Introduction to Postcolonial Theory.

Without Colonialism there would be no Post Colonialism. Post-colonial theory is not only the product of multiculturalism and Decolonization, but also reflects a historic shift from revolutionary nationalism in the Third World, to a 'post revolutionary' Condition. The much debated term postcolonial generally refers to writing/culture of nations/peoples/cultures who were once colonized by European powers. Postcolonial theory is an attempt to uncover the colonial ideologies implicit in European texts about the Other (in this case, native, non-European ).

Postcolonial theory has a long history but most theorists in this field take it for granted as if the origin of the theory were well known to all readers. One of the postcolonial theorists, Young, managed to trace the origin of postcolonial theory through history. He introduces a historical beginning by showing how postcolonial theory is a product of

what the West saw as antislavery activists and anticolonialists. Young draws three Perspectives in which postcolonial theory emerges, namely humanitarian (Moral), liberal (political) and economic. Karl Marx argues that the motive behind colonisation is economic. Even if the primary motive of economic objections was to safeguard the economic interests of the industrialised nations, the anti-colonialism campaign was nevertheless boosted. Karl Marx also contributed greatly to the economic objection, although he was not anti-colonialist per se, only when colonialism touched or interfered with economics. Postcolonial theory is developed from anti-colonial philosophy, which in itself is a hybrid construct. The mixture of concepts from the past and the present has given rise to a new foundation for socio-political identities. As a result, postcolonial theory unfortunately does not reproduce the old native culture, nor does it bring a totally new culture, but it produces a dislocated culture, a mixture of worlds a fragmented and hybrid theoretical language within a conflictual cultural interaction. Postcolonial culture is inevitably a hybridised phenomenon that involves a

dialectal relationship of the grafted Western cultural systems and a native ontology, which creates a new local identity. The construction of a new identity is based on this bitter reality of interaction between the colonial hegemonic system and the coloniseds perverted peripheries.

Postcolonial Theory and the Texts.

Lets pick up Amitav Ghoshs The Shadow Lines first, even to a non-literary student it must be evident after reading this text, that it falls under the category of Postcolonial . The well-known incidents from the text are: The narrators grandmothers (Thamma) insistence on an education, narrators fathers promotion and their subsequent move to Southern Avenue in search of a high status, the big hype about narrator going over-sees for education, looking up at people with connections from England. Ilas experiences as she tries to cope up in her life, for she does not fit in

the society she lives. Ila trying to show-off her westernized upbringing, while trying this she lies quite liberally- to the narrator about having a boyfriend. Ilas obsession with Nick can be viewed as her single minded determination to finally fit. While the narrators fascination with Ila can be viewed as his connection to all the exotic stories he heard from Tridib. The notion of hybridization can be seen in the incident where Ila, narrator and Robi go out for a drink at Calcutta Grand Hotel during Ilas visit to India, the two men refuse to dance with her and when she gets up to ask a stranger to dance with her, Robi restrains her and pushes the businessman away. While this sort of behavior was acceptable by Ila in England, during her stay in India she had to uphold the values of her culture. While dancing in public places was beyond the modern strictures of the hybrid India, drinking on the other hand it seems was perfectly acceptable. Finally, Ilas words in response to an argument with Robi Do you see now why Ive chosen to live in London? Do you see? Its only because I want to be

freeFree of your bloody culture and free of all of you. This is a classic example for loss of identity and alienation in ones own nation.

Lets move on to Nadine Gordimers My Sons Story. Incidents in the text like, Sonnys obsession with William Shakespeare, that he even names his son after him, Sonnys affair with Hannah, the white social activist who represents the unattainable for all coloured men in his vicinity. Sonny and familys shift to a middle class suburb in search of a higher status, and their cravings for the luxuries of the whites or the colonizers. Their sense of pride in attaining a few of the luxuries and moving above others in their race, like visiting the shopping centre in a slotted time, to be able to visit the cinema house etc. The way Aila carries and dresses herself is that of a upper class white woman. These incidents can be viewed in the light of their hybridization due to their education and trying to run away from their coloured inheritance.

Lets move on to Derek walcotts poem Names. This poem shows Walcotts preoccupation with his Identity as a postcolonial poet for he comes from the French-speaking part of the islands. Walcott in the poem often repeats words and entire phrases to emphasize a search that seems to yield no results. When he repeats that the mind was halved by a horizon, he as an intellectual perceives that his world has indeed been divided into white and black by colonial history, language, education and racial prejudice. The cry of I in the poem can be viewed as the poets claim to his identity. Their names erased by the sea on the beach can be seen as their loss of identity due to colonisation. This poem is full of examples of it being a postcolonial text.

