Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French’s empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain’s colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.
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
“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.
Monkey Beach begins when Lisa is quite young, however, flash forwards and flash backs bring us to different times in her life throughout the novel. Lisa’s tribe has been disintegrating over time and is now on a reservation with another tribe. Symbolizing how Natives have been forced into small pieces of land and even put together to keep them in a contained space. Lisa has a close relationship to her grandmother, or Ma-ma-oo. When Lisa begins to have these visions, Ma-ma-oo is one of the only people she
Throughout Monkey Beach the disturbing reality of the oppression of Haisla people is confronted. At the heart of the historical background is the issue of the residential school system, an instrument of colonization and assimilation of First Nations children. Lisa’s cousin Tab summarizes the lasting damage inflicted by the institution, “You’re really lucky that your dad was too young to go to rez school. Aunt Kate, too, because she was married. Just
Culture is passed down to us by the previous generation and we are expected to uphold the traditions of our culture, it becomes a symbol of our way of life, a reminder of our identity, and guides us. When our traditions are scrutinized and silenced it deals a blow to our identity as a whole causing us to become lost in our own way of life, some of us may lash out at the ones who attempt to silence our culture while others become integrated with the new societal norm. This becomes a problem as we start fighting with our own, damaging the bonds that we have created. In the novel Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses the setting of a First Nations village situated in modern times called Kitamaat to depict how First Nations people have suffered due to the ever so present effects of colonialism. Colonialism has caused the First Nations people to endure many hardships by attempting to assimilate them into modern European influenced society through the use of residential schools. Due to this, throughout the novel we see a village whose residents struggle with maintaining a sense of identity, some wish to hold on to the old ways of their ancestors while the others wish to move on and become a part of the Western culture that is surrounding them. In the novel, we see the effects of colonialism through the life of a young woman named Lisamarie Hill, Lisa struggles with her identity as her parents have adopted a modern Canadian style of living while her
diplomacy or military force. In the 20th century many European countries attempted to colonize the great continent of Africa. Europeans saw Africa as an area they would be able to profit from, as it had a great climate, good size, and some phenomenal natural resources. While the Europeans divided the continent of Africa they failed to see the possible negative effects on themselves, and the indigenous people of Africa. Their foresight was limited to only the positive outcomes.
In many works of literature, especially those coming in Africa, Indian, Middle East, we meet characters who are struggling with their identities, culture, religions, submission of other people or country. As we can imagine when you analyze the novels from these countries as we cites the problem of characters are the same as: economic, political, cultural, and emotional effects that colonizer brought and left behind, these are called emotional trauma for the people of these nations cited. The literature asks the readers to enter a text through the post-colonial lens; the chart will help how the approach can be analyzed in reading of a text, the reader would look for the effects of colonialism and how the characters they addressed through of
Maria Campbell’s autobiography Halfbreed is a moving story about a young Native girl’s battle to survive, in coming to terms with the past and in discovering a way to build a brighter future in an atmosphere of social abuse and viciousness. Campbell is the oldest daughter of seven children, and was born in northern Saskatchewan. Within the book, she points out the differences between the Native people and the whites, as well as those of status Indians with non-status Native people. Both whites and full-blooded Native people rejected her due to her designation as a non-status Native, otherwise known as Metis. Filled with a strong feeling of resentment and anger, Campbell’s search for self-identity and her struggle to overcome the poverty, discrimination, and cruelty experienced by Metis individuals are described within the novel. When Campbell was twelve, her mother passed away. As a young girl, she was forced to give up school and take on the role of the mother to her younger siblings. At fifteen years old, Campbell felt obligated to marry in order to prevent her younger brothers and sisters from being taken away from her and her father. Unfortunately, her diligent work and good intentions did not keep her family together. Her spouse, a white, abusive alcoholic, reported her to the welfare authorities, and her siblings were taken away and placed in foster homes. Her husband chose to take his family to Vancouver, where he abandoned her and their newly born child.
In Living with Colonialism, Heather J. Sharkey discuses the colonial state of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and its foundation toward becoming the independent state, Sudan. However, unlike texts on imperialism and postcolonial transformations that focus on larger than life nationalist leaders and their political identities, Sharkey approached the narrative of colonial Sudan through the lens of local Sudanese (in the modern context) natives. Colonialism, in Sharkey’s theory, is a cultural system deeply involved in the human experience. Without human involvement, on both the oppressor and oppressed ends, colonialism could not function. This notion, one of the collaborative natures of the British colonial elite and their “petty colonial workers” (natives)
Africa is home to countless cultures that all have their own unique ideas and customs. During the past couple of centuries, these cultures were threatened to the point where they almost ceased to exist. The Berlin Conference was a very important occurrence in Africa and Europe's history. It legitimized what the European powers, mainly France and Britain, had been doing for the past hundred years, without the approval of any African country. During the late nineteenth century, France and Britain began imperialistic ventures into Africa, which eventually led Leopold II to conquer the Congo. It was Leopold's II presence in Africa that to led the Berlin Conference.
Bildungsromane follow the journey of individuals who often seek both their self- and national identities. The story of Lucy revolves around the “intersections of colonialism, racism, sexism, and heterosexism” (Lima 130) in contexts that limit her individuality. In order to stop her her present that is defined by the violent history of her ancestors from becoming her future, Lucy migrates from her motherland, only to discover herself in a situation where she must contend with internal struggle, exploring “complexities and contradictions” (Lima 129) which are the result of the life she is born into. In her novel Lucy, Kincaid adeptly chooses the Caribbean as Lucy’s motherland—a place with a “history of foreign domination, slavery, imperialism, and neocolonialism”—to juxtapose the “revolt, resistance and struggle” (Lima 129) embodied by Lucy. Mariah serves as a provocative reminder of the very past that triggered Lucy to leave her mother and Antigua, through embodying colonialism as a mother figure. The eponymous protagonist’s futile attempt to elude the reigns of Mariah is a reflection of the inevitable intergenerational damage of not only gender oppression in a patriarchal society, but also colonial violence on a marginalized person like Lucy.
“The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.” (Chinua Achebe 1958) This quote is written by Chinua Achebe which shows the main theme of the novel Things Fall Apart, and even represents the theme within the article, “The Benefits of British Rule”. There are many cultures with different values or practices that might seem obscure to one group but normal to another, therefore no one can determine what culture is wrong or right, but it 's up to society to determine the best way of life. The novel Things Fall Apart and the article “The Benefits of British Rule” examine two different cultures facing similar scenarios. Both cultures, the Indian and
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.
Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil