Thinking Activity: Representation of the Native in Literary texts; with specific reference to Robinson Crusoe

In the Post colonial discourse, the Foucoultian idea of power and knowledge, is employed to study how the 'universal' texts of the 'universal' language, construct and spread the markers of identity of those involved in the colonial experience; specifically those belonging to the bottom of the power structure. A close reading of the literary texts of the colonial times would reveal the creation of certain archetypal identity constructions; such as 'the noble savage', 'the sympathetic (white) master' whose responsibility is to civilize the uncivilized. so on and so forth. The problem however, lies, not just in the construction of such generalizations, but also in the continuation and culmination of them in the form of ideologies such as Racism.

A good example to justify the above arguments is Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, wherein the character Friday represents the native who is black, without a name, without any 'civilized' identity, as well as economically, culturally, and socially backward and hence Crusoe 'civilizes' him for his own purpose of sustaining on that island. Though it wasn't the first instance of portraying the native in such a way, Defoe's novel did leave a significant mark in the prevailing trend. The novel can be considered a significant study of the slave trade as well as that of the phenomenon called 'the white man's burden'.

It is against this generalized construction of the native identity, that much of African literature has emerged; portraying in the process, the angle of the colonial experience which, before its emergence, remained in 'darkness'. A significant text in this regard is, A Grain Of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiongo. The novel is set in the days before and on the day of Uhuru (independence). It traces the days of the Mau Mau rebellion and how it affected the lives of the common people. The sense of owning one's land, wasn't something associated with the racial 'savage'; and that's why A Grain Of Wheat and its portrayal of the prevailing nationalistic zeal among the natives, is significant.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Metaphysical poetry: critical analysis of George Herbert's Love (3)

Whether it was religion or love, the metaphysical poets had their own way of writing poetry on topics concerning the human experience. Though history doesn't speak much about them, their contribution to English literature speaks a lot. Anyways, the poet I'm going to talk about is George Herbert, one of the major metaphysical poets, with special emphasis on the critical analysis of his Love 3 . Love 3 is the last poem of Herbert's poetry collection "The Temple". Written in the form of a dialogue, the poem is the third in the series of love poems of the collection. Spending the later years of his life in religious activities, George Herbert, through this collection, wanted to draw his readers' attention to the experience of true eternal love i,e God's love. Which is why, in the earlier two poems, he explains how, the love for God is higher than the human experience of love, which mostly is an "usurping lust", in his opinion. Love 3, being the la...
Read more

Oulipo-Creativity through Constraints

Image
Imagine a blank page. Imagine that you are told to write, paint, draw, anything you wish to. At first, this exercise would make one feel happy with the fact that they are free to express whatever and however they wish to. But the next moment the same freedom would lead to confusion. What should I write about? What should I paint/draw? Without the constraint of a context, creating or inventing something would seem nearly impossible for many of us. A constraint isn't always an imposition or bondage. It can also be seen as a foundation for creative impulse. To better understand this idea, watch the following video on the power of creative constraints: The Oulipo group created by Raymond Queneau and  François Le Lionnais in Paris in 1960 championed this idea of creating literature within the constraints of linguistic, mathematical and logical boundaries. Oulipo is a French acronym for "Ouvroir de littérature potentielle" and can be translated in English as "The Workshop...
Read more

Survey: DELL Software

This post is in response to the questions (7-10 and 13) asked here 7) The five advantages of language learning through software include: Development of basic language skills Ease of assessment for the teacher The software is easy to operate, provided the tools are in good condition Teachers can also easily monitor learners' performance Convenient for group work 8) Following are the disadvantages of the language learning software: Inconvenience of time and place Affordability and availability of digital tools Lack of awareness regarding the usage of the software and the usage of the digital tools 9) Following are the few things related to language skills which can be learnt from the software: Communication skills A good vocabulary Standard accent and pronunciation patterns 10) Following are the five new words, in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation, learnt during the survey: Wonk Psychometric Veneer Xerophthalmia Debonair 13) Comparatively, the N...
Read more