastrous sequels in many countries around the world can be clarified.
The features of post-colonialism
Empire
The meaning of empire can be briefly summarized in the dominant powers around the world that are characterized in specific countries. When there are empires in the world, it is very familiar to have colonies that are following the authority of these empires. The main concept for these empires is to impose their control over many lands around the world. This sort of hegemony is not only over lands but it also means a control over their people and their way of daily life. Barbara Bush raises a question about imperialism that is very important, Will imperialism continues in the future or are we moving towards a globalized world where respect for cultural diversity is combined with peace through greater quality. (187)
The previous lines show the hidden tax of the existence of empires. It shows a sort of clash between the culture of the imperialistic powers and thoseof the colonized people. The only salvation of this crisis is to acknowledge the diversity of cultures and admit the right of the colonized to maintain their own culture even during the hegemony of the imperialistic powers.
Colonizer/Colonized
It is the most important relationship during the process of colonialism, and even after its end. Through that relationship, many notions and concepts can be figured out like oppression, subjugation, slavery, exploitation and injustice. It is a very complicated relationship, as the colonizers move from their country to another one and begin to treat the latter's native people as their servants. The colonizers have their own justification for that, as they have the political, economic and even cultural supremacy over the ignorant colonized people.
According to the colonizers' point of view, the colonized people need their existence in order to shape a new kind of culture which shows more modernity and civilization. The colonized people should accept that way of servile life peacefully and without any sort of objection. They even should thank the colonizers for their cruel policies in order to make their country a modern one.
Alterity and Ambivalence
Alterity can briefly be described as "the other". Alterity can express different cultures, religions or history. It means to be different or unfamiliar to other cultural heritage. John Hawley argues:
Alterity marks the threshhold of otherness, the site where difference in skin color, geography, sex, sexual orientation, and other historical and biological markers of difference are sociopolitical discoursed. In postcolonial theory, the term has been used interchangeably along will difference and "otherness"[sic] (16)
It is a post-colonial term that indicates the position of the colonizers. This concept is applied to the different ways of life that are imposed by the colonizers on the colonized nations. Ambivalence is the result of alterity, as because of the superiority of otherness; the colonizers begin to treat the colonized as slaves who deserve an inferior kind of life.
Alterity and ambivalence reflect the problem of identity distortion. The loss of identity begins because of the existence of "the other". The deep focus is on two matters: the identity of the colonizers and the mere struggle to make it be a prevalent concept, while the identity of the colonized begins to be decreased, and it loses its roots. The appearance of ambivalence is a result of the fight between the two identities. The colonizers' main rule is to neglect or ignore the origins of the colonized nation and to afford their foreign lifestyle. The adopted way of imposing this way of life starts with arbitrary and bondage. In spite of all of that, the colonized nation should accept that in order to be civilized and get along with modernity and globalization.
Appropriation
The process of colonialism is associated with the act of appropriation. This feature can express the meaning of the cultural violation implemented by the colonizers towards the colonized people. Actually, the first step to impose the colonizers' domination over the colonized nation is to ignore its original culture and even its traditions in life generally. The colonizers claim their attempts to replace the metropolitans' lifestyle with their modern one.
The colonized nations begin to make such a revolutionary act against this cultural imposition and starts to use the colonizers' language in order to express their objection through it. It is another type of appropriation which comes from the colonized people against the colonizers. Once the colonizers begin to steal the identity as well as the land of metropolitans, the colonized also steal the colonizers' language to use it as a tool to express their revolution against colonial oppression like what is mentioned by Bill Ashcroft and Gareth Griffiths et al:
A term used to describe the ways in which post-colonial societies take over those aspects of the imperial culture — language, forms of writing, film, theatre, even modes of thought and argument such as rationalism, logic and analysis— that may be of use to them in articulating their own social and cultural identities. (19)
The previous quotation shows another kind of objection and resistance which is not like a political protest or public demonstrations. It presents a new strategy to face the bad sequels of colonialism. The use of the colonizers' language means a smart type of resistance to express the metropolitan's thoughts and beliefs. Using films, theatre and forms of writing can reflect the original identity and help to maintain it without any kind of distortion practiced by the colonizers.
