Imperialism: Colonialism And Postcolonialism

Exploration during the postcolonial era was very popular in footings for people to try and reach out to find ways to set up ground for themselves. In Gilgamesh, the Tempest, and Heart of Darkness, it seems oppression and race played an important factor as to how one coexisted from events that took place to express all that existed during this period. From both good to bad, one feeling strong to weak, or even included or excluded, oppression and race were amongst the many postcolonial lenses that could be viewed from these three pieces of literature. These three stories reveal how racial difference is used to justify oppression during the time of the colonial period.

Post-colonial theory is the study of the colonizer and the colonized. Post-colonial literature refers to the literary works of writers of the colonized countries whose work concentrates on the main theme of colonization and decolonization. Post-colonial literature is about European colonization of Asia, Africa, countries around the Pacific and many other parts of the world. It deals with the problems such as adversity, racism, exploitation of women and

A good text should be crafted in such a way that it commands a certain extent of rhetorical force in a bid to acquire the expected influence on the intended audience. This force exudes from the sensitivity of the issues addressed in a text, the language used, the credibility of the facts used, and the ability of the author to present the ideas in a manner that passes the test of time. The four texts reviewed in this essay manifest great rhetorical force in the way they handle the concept of postcolonialism. The varying authors used different methods to reinforce their views by appealing to various groups of readers and contributors in postcolonial discussions.

The industrialization and the great technological development of Europe, especially at the time of the second industrial revolution, the generation of the world in two large groups: the industrialized countries and the non-industrialized industrialists. The former ended up imposing themselves on the latter, who remained under their direct or indirect dependence. Industrial Europe, thanks to its demographic vitality, its industrial, technical, commercial and financial superiority imposed its economic model, its values, ideals and its culture to a large part of the world.

For this essay I have chosen to use the identity lens for the postcolonial theory review. There are three literary works I will be analyzing: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Tempest, and The Heart of Darkness. Each of these literary works introduces us to characters dealing with struggles impacting identities. The identity lens will show the connection between the colonizers and colonized and better define the struggles of the colonizer.

Postcolonial critiques of literary works are often accomplished by reading and interpreting the work with a specific theme in mind or a ‘lens’. By allowing oneself to use a ‘lens’ when reading specific works, it allows the reader to interpret the effects of the themes and the changes throughout the writings. The goal of the critical lens is to seek to understand the behavior of characters or the society ("Post Colonialism," 2016). A few of the most popular themes used to view literary works are identity, oppression and power; applying this ‘lens’ can give the reader a different perspective and experience while reading the writings.

Through research, you can learn that postcolonial discourse is an “academic discipline that analyzes the cultural legacies of colonialism and of imperialism.” It is made up of theories found amongst “history anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, film, political science, architecture, human geography, sociology, Marxist theory, feminism, religious and theological studies, and literature.” An understanding of postcolonial discourse could be what colonized societies handed down to succeeding generations after them that has become significant to their culture.

Postcolonial scholars examine and ultimately seek to undo the historical structures that originally created, maintained and continue to reproduces the oppression of the colonial experience. Otherness, the term introduced by Edward Said, pointed out that non-western cultures are seen as object for study. Seeing from the submissive cultures, power dynamic of imperialism is dominant. Western looks and explains things in western way. However, another essential theme in post-colonialism is hybridity which is the space between two cultures.

Colonialism, the strong augmentation of a country's power by setting up political and monetary mastery of different countries, naturally infers the progression of a specific state to the detriment of its subordinated domains. It is thus why dominion basically profited the couple of expansionist states while applying long haul harms on the lion's share colonized regions.

Through research, you can learn that postcolonial discourse is an “academic discipline that analyzes the cultural legacies of colonialism and of imperialism.” It is made up of theories found amongst “history anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, film, political science, architecture, human geography, sociology, Marxist theory, feminism, religious and theological studies, and literature.” An understanding of postcolonial discourse could be what colonized societies handed down to succeeding generations after them that has become significant to their culture.

“Culture and Imperialism”, a collection of essays written by post-colonial expert Edward Said, states that societies are “taught to venerate [their] nations and admire [their] traditions”. Because of this, nations also “pursue [their own] interests with toughness and in disregard for other societies”. Simply put, civilizations revere their own customs and regard other nations’ culture with apathy and general neglect, instead putting their own beliefs in front of others’. The aforementioned behaviour is akin to that of the European colonizers portrayed in post-colonial literature. Due to the colonizers’ insistence on upholding their customs and authority

In her work, she joins her disapproval of the abuse against women, non-Europeans, and the poor by the wealthy west. Spivak faces in her essay “epistemic violence” done by sermons of knowledge that shape the whole world. This epistemic violence is like a curse over subjects of discourses. It is similar to Edward Said idea (1935-2003; public intellectual and founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies). His idea of otherness in “Orientalism” display the bigotry of western scholars who write in a biased way about the East in order to create “ otherness”.

In the Discourse on Colonialism, Cesaire illustrates a compelling relationship between colonized states and the proletariat class. He conveys that the proletariat socio-economic class allows for the possible unification of society against the powers of colonialism. Interestingly, the comparison reflects as these elements extend from constructed illusions to unequivocal creeds. By isolating and juxtaposing the two groups, Cesaire is able to elaborate on how he believes that race and class unite to dominate 'inferior subjects' in nations throughout the globe. Throughout the essay, Cesaire provides reasoning for the socially constructed experiences of those dictated by colonial imperialism, particularly Africans, and proletarian conflicts in

Edward Said observes that the contemporary Western View of the Orient as an outsider and an inferior part of the West is manifested in the academic sphere. Western scholars use Oriental images and ideologies to consolidate the intellectual awkwardness of the' Other' .In other words, these views of the Orient are attempts to portray the superiority and intellectuality of the western status. (Said,1979). For Spivak, representation is not only a matter of ‘speaking about’ but also ‘speaking for and the role of literature in the production of cultural representation shouldn’t be ignored. (Spivak, 1988). She argues that many western writings ,for example Jane Eyre ,have not adequately portrayed the reality of the colonized 'Other' and tend to exclude the voices of the 'Other' where she concludes that the

Coinciding with the independence of colonized nations, stereotypes of the indigenous cultures were brought back with the colonizers to their mainland, and were usually of a negative connotation. Words like “catastrophic” or “savages” were terms associated with these nations, and this was not necessarily the truth. Consequently, literature was created with these stereotypical identities of colonized people. Since storytelling has a major impact on the development of one’s identity, many people from once colonized nations succumb to the dishonesty told about them in literature. A speech given by Chris Abani stresses that, “What we know about how to be who we are comes from stories. It comes from the novels, the movies, the fashion magazines. It comes from popular culture (Abani).” With that being said, a majority of the literature that is written about decolonized nations depicts them in an inaccurate way, representing the nations as disastrous and in need of help. Since this narrative is repeated often, colonized people give into it, and see themselves as the media does. The poem “How To Write the Great Indian American Novel,” by Sherman Alexie, also addresses the issue of stereotypes of marginalized groups in literature. Throughout the poem, Alexie uses a sardonic tone to implicitly explain that books are written in a certain way that does not necessarily demonstrate truth, saying that in books about Indians, “All of the Indians must have tragic features: tragic noses, eyes, and