Ania Loomba’s views
about Colonialism/Post colonialism and selected term
Class: MA SEM-3
Roll No.: 30
Year: 2015
Enrolment No.: pg14101029
Email ID: tadhavanita90@gmail.com
Paper No.: 11[The Postcolonial Literature]
Submitted to: Department of English
Ania Loomba’s views about Colonialism/Post colonialism and selected term
Introduction
She received her BA, MA, and M.Phill degrees from the Delhi
University. She researches and teaches early modern literature, history of race
and colonialism, post colonialism studies, feminist theory and contemporary
Indian literature.
Before we go further reading we must race the term
‘Colonialism’. It’s related with colony.
According to Oxford English Dictionary the meaning of colony is
‘A country under the
control of another and occupied by settlers from there’
Colony
Colonizer
Colonized
First world country rule over another third world country
and make them inferior, subaltern or slave and ruler of this is known as
colonizers and transform them in to their culture it means ‘colonized’.
Colonialism/Post colonialism began with the ending of 20th
century or after pos war. Its roots were in the Columbus arrival for the new
found land and with the Vasco de Gama. There is not much difference between
colonialism and post colonialism both sit together.
Colonial/Postcolonial writers
Chinua Achebe, Althusser, Ascraft, Griffiths Baudrillard,
Homi K. Bhabha, Cessaire, Gaytri Chakravorty Spivak, Franz Fanon, Gramasci,
Mahasweta Devi, Shashi Tharu, Thiango, Ania loomba etc.
Some prominent writers of the colonial/postcolonial writings
Ania Loomba: Ania Loomba is Catherine Bryson professor in
the field of English at the Pennsylvania. Her popular works are:
1.
‘Gender’ Race, Renaissance drama.
2.
‘Dead Woman Tell no Tales: Issues of Female
subjectivity’.
3.
‘Shakespeare, Race and colonialism (2002)
4.
‘postcolonial’ studies and Beyond (2005)
Althusser (1971): His work ’Lenin and philosophy and other
essay also translated.
The term colonialism,
according to Oxford English Dictionary comes from the Roman term ‘colonai’
which means ‘farm’ or ‘settlement’. It means Roman settled in other lands but
still they are craving for their own land. The Oxford English Dictionary
defined as
“A settlement in a new country… a body of people who settle
in a new locality, forming a community so formed, consisting of the original
settlers and their descendants and successors as long as the connection with
the parent state is kept up”.
Ania Loomba’s book ‘colonialism/post colonialism is divided
in to three part. She mainly discussed about how ‘colonialism’ relevant with
the person, place and things.
Ania Loomba discuss
such term like
Imperialism
The ‘OED’ defines ‘imperial’ as ‘Pertaining to empire’ and
‘imperialism’ as the rule of an arbitrary king is ruling over a small area.
This word coined by British Prime Minister Benjamin in Disraeli in 1870s. And
Joseph chamberlain support of the movement.
Colonial discourse
About this theory Homi Bhabha has given his views in 1980
that it dealt with heredity, ambiovalalence and mimicry. While Foucault o, this
discourse, is the complex of signs and practices that organize social existence
and social reproduction in colonial discourse. It is related with Edward Said’s
‘Orientalism’. It focused on the knowledge of powerful people.
For Ex: British rule over India. They had technological
knowledge through which they made us powerless.
Race
It is about two categories. One on power and another one is
suppress by it. Without one we can’t recognize other one.
Such race:
Boy – Girl
Day – Night
White – Black
Good – Bad
It provokes discourse among people.
Class
Class and caste system often creates difference in the human
beings.
For Ex: In India a boy is well set, well educated, good
looking then even parents of girl not allow them to marry with that boy just
because he is belong to the lower cast.
Hybridity
Colonialism/Post colonialism is also one kind of
hybridity. To accept hybrid life is
often problematic. Hybridity refers in its most basic sense to mixture.
Hybridity is journey from biological to cultural discussion.
Globalization
It is not emphasize on any particular country or culture. It
is a combination of multi – culture. Somewhere in the process of
‘Globalization’ also near to colonialism. Globalization and social networking
makes people together or connect with link. And such things like language,
food, thought, clothes and many more things in which people can be broad
minded.
Post-Modernism
Post-Modernism is influential over modernity. This word
first used by Leotard in 1930 in his work ‘answering the question: what is
Postmodernism?
Selected term
Anti – colonialism
In the second half of the twentieth century, anti –
colonialism was often articulated in term of a radical, Marxist discourse of
liberation. Anti – colonialism has taken many forms in different colonial
situations: it is sometimes associated with an ideology of racial liberation.
It emphasizes the need to reject colonial power and restore local control. This
term especially focus on particular anti culture which people prefer to turn
back. It is a kind of political struggle between colonizes people and anti
colonizes.
Decolonization
Decolonization is the process of revealing and dismantling
colonialist power in all its form. This includes dismantling the hidden aspects
of those institutional and cultural forces that had maintained the colonialist
power and that remain even after political independence is achieved.
Exotic/Exoticism
The word exotic was first used in 1599 to mean ‘alien’. It
introduce from abroad, not indigenous. The key concept her is the introduction
of the exotic from abroad in to a domestic economy. It is also consider as
foreign. In the earlier days of European put exotic in artifacts, plants and
animals. European dreamed to have exotic for to be exhibited themselves.
Hegemony
Hegemony is initially a term referring to the dominance of
one state. This broader meaning was coined and popularized in the 1930s by
Italian Marxist Antonia Gramasci. He investigates why the ruling class is so
successful in promoting its own interest in society. Hegemony is the power of
the ruling class to convince other classes that their interest is the interest
of all. Though such medium dominant class makes other class to follow them and
what they are doing is right.
Magic realism
This term first used I postcolonial context I the
foundation essay by Jacques Stephen Alexis ‘of the magical realism of the
Haitians’. This term popularized when it was employed to characterize the work
of South American writers widely translated into English and other languages.
Example:
1] Midnight’s children
-Salman Rushdie
2] The Famished Road
- Ben Okri
3] The Bone people
4] Green Grass, Ruin Water
Subaltern
It is near to savage. Subalterns are a term adopted by
Antonio Gramasci Subaltern means ‘to inferior’. It refers to those groups in
society who are the subject of hegemony of the ruling classes. Subaltern
classes may include peasants, workers and other lower class people. They are
not able to rise their voice against dominant. They are not always poor in term
of money or physically but by their work and class.
Ideology
Ideology in the Althusserian sense is “the imaginary
relation to the conditions of existence”. It can be described as a set of
conscious and unconscious ideas which make up one’s goals, expectation, and
motivations. It is a set of standards that are followed by people, government
and or other groups that is considered the ‘norm’.
It is a way of looking at things, as argued in several
philosophical lenience. It can also be a set of ideas proposed by the
dominant class of society to all members of society.
Modernism and Post colonialism
Modernism is a twentieth century European movement in the
creative art. Modernism is usually defined as a European movement and it has
been argued that the encounter with African culture I the so – called ‘scramble
for Africa’. The European powers were engaged in violently suppressing the
‘savage’ culture of Africa. European sees African as pig. They keep them as
their slave.
Conclusion
Ania Loomba is famous for postcolonial literature. She has
researched on race, c colonial terms. Post colonialism, postcolonial study and
feminist theory. Post colonial term helpful to understand the culture of any
particular area. The culture is goes on changing. Postcolonial literature
belongs to the time in which other colonies establish over native people. Anti
– colonialism, hegemony, subaltern and exoticism are the post
Excellent! Your assignment topic is difficult but you explain very well with example.So, Keep it up.
ReplyDelete