Transculturation in Our Sister Killyjoy and Nervous Conditions
Postcolonial insights include theories of Diaspora, cultural hybridity
and transculturation. The latter, ‘transculturation’ is the term used
to define ‘cultural change induced by introduction of elements of a
foreign culture.’[1] The term ‘transculturation’ was first coined by
Cuban anthropologist and sociologist Fernando Ortiz in 1947 to
describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures.
Transculturation covers war, ethnic conflict, racism and
multiculturalism, hence it is a concept very relevant to the
postcolonial period and subsequently to postcolonial literature. When
transculturation affects ethnicity the term ‘ethnoconvergence" comes
into being and is opposed by ‘ethnocentrism’ the view that one's
culture is of greater importance than another’s. Ethnocentrism
manifests itself in various aspects of culture, though the main
ethnocentric divider is always religion or belief, these ethnic
divides are most frequently binary.
‘Our Sister Killjoy’ and ‘Nervous Conditions’ both show aspects of
transculturation, perhaps the most obvious sign are the narrator's
adoption of the dominant English language to write their novels. At
varying points in each novel it is also clear that both Aidoo and
Dangarembga have difficulty in choosing between the two cultures in
their own personal struggles with transculturation. I shall go on to
explore these instances of transculturation within both novels.
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s 1988 novel ‘Nervous Conditions’ is a landmark in
postcolonial literature as it was the first published English novel
written by an African woman. Set in 1960’s Rhodesia and emerging from
the shadows of apartheid, it chronicle...
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[10] Dangarembga, Tsi Tsi. Nervous Conditions. Scattle: The Seal
Press, 1988 page
[11] Okonkwo p6
[12] Odamtten, Vincent O. The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo: Polylectics and
Reading Against Neocolonialism (Florida: University Press of Florida,
1994) page 122
[13] Aidoo, Ama Ata Our Sister Killjoy (New York: Longman, 1977) page
13
[14] Aidoo, Ama Ata Our Sister Killjoy (New York: Longman, 1977) page
57
[15] Odamtten, Vincent O. The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo: Polylectics and
Reading Against Neocolonialism (Florida: University Press of Florida,
1994) page 125
[16] Aidoo, Ama Ata Our Sister Killjoy (New York: Longman, 1977) page
[17] Aidoo, Ama Ata Our Sister Killjoy (New York: Longman, 1977) page
112
[18] Pratt, Mary Louise Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and
Transculturation (London, Routledge 1992)
Chercover, Alena. ““His paper family knew their place”: Diasporic Space in Wayson Choy’s All That Matters”. Postcolonial Text 6.3 (2011): n. page. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Over the years, after wars and famine, peace-time and floods, few things have persisted to survive. Society, art, and other intangible objects as these are survivors of two millennia of human “progress”. Intelligent concepts and premises have also survived, as have emotions and morals. Even as these outstanding examples of humanity have survived, so have some less affirmative ideals lived on through our fore-bearers. Cultural, ideological, religious, and political supremacy are still abound today, as much as they were 50, 100, and even 5,000 years ago. In a shorter context, racism, the “cockroach” of human mentality, is still alive. It is the immortal insect that will live on as long as people tell their children to stay away from strangers, and others as equally unknown and different from the norm. Actively, society attempts to do away with it, while unconsciously, and quite willingly, hand feed its mandibles ourselves. There are, however, ever so few individuals in the world, that work to illustrate these infesting notions, and bring them to light, utilizing some of the constructive assets of the psyche, mainly arts and literature. One such person is Leslie Marmon Silko, a Native American author, and a target of such racist practices. In her book Ceremony, the topic of race and culture differences are dealt with thoroughly, as are the views that humanity should band together, or should accept that they are already tied together by fate, and face the problems that face every man. She utilizes inherent prejudices to draw lines between specific character groups, such as half-breeds, full-bloods, and quite otherworldly personalities, and then turns the readers intolerances about, bring to their notice that there are all characters are important to the “web”. Quite simply, Silko re-educates the reader by displaying equality through inequality and interconnection, while carrying them across time, planes of existence, and through their own minds.
In the novel excerpt “Two kinds,” Amy Tan uses the central conflict to develop the theme through the clash of cultural identities. Tan shows the reader how culture is dynamic in each individual person. Culture can be mixed and change over time.
In different ways, the novel’s narrated the construction of diasporic sensibility subjects effects a evaluation of the postcolonial nation-state without subscribing to a unified, one-world vision of global belonging.
... of language and education is the most important in this story and society. The make use of two different languages in a narrative, provides a reader a perplexing yet fascinating image of characterization and customs. Multilingual story telling pushes the reader to decelerate and acquire supplemental focus on the expressions which are in the small fragments, however as soon as the reader has figured out the foreign words, he or she acquires a priceless picture of the theme of this story. The panorama of native words and phrases, cultural perceptions, and class dispute taken from the incorporation of two different languages are helpful for the reader to obtain significance that he or she couldn't gain if exclusively one language was employed in the story. Just as the power of language is applied to unveil a society, a better comprehension is provided to the reader.