Center/ Margin (Periphery)
It is well-known that colonialism is about dividing a nation into many parts and kinds of people. The issue of marginalization describes a process of relegation or exclusion of the metropolitans which is implemented by the colonizers. Center stands for the colonizers and the margin stands for the colonized. The relationship between center and margin is like the bases of the Marxist's theory. The center represents the capital class, while the margin represents the working class. The center symbolizes the class which has the dominant powers, while the margin is nothing but a working force to present comfort to the center.
Actually, the main role of the margins is to be relegated. The margins are always deprived of enjoying any kind of rights. They have no right because they have no power or civilization to have control like the center. The center intends to make the margins in a separated periphery. In fact, the center makes something like a small colony for the margins.
Furthermore, if some of the natives are not white, they should pay a tax of being neglected and have no parity with the other races of the colonized society. Therefore, what is out the periphery of the center is considered nothing but a menial role to serve the European masters. This notion is prevailing in Africa where colonialism has its assonance in many African countries.
Ethnicity and Racism
In post-colonial studies, ethnicity indicates another sort of racism and even bondage. It can be used to describe the margins and the majority of colonized people who refuse the hegemony of colonialism. This idiom can express the oppressed side in the colonized nation which has no role except working and achieving the interests of the colonizer:
In the concept of ethnicity, we discover one of the most vexed an complex issues in post-colonial theory. The way it intersects with the notions of indigeneity, race, marginality, imperialism and identity, leads to a constantly shifting theoretical ground, a ground continually contested and subject to more hated debate than most. (Ashcroft, Griffiths, et al 189)
As seen, ethnicity can refer to the harsh distinctions between white and black people. In the colonized nation, especially in African countries, it is well-known that the native people are the black ones, while the new settlers or the colonizers represent the white party. Here there is another sort of ethnicity, as the black people are excluded by the white colonizers, and the discrimination begins to appear in all spheres of life. Actually, this kind of racism is mainly for political reasons, as it is to give the colonizers more power and authority to have control over the colony. By following this policy, the colonizers can impose their cruel conditions on the colonized people by making them feel like they are just binaries, small and a weak party.
Enlightenment and Environmentalism
The movement of enlightenment presents another face of colonialism. Actually, it shows a sort of European domination over Asian or African colonies. According to the European point of view, the colonized nations need a sort of a cultural re-shaping in order to be more “civilized and organized”, and that action will not be achieved without the process of colonialism. The colonized nations whether in Asia or Africa are such “barbaric people” who are in a bad need of this movement of enlightenment. Through achieving this movement, the original cultures and traditions of the colonized nation are completely ignored. The Western cultures begin to take their place in every field of life in order to make the colony like a piece of a European country, while the colonized people should show gratitude for that without any kind of resistance.
Environmentalism is the second term or feature that comes after the movement of enlightenment. It indicates the meaning of exploitation of the natural resources of the colonized nations. The main justification of the colonizers is to spread their role of enlightenment through that legal exploitation. The colonizers seethat in order to modernize a colony, the colonized should accept these hard policies to be a part of the globalization movement.
Globalization
The term ‘globalization' comes from the word globe that indicates the worldly meaning. Globalization aims at making the whole world like one place which has no borders or intervals. The whole world should be like a small village that shares its products without imposing a sort of customs because of the borders between countries. The actual meaning of globalization calls for the equality between the world's countries by sharing their beliefs, ideologies and even products in an equal way. However, globalization from the post-colonial point of view reflects an actual image of imperialism and exploitation from empires like Britain, France, Netherlands and America. The parity here is existed between the imperial countries, while the colonized ones have not it.
