postcolonial-criticism

PostcolonialCriticismByZhuWeihongPostcolonialCriticism1.Definition2.Theoreticalbases3.Representativefigures4.Furtherconsiderations5.PostcolonialcriticisminpracticePostcolonialCriticism--Definition“Thetermpost-colonialstudiesisappliedprimarilytoanalysesoftherelationshipofpowerandknowledge,politicsandaesthetics,incountriesthatinthenineteenthandearliertwentiethcenturieswereadministeredbyEngland,France,andtheUnitedStates,particularlytheIndiansubcontinent,northernandcentralAfrica,andsoutheastAsia.Post-colonialcriticismhasfocusedonboththeliteraturesdevelopedbythesenewnations,whichareoften[...]writteninEuropeanlanguages,andonEuropeanresponsestocolonialisminfamiliartextsbysuchauthorsasJosephConrad,E.M.Forster,GeorgeOrwell,andAlbertCamus.”[DavidRichter,ed.,TheCriticalTradition:ClassicalTextsandContemporaryTrends,2nded.(Boston:BedfordBooks,1998)1216.]PostcolonialCriticism--Definition“...[Postcolonialcriticism]bringsanawarenessofpowerrelationsbetweenWesternand‘ThirdWorld’cultures....Fromapostcolonialperspective,Westernvaluesandtraditionsofthoughtandliterature[...]areguiltyofarepressiveethnocentrism.ModelsofWesternthought[...]orofliterature[...]havedominatedworldculture,marginalizingorexcludingnon-Westerntraditionsandformsofculturelifeandexpression.”[RamanSelden,etal.,eds.,AReader’sGuidetoContemporaryLiteraryTheory,4thed.(Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress;PearsonEducation,2004)221-22.]PostcolonialCriticism--Definition“Postcolonialtheoryhasemergedfromaninterdisciplinaryareaofstudywhichisconcernedwiththehistorical,political,philosophical,social,culturalandaestheticstructuresofcolonialdominationandresistance;itreferstoawayofreading,theorizing,interpretingandinvestigatingcolonialoppressionanditslegacythatisinformedbyanoppositionalethicalagenda.”[JulianWolfrey,ed.,IntroducingLiteraryTheories:AGuideandGlossary(Qingdao:ChinaOceanUP;Edinburgh:EdinburghUP,2006)200-01.]PostcolonialCriticism--DefinitionImperialism:referstothedomination,usuallybydirectterritorialacquisitionorbypoliticalandeconomiccontrolofonesocietybyanother.Colonialism:meansmore(comparedwithimperialism)directcontrolbysettlementandmilitarysubjugation.Decolonization:theprocessorstateofcolonieswinningindependencefromthecolonizingnations.Neocolonialism:newformofthecontroloftheformercoloniesbyimperialpowers,characterizedbydominationoftheireconomiesbylargetransnationalcorporationsandtheirdependenceontheexportofnationalresourcesandtheimportofmanufacturedgoods.Postcolonialism:acontinuationofdecolonizationcarriedonintheWesternacademy,oftentermedas“PostcolonialStudies”.PostcolonialCriticism—TheoreticalBases1)Gramsci’sconceptof“hegemony”2)Foucault’stheoryofdiscourseaspower3)Derrida’sdeconstructionisttheoryGramsciFoucaultDerridaAntonioGramsci(1891-1937)--HegemonyTwowaysofcapitalistcontrol:coercionandassimilationHegemonyisculturalorintellectualdominationofoneschoolofthoughtorideologyoveranother(others).MichelFoucault(1926-1984)--Discourseaspower*“Discourse”isasetof“rules”whichdeterminesthesortsofstatementsthatcanbemade,“asystemthatdefinesthepossibilityforknowledge,”orthecriteriafortruth.Thisdeterminationis“power”,whichproducesclassificationofknowledgeanddefinesourunderstanding.*“Thereisnopowerrelationwithoutthecorrelativeconstitutionofafieldofknowledge,noranyknowledgethatdoesnotpresupposeandconstituteatthesametimepowerrelations.”Knowledge/PowerKnowledge/PowerJacquesDerrida(1930-)--DeconstructionistTheory*Derrida’sdeconstructionofthebinaryoppositionsintheWesternmetaphysicaltradition*Westernmetaphysicsis“thewhitemythologywhichreassemblesandreflectsthecultureoftheWest:thewhitemantakeshisownmythology,Indo-Europeanmythology,hisownlogos,[...]astheuniversalformofthathemuststillwishtocallReason[...]”PostcolonialCriticism--Representativefigures1)FrantzOmarFanon2)EdwardSaid3)GayatriChakravortySpivak4)HomiBhabhaFanonSaidSpivakBhabhaFrantzFanon(1925-1961)EdwardSaid(1935-2003)*“Orientalism”dependsonaculturallyconstructeddistinctionbetween“theOccident”and“theOrient”.*TheOriental—irrational,depraved,childlike,differentTheOccidental—rational,virtuous,mature,normal*The“worldliness”ofthetextGayatriChakravortySpivak(1942-)“Canthesubalternspeak?”(1988)Subaltern—theloweststrataoftheurbansubproletariateoreverythingthathaslimitedornoaccesstotheculturalimperialismHomiBhabha(1949-)“mimicry”(模拟)“hybridity”(杂糅)FurtherConsiderations1.Postcolonialisminthepluralform2.InternalColonialism,Multiculturalism,MinorityDiscourse3.TravelingTheory:PostcolonialisminChinaPostcolonialCriticisms1)“Said’spostcolonialism”:analysisofcolonialdiscourse2)“Ashcroft’spostcolonialism”:counter-discourseincoloniesandpostcolonies3)“Young’spostcolonialsm”:all-embracing