• AW’s work is deeply rooted in oral tradition; in the passing on of stories from generation to generation in the language of the people. To AW the language had a great importance. She uses the “Slave language”, which by others is seen as “not correct language”, but this is because of the effect she wants the reader to understand.
Thorough out this novel, Bowen attempts to reconcile her Western prejudice with those of the Tiv society. Her experience and her failures contribute to her lessons and revelations. She now holds the knowledge that language and social relationships are indispensable to research. Conclusively, Bowen understands that culture is reliant on understanding the cultures language and that this understanding will aid in social relationships.
The novels Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness are illustrations of the baser aspects of human nature, both in their content and the manner in which they deal with the subject of subjugation, violence, and suffering during historical interracial confluences. This fact is illus...
A familiar lesson in elementary history might be that a conquered people will generally acculturate into the dominant culture of their conquerors. However, the process of how these two cultures interact is often not that simple. For example, the term transculturation was coined in the 1940s by sociologist Fernando Oritz to describe the process by which a conquered people choose and select what aspects of the dominant culture they will assume (Pratt 589). Unlike acculturation, transculturation recognizes the power of the subordinate culture to create its own version of the dominant culture. In an essay entitled, "The Arts of the Contact Zone," author Mary Louise Pratt argues that transculturation does not have to be confined to the social spaces where disparate cultures intersect; it can be extended to everyday situations, such as the classroom. However, though Pratt recognizes that transculturation can take place on a very personal level, she still fails to discuss the emotional nature of transculturation. An analysis of Derek Walcott's poem, "A Far Cry from Africa," using scholar Homi Bhabha's concept of "mimicry" will give a deeper understanding of Pratt's vision of transculturation by redefining it as a process of personal struggle by which each individual in a subordinate group is moved to choose and select which aspects of the dominant culture he or she will assume.
Mannoni, O. Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization. Great Britain: Richard Clay and Company, 1956.
When two cultures meet, there is usually a disagreeable point. Either one tries to dominate the other, or both struggle for acceptance. This is shown by Eulalie’s behaviour in the presence of her in-laws and the reaction of Ato’s family upon knowing of his bride. Eulalie’s disgust at the ways and manners her fiancé’s family relate with her points out the theme of clashing cultures. Eulalie considers many of Ato’s family customs backwards and is disdainful of many of them. She also makes ignorant statements about the African women and culture. She states that all palm trees are the same, and she declares that knowing the difference does not really matter. The woman’s nonchalant act of smoking and excessive drinking displeases Ato’s family and even Ato himself. Ato’s family, on the other hand, displays the prejudice of thinking of African-Americans inferior because they are descendants of slaves. They think it is strange for Eulalie to have no tribe or surname, likening her to a “tree without roots.” When they hear that Eulalie is an African by descendant, the women in the house start weepi...
The poem “Minority” written by Imtiaz Dharker uses contrasts in imagery and a change in point of view in order to convey the “foreigner” (1) and the message to “you” (44). The opening line of the poem introduces its theme of separation and otherness. The poem begins “I was born a foreigner” (1) using the 1st person point of view to present a personal feeling that is internal. The first line of the poem leads to the fact that the speaker was born in a country different from their origin. After the first line the speaker in the poem seems to belong nowhere – “even in the place/planted with my relatives” (4-5) leading to believe that the speaker is “a foreigner everywhere” (3). The speaker’s choice of words makes us feel that no matter where the speaker goes she always seems to be separated. The speaker returns to the country of her parents and still continues to feel like a foreigner. The speaker in this situation feels displaced and victimized because she find themselves facing prejudice from the country she was born in as well as the country of her relatives and family. This stanza solely serves to single the speaker who can be concluded as the “foreigner” (1) out as a lone individual rather than a representation of an entire group. The speaker’s repetition of “foreigner” (3) throughout the poem emphasizes her isolation from her own family as well as “All kinds of places and groups” (9). The speaker tells us “I don’t fit” (13) where she is comparing herself to “food cooked in milk of coconut/where you expected ghee or cream” (15-16) or an “unexpected aftertaste/ of cardamom or neem” (17-18). The use of taste to describe a feeling of being foreign is evocative because a countries cuisine is a compliment of its culture so it is inte...
In this paper feminist aspect of post colonization will be studied in “Season of Migration to the North” novel by Tayeb Salih. Postcolonial feminism can be defined as seeks to compute for the way that racism and the long-lasting economic, cultural, and political influences of colonialism affect non-white, non-Western women in the postcolonial world, according to Oxford dictionary. As it mentioned earlier about the application of Feminism theory in literature, the provided definition of postcolonial feminism also is not applicable in literature analysis. Therefore, Oxford defines another applic...
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
Directly and indirectly, the family and friends of Arjie all impress upon the boy their views on race and gender. The familial love of Arjie’s extended family is at times hurtful and confusing, but it nevertheless serves to guide Arjie through the growing up process. The lives of family friends merge with Arjie’s for only short periods of time, yet the values that these friends cherish linger on in Arjie’s conscience. Arjie’s peers grow up with him seeing the world through eyes that are near in age, thus their views on race and gender truly open Arjie’s eyes during his journey into maturation in Selvadurai’s Funny Boy.