The colonizers in the colonized nations give a name to their greedy interests which is achieving modernity and democracy in these nations. Fernando Arenas informs:
... globalization and postcolonialism have become inextricably intertwined with the consolidation of market capitalism on a planetary scale. It argues that while Africa has not been absent from the processes of globalization, these have resulted in a highly uneven development across the continent where most nations have remained suppliers of raw materials (particularly mineral wealth), much like they were under colonialism. (201)
The previous quotation talks about the relationship between globalization and postcolonialism, and it gives an example of that relationship in the continent of Africa. The treatment between the empires and Africa is far from the true meaning of globalization. These capital countries deal with the African countries as if they still under the control of colonialism. The capital countries exploit the resources of the African countries like raw materials and mineral wealth to support their industrial interests. While exploitation is the main policy of these capital countries, they try to convince the African countries and the other countries of the Third World that they have their share in the movement of globalization. They do nothing but supporting these empires to catch up with the movement of globalization, and they are still under the rule of colonialism.
Actually, globalization is all about sharing the world's resources in an equal way. Colonialism denies that concept and the countries of the Third World become nothing but supporters of the countries of the First World. Therefore, globalization becomes a phenomenon that is exclusive to specific countries, and the other countries of the world should have the role of subjectivity for these capital countries. Because of that, globalization and Marxist theory have a common point. The world is divided into two parts: the first one belongs to the capitalist countries, while the second part belongs to the poor countries that have natural resources. The second part can serve the industrial activity of these capital countries, and it can contain markets to serve the commercial activities of these capitalist countries.
The bad effect of globalization is the erosion of the native culture of the exploited colonies. The countries of the First World begin to export their products to their colonies and make them a small copy of their European way of life because globalization is not only a movement of a trade circulation, but it also is a circulation of cultures and beliefs. By adopting that style, the colonies will never survive the imperial control over them and they will never have their complete independence. Following this way, globalization is connected to the continuity of colonialism.
Diaspora and hybridity
This post-colonial term refers to the phenomenon of migration that happens after wars or because of political circumstances. Igor Maver elaborates:
Of course, diaspora defined as a dispersal and consequent settlement of people on a given territory, too, can perhaps be seen, alongside postcolonialism, as a label bag, and perhaps yet another discourse that de- historicizes modern migrants and has come to signify within this framework that is difficult to define. (ix-x)
As seen, when Maver mentions the phrase “given territory”, he clarifies that the act of diaspora seems to be an intended one to go with postcolonial concerns. Some foreign migrants come from imperial countries in order to make a colony in another nation that has resources to serve these migrants as well as their empires. Their existence makes social and political difficulties which constitute a threat to the stability of the colonized nation and as a result of that, the colonial oppression takes place and the phenomenon of diaspora becomes strong supporter to the movement of postcolonialism. As a result of that, Maver's point of view can go together with the colonial oppression that happened in South Africa followed by the application of the apartheid system.
Also, an example of diaspora can be shown in what happened after wars and political divisions, as there was a great number of people who emigrated from their homelands to other countries that were not affected by wars. Ashcroft, Griffiths et al believe that:
Diaspora is a term of growing relevance to post-colonial studies. First used to describe the Jewish dispersion in Babylonian times and then after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, the notion of diaspora of people has become increasingly common in describing the combination of migrancy and continued cultural affiliation that characterizes many racial, ethnic, and national groups scattered throughout the world. (425)
From the previous quotation, it can be figured out the roots of this feature and the problematic affair about it, as it lies in the split identity of the emigrants. They try to translate their constant longing to their native lands into a present image of it in the colonized land. There are great attempts to make a replacement of the native culture of the host land with the culture of the emigrants' homeland. If they fail to make a small vision of their original roots, they will really feel as if they are in an exile and the problem of identity's distortion begins to appear. Pramod K. Nayar argues that:
Diaspora is the context not only for racial mixing through miscegenation-and therefore for new races and ethnicities emerging in the world-but also for cultural hybridization, producing new forms of art, music, architecture and literature. (48)
From the previous lines, Diaspora can lead to the dichotomy of the identity for both of colonizers and colonized. The colonizers, who come from their homeland, want to take a small copy of their country to apply it in the host land. At the same time, the colonized people deny this new lifestyle and begin to resist it by sticking to their native culture and its traditions. There is a sort of crack that happens in the identity of the colonized and even that of the colonizers. Every side tries to have cultural control over the other, and the tax of it will be the rupture of the identities. Therefore, hybridity is the inevitable result of diaspora. Diaspora can create a new lifestyle in all life's spheres for both the colonized people and the colonizers either, and that is what is called hybridity.
