Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North shows the reader the complicated relationship between England and it’s ex colonies. It forces us to think of the remnants of control it leaves. One of these remnants is the idea of England, as described by George Lamming in his essay “The Occasion for Speaking”. Using these two sources, we can answer the questions of what cutting down the African man into an English ideal really does. Through Lamming’s three important events, we see the timeline of colonial control and how it destroys the African man. The character of Mustafa Sa’eed represents the effects of Lamming’s idea of England on the colonized man, and how the realization of its falsehood creates an identity crisis that, eventually, kills the dedicated believer.
In his essay, “The Occasion for Speaking”, George Lamming focuses on explaining the idea of England. He writes that this idea is a seed in the brain of every colonized person, stemming from his or her English education and subjugation under colonization. He writes:
This is what I mean by the myth […] It is myth as the source of spiritual foods absorbed, and learnt for exercise in the future […] It begins with the fact of England’s supremacy in taste and judgment: a fact of all non-England. (15)
This idea of England is a kind of myth that is passed down from generation, but one that it treated as a fact. The main theme is England is superior in every aspect. The example Lamming gives contains one part of this
“Ibn Battuta’s stories give us a picture of Africa through eyes of a devote Muslim traveling all over the continent of Africa and the world. In his accounts sub-Saharan Africa is described prior to colonialism and racism. Ibn Battuta’s stories as they are transcribed in “Ibn Battuta, In Black Africa” by Said Hamdun and Noel King are representative of the only written account of this period and give us the most realistic and accurate account of this time in history.
English colonizers brought old world traditions into the new world and strengthened their respective communities in order to protect their cultural identity in the colonies. For the English, immigration into the colonies meant facing one’s inessentiality; the colonies had high rates of mortality and weakly structured economies.11 Faced with their dispensability, settlers discovered new means to retain their cultural identities. For example, Quakers “rejected institutions of high culture and made virtues of simplicity and hard work in a hostile environment.” 12 They transplanted their theological cultural inheritances into colonial society and were able to perpetuate that facet of their identity in the colonies. The solidification of their communities was vital to the survival of their identities. For Scots, maintaining close relationships with prominent Scots in other colonies emphasized a Scottish identity, even across colonial borders.13 Maintaining relationships equated sustenance of old world culture through social interactions. Additionally, English colonizers solidified their community by placing a strong importance on trust. “Among persons for whom doubt replaced basic trust in the way of one’s social group, such doubt may undermine the
One implication as a result of the biggest known migration of human beings in history is that there is little documentation of individuals from the African Slave Trade. As such a familiar occurrence in history, there is little to be known about the individual experiences of captives during this horrific time. Randy Sparks, author of The Two Princes of Calabar, ends the silence as he provides the reader with a glimpse into an eighteenth century odyssey, and first hand account to the trading communities along the coast of West Africa. This trade not only transported people, but the exchange of ideas is also present across and around the Atlantic. The novel tells the story of two young men from Nigeria who are from an elite slave trading family. These men were captured by Europeans and sold into slavery until they were ultimately released back to their homeland. The Two Princes of Calabar offers insight into the complexities that existed in the transracial Atlantic world of the eighteenth century through the themes of privilege, gender bias, and the mistreatment of the enslaved.
Anglicization of the Britain’s American colonies was a big event for the course of not only American or British history, but world history. The colonists adopting many British ways and becoming very patriotic towards the “mother country” had a large effect on the events that unfolded in the late 18th century. While it is true that the American colonists were incredibly British during the beginning to the mid-18th century, the colonies had been around long enough to develop their own culture and way of doing things. The series of events and acts that were imposed on the colonists post French and Indian War got the ball rolling on what came to be known as the American Revolution. The colonists were so fed up with the way in which the British were tightening their hold on the colonies to the point where they were driven to rebellion. The combination of British and underlying American ideals in the pre-revolution era were a necessarily pre-requisite and important component of what would become the American Revolution.
Economic factors, however, were not the only discrepancy between the colonies and England. As time passed, cultural differences became increasingly evident. Pragmatism and diversity were the overlying themes of colonial culture. Indians already lived in America and immigrants from England, France, Spain, Germany, Africa, and Holland soon arrived (Text, 41). These people were all from vastly different cultures, but mutual survival forced them to coexist peacefully. Living side by side created a mix of customs, traditions, and ideas that had never been seen in England. Over time, the different cultures merged and created a uniquely American culture with a modified language and artistic style. English settlers began using words from other countries, creating regional dialects and accents (Text, 41). “Life in colonial America was as coarse as the physical environment in which it flourished, so much so that English visitors expressed shock at the extent to which immigrants had been transformed in the new world” (Text, 41). The
The reader gets a rare and exotic understanding of a totally foreign and ancient culture experiencing the growing pains of colonial expansion during the British domination
Kincaid’s On Seeing England for the First Time is an essay on the imperialism political and cultural dominance on it’s colonies. The narrator and her people are taught to love, admire, and emulate British Culture. However, as the narrator grows up she realizes all the discrepancies in all she has learned about the culture she should have and her own country. She picks apart England culture piece by piece.
The essay discusses from the story “From the generall histroy of Virginia”, by John Smith, a histrorical narrative is about the landing and the discovery of Virginia in 1607 at a place called Jamestown, this was the first permanent english settlement in the new world, the americas. Also “From of Plymouth plantation”, by William Bradford, a historical account, is about when 13 years later about 100 settlers went on the big fancy ship called the Mayflower and landed in Massachusetts at a place they named Plymouth. With these two colonies, english settlements in north america were born. They both had some similarities and also the colonies had differences to.
It's no secret England is a strong powerful nation who obtains great tradition and power. England in the 1600s was interesting under the
The purpose of this book is to offer his perspective on how Africans were treated in the Americas from 1550 to 1812.
Another of Jordan’s sub topics in this book deals with the Savage behavior exhibited by Africans and viewed among the English explorers. The English were at sometimes appalled with the differences in morals, table manners, and most visible
The historical novel Segu by Maryse Condé is set in the African country of Segu during a time of great cultural change. The African Slave Trade, the spread of Islam, and personal identity challenges were all tremendous and far-reaching issues facing Africa from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Condé uses the four brothers of the Traore family, Tiekoro, Malobali, Siga, and Naba, to demonstrate the impact that the issues of Islam, slave trade, and identity had on African people through the development of each character. The oldest of the sons, Tiekoro exemplifies the influence and spread of Islam through out Africa at the time.
The narrative by Olaudah Equiano gives an interesting perspective of slavery both within and outside of Africa in the eighteenth century. From these writings we can gain insight into the religion and customs of an African culture. We can also see how developed the system of trade was within Africa, and worldwide by this time. Finally, we hear an insider's view on being enslaved, how slaves were treated in Africa, and what the treatment of African slaves was like at the hands of the Europeans.
Mustafa finds himself right at the heart of the conflict and the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. He is uniquely placed as an intermediary, aping the British yet never fully accepted and separated from his fellow Sudanese by nature of his experiences in the West. As Mustafa writes despite making it to Oxford one of his professors says, "You Mr. Sa'eed are the best example of the fact that our civilizing mission has failed.". This awkward limbo Mustafa is
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