Category of the author

Karin Barber distinguishes two forms of postcolonial . The first one which has a backing

from eminent writers like Bhabha, Said and Spivak is about the production of a counter-narrative to colonial discourse . This type of criticism invokes, in Barber s words indigenous discourses , this basically points out the invention and limits of the colonial Other . The basic feature of this form of postcolonial is deconstruction of the imperial narrative rather than convalescing its Other.

The second form of postcolonial , which Barber calls buoyant-type postcolonial criticism is used by Ashcroft et al. She presents this second form of postcolonial as a position which turns on the reason that postcolonial writing is the expression of the suppressed voices of those cultures silenced by colonial experiences.

If we consider Amitav Ghosh on basis of his text The Shadow Lines we can largely observe that his

stand point is of the counter-narrative kind. But it is not totally obsessed like Achebe s Things Fall Apart about countering the views of the Europeans. We see some characters like Tridib and May who are in accord with each other even though they come from different nations and backgrounds. But Amitav Ghosh will fall into the first category as stated by Karin Barber.

Lets consider Nadine Gordimer on basis of her text My Son s Story . In this age where ethics and aesthetics seem to be in constant conflict, Nadine Gordimer expresses her view points from the vantage point of a first-person narrative, reflecting upon the turbulences that afflicts her postcolonial nation. Gordimer lets her own personal experiences and sentiments with respect to historical happenings transpire in the unfolding of her narratives. She falls into the first category of counter-narrative postcolonial.

Finally lets talk about Derek Walcott on basis of his poem Names falls into the second category as described by Karin Barber: postcolonial writing is the expression of the suppressed voices of those cultures silenced by colonial experiences. The best example of this would be the opening stanza of the poem, where he talks how his natives were forced to learn to talk like the colonizers with pebbles under my tongue . The poem s closing lines also have the same effect where the colonizer is getting angry and the frustrated and pathetically nave answer of the native: Answer. You damned little Arabs! Sir, fireflies caught in molasses. This line is like a swan-song, where the position of the master in power is emphasized, and downtrodden are caught in sticky sweetness of a colonial identity. The only time they are given a name or an identity, it is condescending and derogatory.

Effects of colonial powers over the colonized.

In The Shadow Lines we see the hijacking of Indian culture all over, incidents like Tridib lying about going to London to look superior; Ila, narrator and Robi going out for a drink to Calcutta Grand Hotel , looking up to people who go abroad for education. Specifically, incidents of privileging the colonial language can be seen in thamma s insistence of narrator s education in English, Culture of going abroad to study and most importantly the language the text is written is English itself.

In My Son s Story we see Sonny s obsession with Shakespeare and Kafka. His naming his son after William Shakespeare . His insistence of English education for both his children, the way Aila dresses

and carries herself. Sonny and his family are actually moving away from their culture when they shift from their old residence to the middle class area. Their delight at being above their own race and not identifying with the Blacks, initially .

Walcott in his poem Names explains why the colonizers felt they must teach those whom they had colonized. Being men, they could not live Except they first presumed The right of everything to be a noun. The African acquiesced, Repeated and changed them. This is colonization at its most benevolent, with language as an instrument for control. A hegemonic force, language extended through and into education is not forced upon the native but it is

accepted by consent. The erosion of culture and origin is not debated, or perhaps it is simply disregarded in that context. The natives here take on the identity of children as they listen to the masters teaching them their first foreign languages through which they too must learn to communicate.

Conclusion.

It is very evident that commonalities exist between these texts on theory level. Like Sonny s fascination with Hannah and Tridib s fascination with May. These both can be read as fascination of the unattainable white woman, but at the same time we cannot homogenize these two experiences for their base on a personal level are quite different. While Sonny s affair with Hannah is very much sexual , Tridib and May s is a love affair that was

never even consummated. Another thing common in all three texts is the use of English, where in The Shadow Lines it is a necessity on insistence of Thamma for she wants to level her future generation with the children of her sister, Mayadevi. In My Son s Story Sonny trains his children to read and write in English to be acceptable in the new suburb he and his family are trying to settle in, in search of high status from that of their coloured inheritance. In Names we see acceptance of the colonized language by consent for better jobs and their well-being in general.

So, finally I would like to sum up by saying that, these texts do have commonalities, but they are only theory deep. On a personal level they differ and keeping this in mind, we should refrain from homogenizing the experiences of the colonized under Postcolonial .