Hybridity is a post-colonial term, which is the result of diaspora. Hybridity is one of the outcomes of the cultural mixture due to post-colonialism. After the process of colonialism, there is a sort of confusion among races and cultures and as a result of that, there is a new form of culture begins to appear. Amar Acheraiou argues that:
For most scholars in postcolonial and cultural studies hybridity represents a crucial emancipatory tool releasing the representation of identity as well as culture from the assumptions of purity and supremacy that fuel colonialism, nationalism and essentialism discourse. (5-6)
According to the previous lines, the crisis of distorted identity can be a sequel of postcolonialism, and hybridity is considered a solution for that crisis. After the creation of the tormented identity between the culture of the colonizers and that of the colonized, hybridity comes with a new identity which has common elements between the two identities. From a psychological point of view, hybridity is a relief from the case of fragmentation that affects the identities of both the colonizers and the colonized. There is a sort of competition between both of them to prove that everyone's culture is better than the other. Hybridity comes to solve this sort of contest and it offers a new form of culture that is considered a relief of that kind of fragmentation, as Homi Bhabha informs:
The stairwell as liminal space, in-between the designation of identity, becomes the process of symbolic interaction, the connective tissue that constructs the difference between upper and lower, black and white.
The hither and the thither of the stairwell, the temporal movement, and passage that it allows, presents identities at either end of it from settling into primordial polarities. This interstitial passage between fixed identifications opens up the possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy. (5)
Bhabha thinks that hybridity is like “stairwell” which is like something stays in the periphery. Hybridity is nothing but an in-between position between two different identities, and the privilege of it lies in being not taking the side of any specific identity. Due to hybridity, there is a new kind of identity which is created and forces its way out the walls of the competition between the identity of the colonizers and that of the colonized.
In fact, hybridity is the possible choice for the colonized people and just few numbers of the colonizers who accept it. Hybridity is the only relief for the colonized people to escape the cultural imposition practiced by the colonizers. It is not always a preferable choice for the colonizers because they have power and knowledge, while the colonized people have nothing but their ignored culture. The colonizers consider hybridity is a way to distort the purity of their race, Nayar believes:
In the 19th century hybridity was something that frightened the Europeans. The colonials therefore campaigned against miscegenation because they saw the mixing of races as a dilution of their racial attributes. Armed with a strong sense of cultural purity, colonial discourse rejected racial mixing by projecting the other races as inferior, and therefore to be avoided. (91)
In the previous passage, Nayar talks about the bad consequences of hybridity as the culture of the European colonizers should not be mixed with the culture of the colonized that is an inferior one. Because of that, the European colonizers see that hybridity is nothing but a distortion of their pure and superior culture. The colonizers see that because they still look at the hybridists as colonized people that can be humiliated and subjugated. Although there is a group of people who choose to escape the harsh reality of the colonial oppression and its consequences by creating new lifestyle, the colonizers will give them a higher rank to be involved with them in any social connection. From the colonizers' point of view, these hybridist groups are still colonized people who is treated like servants to them.
