The Stereotypes Of Colonialism And Postcolonialism

Canada was colonized by the British in the 17th century for economic exploitation purposes. Postcolonism looks the impact of colonixation on native settles after the colonizers rule is abolished. In Canada, Aboriginals were forced on to reserves, their land was taken through deceit and their children were sent to residential schools in order to assimilate them and end the ‘Indian Problem’.

Classical Colonialism occurs when metropolitan nations fuse new territories or peoples through means which are virtually involuntary such as war, conquest, capture, and additional forms of enforcement and control. (Biauner 1987,150) Classical colonialism is distinguished by economic exploitation, forced entry, and cultural imperialism through the establishment of new institutions and methods of thought. (

The truth is that imperialism was never idealistic. It has always been driven by economic or strategic interests.”

In a freezing class, two brilliant minds unlocked the fiery passion that is their talent one an artist the other a writer. Bringing to light a history long forgotten creating abstract thoughts arbitrary to our own. Komi Olaf the artist and Okey Ndibe the writer not only enlightening the class but also the world with each brush stroke and each word. Every creation stemming from the hands of these masters tell of issues at the heart of Africa from colonialism to existential dilemmas. Thru spoken word, hip-hop, art, music, poems and literature issues close at heart to the artists and to Africa are portrayed. This paper will focus on the art exhibit by Komi Olaf and Foreign Gods inc by Okey Ndibe as spoken by them during their discussion in the class on October 13th. Where the talks focused on the key course objectives being stereotypes, post-colonialism, youth culture, and resistance.

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.

Teachers who suffer from settler teacher syndrome, act within a system of schooling meant to solidify an epistemological and ideological foundation for settler colonialism, and do so with little critical consciousness. Having been indoctrinated into settler colonialism, and by seeing the system of schooling as neutral and normal, teachers are employed as cultural gatekeepers and function to maintain systems that are harmful to students of color. One could also use Hill Collin’s matrix of domination, a black feminist construct, to explain the phenomenon. Hill Collins described the matrix of domination as structural, disciplinary, hegemonic and interpersonal in nature - “the structural organizes oppression, the disciplinary manages oppression, the hegemonic justifies oppression and the interpersonal influences oppression” (blinded for review). In both the settler colonial framework and the matrix of domination framework, teachers are both actors and acted upon. Their places within a system of domination is dependent upon them not being furnished with the opportunity to critically interrogate the system they are so intricately linked to. I argue that suffering from settler teacher syndrome is not wholly a conscious condition, but rather an (un)intended consequence of functioning within settler colonialism. I’d also like to think that they suffer from lack of knowledge, and can therefore be (re)trained and (re)taught, to think and function differently within settler

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.

The quote that stuck out most to me from the preface is actually a question on page xxi, “Twenty-five years after its publication, Orientalism once again raises the question of whether modern imperialism

Colonization; also called colonialism is “ a political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world,” (Magoff). Gender roles are socially constructed by culture and colonization complicates them further, as the subjects are exposed to two usually conflicting cultures, their native culture and the culture of those colonizing them. This creates an internal struggle within this subjects as they wrestle with which culture to conform too but also an external struggle as they alter their physical appearance when switching between the two. To further understand how

If postcolonial literature is the “process of dialogue and necessary correction,” of misconceptions concerning colonialism, then a comparative study of colonial and postcolonial works is essential for attaining a full understanding of the far-reaching effects of European imperialism (Groden and Kreiswirth 582). Reading colonial literature in dialogue with postcolonial literature engenders a more complete interpretation of the effects of imperialism by creating a point of reference from which to begin the revelation and the healing of cultural wounds resultant from European colonialism. Postcolonial literature reveals the lie of imperialism by suggesting that colonization was unsolicited by and unjustly administered to

Postcolonial criticism offers a unique perspective by highlighting the destructive events that lead to death and misery, rather than glorifying the exploratory nature of colonists as they expand. With this new viewpoint, the explorers are “no longer seen as advanced and enlightened;” instead they are “plainly savage and selfish” (Brizee 2). Voyagers such as Christopher Columbus are not messengers of the new world, but genocidal religious extremist. Through the actions and thoughts of the characters in The Kite Runner, the politics and the psychology of the anti-colonist resistance is displayed. For once the colonized are not forgotten, Kite Runner gives the silenced people of Afghanistan their voice. But there are some critiques of using the post colonialism perspective to analyze and understand history. By accepting the theory entirely, then an individual’s own motivated actions and personal fate are discredited. People lose their sense of free will and instead are just products of their epoch and environment.

Through the study of post colonialism, the audience gains insight to both the perspectives of the colonisers and the colonised, which subsequently broadens our views. Through this understanding, the audience is able grasp the culture of the colonised and to feel empathetic towards the “other” which ultimately leads to acceptance of diversity. Differences must be embraced for social cohesion to achieve positive interactions and a balanced and strong society. In addition, an individual is made aware of the actions of themselves and others and can refrain from applying a detrimental and impartial attitude towards other human beings

Metropolitan areas exhibit an amazing diversity of features, economic structures, amounts of infrastructure, historic roots, patterns of development, and degrees of conventional planning. Yet, lots of the problems that they deal with are strikingly acquainted. For example, as metropolitan areas grow, they grow to be increasingly diverse.

He saw this through many ways and because of what was mentioned in the above quote and “the Middle East crisis of 1973 that provoked Said to research and write Orientalism, which was published in 1978” (Irwin 2006, 281). His book however, is not a book about the “history[s] of the Oriental studies, but rather a highly selective polemic on certain aspects of the relations of knowledge and power. Its style and content strongly suggest that it is addressed exclusively to a Western readership” (Irwin 2006, 281). In his book he starts with two points or problems that he saw happen with what others said when studying the Orient. The first one was from Karl Marx who stated that “They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented” and the second was from Benjamin Disraeli who said “The East is a career” (Krishna 2009, 73). Both these points did not sit well with Said as they showed that knowledge or

The postcolonial era presents various issues for the decolonized nations, like the reconstruction of a government and the maintenance of an economy. In addition to that, the individual identity of the colonized people is a complex issue that they must cope with as well, and it is an issue that is still present today. Compared to the other issues of postcolonialism, the construction of one’s identity might appear trivial; however, there are many problems of postcolonial identity, including the obligation of one to perceive themselves as people do from the outside through stereotypes, and the difficulty of unifying two conflicting identities: one that is created by outside sources, and one that is created through personal experiences.