Marina Abramovic’s photograph “Light Side/Dark Side” is a black and white portrait of a young lady looking straight into your eyes. If you look at this photograph, it’s not her piercing look that perplexes you; it’s the hand hiding her left eye that prevents you from discovering the mystery behind that face. As the partial face leaves the viewer curious to see the rest, the shades of black and white add to the gloominess evident on her face. But you realize that you are not the only one whose view is obstructed, hers is too. It’s evident that the hand is not hers. The hand can be viewed as a symbol of distortion. Like in the photograph, distortion can obstruct the view of the world and leave you disturbed when you are unable to see the complete picture. But whose hand is ‘distorting’ your view and the lady’s? In his essay “Decolonising the Mind,” Ngugi Wa Thiong’o sheds light onto the cause and effect of distortion in his childhood. Ngugi recounts his experience of being born in Kenya, a country under colonial rule by the British, and how the imposition of a foreign language, English, broke the harmony between the language of his formal education and that of his Limuru peasant community. The colonial power can be viewed as the hand from Abramovic’s photograph that is distorting the relation Ngugi shares with his language and culture. Before the British imposed English, that is before the distortion, Ngugi fondly remembers the peaceful days when the Limuru community used
Chinua Achebe was educated in the West, though he hails from an African tribe. His exposure to both African and Western thinking gives him a unique perspective on the colonization of Africa, which is argued to be barbaric by some, but beneficial and necessary by others. In “Things Fall Apart,” Achebe perspective comes through as he masterfully describes a pre-colonization African tribe, and how colonization percolated through it. His authentic accounts of the positives and negatives of both tribal society and colonization leave the reader to answer the question of whether imperialism was morally justifiable or not.
During the study, the renowned anthropologist uses the local lingua franca “Neo-Melanesian” to collect his data from the Imbonggu villages. At first, the Wormsley finds himself as an object of competition as different communities wanted to stay with him. The men thought that Wormsley had come to collect the "head tax”, one of the renowned colonial payments that were subjected to men based on the number of women. In these communities, the author observes the culture of both men and women to collect his data. He notes how men are engaged in war, religion and politics (Wormsley, 1993). Women, on the other
There was a great question asked by numerous individuals in the eighteenth century with what happens to people’s lives when their country is a colony of another country. This was very important to Americans when they were being ruled by Great Britain, and even to this day it remains important when countries find themselves controlled by more powerful outsiders. But what is colonialism? Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control of another. Kenya’s experience as a colony of Great Britain gives us more of an idea of what being colonized meant both to the people being controlled and to those who control them. Although it seems hard to believe, Kenya was created by the Europeans and generally this had a positive on effect on Kenyans because it began development.
The first two chapters of “The Practice of Looking” touch upon the idea of interpretation of images. For the purposes of this essay, an image is a piece of media that has a tangible visual effect, such as a picture, book, or TV series. The authors talk about how many people can have different interpretations of the same image and the idea that the audience gives an image meaning, which are valid arguments, but they fail to recognize that a single person’s interpretation of an image can change over time. Interpretation can change constantly, whether it’s many people looking at the same image or one person looking at the same image repeatedly over time; sometimes, the author’s intended meaning is more easily interpreted than at other times.
Finally, the depiction of figure is perhaps the most interesting and intellectually challenging element in this piece. The figure, while emotionally withdrawn from the viewer, is physically imposing. She is looking down and away from the viewer, as if the isn’t aware that she is being watched. Her mask-like facial features also do little in the way of conveying emotion. Her body, however, is quite different. The dark thick lines shaping her muscles and limbs, the detail in the curls of her hair, the placement of her fingers, and her exposed breast all demand the attention of the viewers’ eye. The bold lines that define her legs, waist, and hip, make her seem intrusively part of our space. The awkward placement of her
John Szarkowski is an American photographer and curator, whose opinions on a photograph’s narrative and direction are highly valued. In his time he analyzed many works of art, and produced many different interpretations, one being the ideals of mirrors and windows.
Abraham de Vries’ Double Portrait depicts a man and a woman sitting at a table. The woman looks up from her reading while the man turns in his chair. Both of them look out of the frame into the viewer’s space. There is a calm, unified axis of the head and the body for both
With all the issues this country has with the way that we treat others is really troublesome. We have been an independent nation since the declaration of independents was signed so how it is that all the issues this country is having still exists when we have had so much time to fix them. I think it all starts when America became independent the foundation that the founding fathers laid out was racist and discriminatory because they were all in some shape or form racists and discriminatory. The guidelines this country has had to follow are outdated and just plain wrong what cant we do something about them I’m not saying that doing that is going to fix all our problems as a nation but it will be a guide for future generations to look at when
In Derek Walcott’s From in a Green Night: A Far Cry from Africa, the author explains and dives into the topic of colonialism and self-reflection through his own experiences of being trapped between his Kenyan and British descent. Similar to Fanon’s concept of complicity, Walcott also understands both sides of the story in an unbiased manner. In his poem, he uses imagery to describe the violent past in which Kenyans and British people have committed to each other, the ‘savage’ nature of humans during colonization, and his own internal speech where he himself is confused of his cultural and social identity. This paper will explore the core concepts of Walcott’s writing and further explain it through Fanon’s lens to amplify the meaning of the poem.
When you turn on the television to get the latest news broadcast, do you ever wonder exactly how bias the information you’re receiving is? Whether it’s about politics, an investigation, or a criminal trial, a person must critically analyze the information that’s being presented in front of them before they should make any form of judgment based off what is said. Criticism of the media is an important aspect of Gone Girl and “The Braindead Megaphone.” In both literary works, media is represented or described as subjective, storytelling, and dangerous in some situations, which is prevalent in the real worlds postmodern broadcasting.
The desire to conquer land that was previously unexplored has existed throughout history. This desire forced many indigenous societies, who were usually dominated technologically, to adapt to the teachings and overall system of the ‘superior’ conqueror nation with destruction as the only alternative. This causes a major impact on how a certain society functions, even after seeking independence from the foreigners. The rise and fall of indigenous societies can be analyzed through various media. Chinua Achebe is a novelist specializing in African literature, and this essay deals with the themes regarding colonialism in one of his many novels. In
The Kenyan feminist and environmental activist, Wangari Maathai, explores the legacy of colonialism and oppression in her native country through her moving 2006 memoir, Unbowed. Maathai explains that over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Africa experienced a massive influx of white settlers. In an effort to solidify control over recently acquired colonies, many European powers had encouraged large numbers of their ethnically white citizens to make a new home on the African continent. As a result, thousands of native Africans were displaced. Maathai’s ancestors, the Kikuyu and Maasai peoples were among them. The majority of these forced dislocations took
Do you know what the Holocaust was?I do. It was one of the most tragic events in human history when killing over 6 million Jews.However though, a Jewish girl named Anne Frank said this,¨In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart¨.Despite everything that happened in the Annex with Anne and them living inside it I would have to agree what this quote said.I think this way because of the following character Miep when she organized and cleaned the whole house.However, someone might disagree with me based on this character from the play named Mr. Van Daan because of he was stingy and selfish most of the time like when ever he got caught stealing food and trying to keep it for himself.
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a modern example of postcolonial literature and is one of the most influential pieces of its genre. Postcolonial writing presents important themes and lessons of justice, equality, and freedom that can be applied to present times. It reminds us of how important our freedoms are and why we need to protect them. The colonized write about their exploitation and show how there is persecution in their colonized society. Postcolonial authors use specific methods to undermine their colonizers and reveal their backward logic. Things Fall Apart has various examples of meta-narrative, decolonization struggles, and colonial discourse worked in throughout the novel. Chinua Achebe’s writing styles showcase these techniques to subvert his European colonizers.
This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.