On the other hand, hybridity can be used as a tool to resist the cultural imposition implemented by the colonizers. Joel Kuortti and Jopi Nyman that: "Yet it can be argued that the use of hybridity in literary and cultural texts (including Victorian) shows resistance to the monological raciology of colonial discourse" (5). As seen from the previous lines, hybridity can be legally used to resist the tyrant policies of the colonial regimes, but sometimes it can be considered a double-edged weapon. Hybridity can lead to dirty kind of resistance that entails the impression of hypocrisy towards the colonizers. Some of the colonized people can use their hybridist style in order to satisfy the appeal of the colonizers, as they can be absent and negative towards the colonial oppression. The matter can reach the extent that the colonizers can feel the approval from these hybridist figures to the intended colonial tyranny. Once the colonizers have followers from the colonized people, they may at least stop their violence against these hybridist groups. This kind of hybridity will lead to a dirty and harmful type of resistance, as when the colonized follow it, they will lose their dignity and human worth, and they will turn to be fragmented characters.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism presents a problematic issue that appears in the colonized nations due to diaspora and the mix between races. There is a sort of struggle between the colonizers' culture and that of the colonized. Actually, the superiority is always for the culture of the colonizers because they have power and knowledge. The culture of the colonized is barbaric and uncivilized from the colonizers' point of view. Therefore, the superiority is for the side who has civilization and modern culture.
Multiculturalism has a backlash from the colonized people. They try all the time to preserve their own historical heritage and native culture away from the cultural invasion of the colonizers. Multiculturalism causes a distortion in the native identity of the colonized people and their struggle is to maintain it without the western control over it. There is an example of multiculturalism that occurred in South Africa. It had Dutch settlers who were followed by British ones beside the native inhabitants of South Africa itself.
The problem in South Africa was about the different cultures that invaded this nation with their different traditions, way of life, education and even languages. The colonizers believed that the colonized people should accept the cultural difference and follow the culture of the colonizers. The superiority of the colonizers' culture should persuade the colonized people. Victor N. Webb argues:
An attitude of tolerance and mutual respect also needs to be promoted in South Africa and the principle of multiculturalism has to be given concrete substance. This can be done by relating multiculturalism to the notion of nation-building in a very specific way, for example by (a) the meaningful recognition of minority (language) rights, and (b) by promoting an attitude of tolerance. (163)
From the previous passage, it can be seen that although the colonizers were a minority in South Africa, their culture should have respect and tolerance. However, the colonizers forgot a very important point that the relationship between their culture and that of the colonized people should have reciprocal respect and tolerance, and there is no superiority for specific culture at the expense of the other.
Double consciousness
One of the post-colonial complicated terms is double consciousness. It reflects the tormented case of the colonized especially the black majority in a continent like Africa. To be black in a society that has white colonizers is a misery, as Paul Gilroy believes that: "Striving to be both European and black requires some specific forms of double consciousness" (1). Actually, a psychological crisis faces the colonized people after colonialism and specifically the black ones. Being black in a colonized society means being degenerated and inferior. The crisis begins when the black man feels that in order to live normally, he should have the principle of being humiliated and ignored because of his color.
The crisis of the tormented identity is a result of double consciousness. The black man has the feeling of being in a low place and even his roots and traditions are ignored. He is completely rejected in the new Europeans society that is made by the European colonizers. Therefore, the European colonialism does nothing but creating a great amount of negative power that is consisting of these black and broken people. The concept of racism, which is practiced by the European colonizers, evokes a great amount of oppression and hatred that will lead to terrorism and bloody kind of resistance.
Eurocentrism
Eurocentrism is a post-colonial term that indicates the position of Europe in the world. In fact, Europe has a specific strategy towards the other countries, as it should be the center of the world, while the rest of the world should be in the margin, and they should follow the European model. The idea of making European colonies around the world comes from this point of view. The European ideology has the supremacy to have control over the whole world, as the Europeans have the privilege of race, ideologies and even religion.
The concept of European colonialism is to make every non-European country serve its interests whether they are economic, political or military ones. Robert Stam mentions:
Eurocentrism is the discursive residue or precipitate of colonialism, the process by which the European powers reached positions of economic, military, political and cultural hegemony in much of Asia, Africa and the Americas. (98)
In the previous quotation, it can be figured out the European exploitation in many regions around the world. Through colonialism, the European model can be repeated in the non-European countries, and it affords its policies for the sake of its interests with all different meanings.
Because of the European hegemony, Europe becomes the center of modernity, civilization and even globalization. The non-European countries should serve the interests of Europe in order to achieve its share in the movement of globalization and European illumination. Arambam Noni and Kangujam Sanatomba think:
Modernity became a stage of the world's history when the European hegemony had begun to abundantly affect and cast the socio-economic and political lives of several people who were to be ultimately called as subjects. In other words, it can be said that the early modern history of non-European societies had been sweepingly marked by a vertical form of a sophisticated political and power relationship called colonialism. (15)
The previous passage talks about the European policy towards the whole world. European countries justify the process of colonialism to attain the attributes of modernity in different spheres. The colonized countries should accept that kind of hegemony, and it should present all its sources to serve the interests of Europe. In addition, the colonized countries should have the belief that it should accept this kind of domination and imposed power in order to emulate the characteristics of modernity and cope with the movement of the European illumination.
Nativism and Negritude
Nativism is a post-colonial reaction after the attempts of colonialism to abandon the actual culture of the colonized nations. To take the reaction of nativism is to try to stick as possible to the old tradition of the colonized nation. The matter of nativism like the tree that has roots to be stable on the ground. Nayar writes about the meaning of nativism:
A revival of native cultural forms and identities was essential to the anti-colonial struggle. It united people from various diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds in the pursuit of ‘national' goal. (87)
The previous passage shows that sticking to the native way of thinking and the native traditions lead to the assertion of the idea of nationalism. The colonized society has different kinds of people with different beliefs, ideologies, and even religions, and in spite of that, they should be one unit to resist the hegemonic style of the colonizers and their dominant policies. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni argues:
Postcolonial nativism and xenophobia began with ‘native bourgeoisie' violently attacking colonial personalities as constituting an insult to ‘our dignity as a nation'. These attacks would be justified as part of furthering the cause of decolonization, Africanization and nationalization. (119)
Following the previous lines, the policy of the colonizers is similar to the Marxist style in the capitalist societies. The class of colonizers consists of many bourgeoisies who want to treat the colonized people as their own servants, and the colonized people should accept that without any kind of resistance. The matter becomes more servile for the colonized people, and they begin to deny the colonizers' existence and their violation of their own dignity. This kind of rejection is translated to the call for nationalization or nativism.
As a result of the situation of the colonized people, the colonizers also begin to take a reaction towards that denial of their existence. They start to follow a specific strategy to deal with this denial. They intend to put the colonized people in a specific place and give them the mark of being what is called The Third World. Walter Mignolo says:
Let's then translate "Nativism" into "Localism" and be clear that locals have been conformed by the formation and transformation by the colonial matrix of power. The point is, then, that Localism emerges because of the advent of a powerful intellectual and political elite, some of them still linked to Europe through Marxism but in the colonies, and some plainly already decolonial. Localism crossed and conformed by historical forces (in this case, Persia, Islam, the Western creation of the Middle East as a region, and the Middle East becoming part of the Third World) then emerges as a pluri-versal response and confrontation with universal Eurocentrism. (402-403)
From the previous quotation, the colonial powers do not acknowledge the right of the colonized people to return to their original culture and retain it from the bonds of the European hegemony. The colonizers admit that right but in a condition, which is putting the colonized people under a label and in specific places. Localism is the label that is used by the colonizers to call the colonized nation. In fact, the problem of nativism cannot be solved, because the colonizers make the expression of “Localism”, and the colonized people are still under the political authority of the colonizers. They have the right to define and give names to the colonized nations and put them in a specific location and political position by calling them a “Third World”. The connection between the colonies and Europe still has its impact in the colonized nations, and these nations still have no right to call for its nativism and achieving it. Whilst, the colonizers see that the colonized people try to detach from the movement of modernity, civilization and globalization.
[...]
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