POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND POST MODERNISM
In this chapter I am going to briefly discuss one of the Post Modern school’s theories the Postcolonial theory and its concepts, mainly referring to ideas of Homi K Bhaba one of the leading postcolonial theorists whom has a great influence to the field of studies itself and its application to Architectural studies.
To start with understanding the term Postcolonialism it might be helpful to look at the explanations given to the words Post Colonial: “Occurring or existing after the end of colonial rule” and Colonize: “Send settlers to (a place)and establish political control over it” at Oxford dictionary. (Oxford dictionaries, 2014) Postcolonial theory analyses, explains and responds to cultural influences
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First it uncovers how colonisers use architecture as a tool to enforce new social, cultural and political directions in order to continue controlling the colonised substances. This aspect can be observed in colonial cities where the coloniser uses the city “as the spatial materialisation of the ‘civilising mission’, while simultaneously representing the violence of colonisation.” (Hernandez, 2010) By assuming that colonised people are uneducated and in need of learning the European norms and habits which includes living in European fashioned cities, instantaneously the new spatial orders such as orthogonal grids lead onto keeping the colonial leaders in the city’s core and push the locals away from them, either outside the city walls or at the periphery areas of the town. Second it analysis the way history of Architecture has been written to grant authority to the European Architecture. This effect can be easily observed in architectural history books, up until lately, showing non-western architecture as elite architecture only if they are made similar to European style with aspects equivalent to them, works of architects such as Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer, Indian Balkrishna Doshi or Malaysian Ken Yeang that show great amount of European styled …show more content…
He describes his experience in Bombay during early university years in Location of Culture as “ It was lived in that rich cultural mix of languages and lifestyles that most cosmopolitan Indian cities celebrate and perpetuate in their vernacular existence- Bombay Hindustani, ‘Parsi’ Gujarati, mongrel Marathi, all held in a suspension of Welsh-missionary-accented English peppered with an Anglo-Indian patois that was sometimes cast aside for American slang picked up from the movies or popular music” (Bhabha, 2004). Beside from Bhabha’s adamic life in England and America another fact that made Bhabha experience difficulties as part of a minority group is that he belongs to Parsi race (Zoroastrian people moved to India from Persia, when Islam came to Great Persia, with approximately 100,000 population all around the word today). Bhabha’s attention to the cultural creations made by minority groups either invisibly in the centre or at the edges is the basis of developments criticizing the way that non-western architecture has been described. Bhabha reads buildings carefully just the way he analysis text, “ For Bhabha, architectural details (door knobs, windows, window locks, screens, radiators) convey a sense of humanity, they bring forward the existence of an inhabitant (or
Post-colonialism is a discourse draped in history. In one point in time or another, European colonialism dominated most non-European lands since the end of the Renaissance. Naturally, colonialists depicted the cultures of non-Europeans incorrectly and inferior. Traditionally, the canon has misappropriated and misrepresented these cultures, but also the Western academia has yet to teach us the valuable and basic lessons that allow true representations to develop. Partly in response, Post-colonialism arose. Though this term is a broad one, Post-colonialists generally agree on certain key principles. They understand that colonialism exploits the dominated people or country in one way or another, evoking inequalities. Examples of past inequalities include “genocide, economic exploitation, cultural decimation and political exclusion…” (Loomba 9-10). They abhor traditional colonialism but also believe that every people, through the context of their own cultures, have something to contribute to our understanding of human nature (Loomba 1-20). This is the theme that Lewis prescribes in his, self described, “satirical fantasy”, Out of the Silent Planet (Of Other 77).
...’s book accomplishes a lot in its timid three hundred pages, it lacks more examples of modern architecture and historical landmarks such as the ones discussed above. Also, the lack of chronological order is a new approach, but it might not appeal to all readers.
(Image taken from Tranchtenberg, Marvin, Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. Second Edition. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey: 2002.)
The paper tries to identify the techniques applied in postmodern architecture in the similarities to traditionalism that leads to the revision of old knowledge and revival of traditional forms through tangible or intangible activities. The
Colonialism is the practice by which a nation-state extends political, economic, and military power beyond its own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, and markets in other countries or regions.
The definition of critical regionalism is a direct approach to architecture that strives to oppose ‘placelessness’ and the apparent lack of identity and character in modern architecture through the use of building's geographical context. The term ‘critical regionalism’ was first established as a concept in the 1980s through papers written by Tzonis, Lefaivre and Kenneth Frampton. Throughout Frampton’s writings he mentions and somewhat commemorates Tadao Ando as a critical regionalist and uses the specific advance as a theory to discuss Ando’s architecture (Frampton, 1983).
Postcolonial criticism, as suggested in the textbook, “has developed because of the dramatic shrinking of the world and the increasing multicultural cast of our own country” (1603). As described by Andrea Smith in his book “From Heteropatriarchy and the Three pillars of White Supremacy”, “The
Colonialism, which was a major cause of the north-south gap that occurred in the period following the Second World War, is the takeover by a nation of foreign territories; making them part of it to aid its own economical, social and political structures. The mother countries succeed in doing that by using the colony’s natural resources, money savings, and their lands, which leads the colony to rely on the mother country and therefore, leaving the country underdeveloped. Hence, the world wide scramble for colonies, particularly in the late 19th – early 20th century, had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous, non-industrialized peoples.
All the countries deemed as third world has had a history of colonial rule, most were exploited through colonialism, imperialism, neo colonialism etc. while the third world countries were annexed and had direct government of a first country through colonialism; it was seen as a cost by the imperial powers rather than a benefit and one that was unavoidable. Imperialism was creating the condition for industrial capitalism and a modern nation-state and would produce the same consequences as it had of the colonizers i.e. the development of the society’s productive force s and misery and degradation for its workers. It failed to complete the institution of private property, and drained the colonies of capital while enforcing the dependence on agriculture to supply the needs of the industrial world. Neo – colonialism appeared on the outside to grant the c...
Aschcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin, eds. 'The Post-Colonial Studies Reader'. London; Routledge, 1995.
Buildings reflect the values and ideas of society within periods. The role of architecture in shaping society and vice versa largely depends on the period in question and who or what affects first. The Enlightenment, and the subsequent period the Post-Enlightenment, reflect the biggest change for current ideas regarding architecture and society and current theories. At the same time, individual identities and understanding of society, progress and truth all follow a similar evolving path. It is during this dramatic shift in thinking that the role of architecture to society and the idea of progress and truth becomes a more complex relationship. How this relationship works and its implications is based on the theory that there is a direct link between the two. One cannot develop without the other. Who leads whom and to what extent they influence each other is evident in architectural trends and pioneering works by architects such as Robert Venturi, Frank Gehry amongst others.
In the following essay, I will be comparing and contrasting to architectural pieces by the Indians. The first is the Taj Mahal, a building constructed from white marble that took seventeen years to build in honor of Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal (Z. Haq). This piece of architectural beauty belonged to the Mughal’s, the Muslim emperors in India (Z. Haq). The second is the Great Stupa at Sanchi, a holy, dome shaped structure that covers the body of the Buddha in honor of him and his contributions to Buddhism (Fischer, Julia). Furthermore, this structure was made of ruins, rocks, mud, and covered in bricks (Fischer, Julia). Both pieces of architecture are significant to the Indians, however they do contrast in some ways.
Charles Jencks in his book “The Language of Post-Modern Architecture “shows various similarities architecture shares with language, reflecting about the semiotic rules of architecture and wanting to communicate architecture to a broader public. The book differentiates post-modern architecture from architectural modernism in terms of cultural and architectural history by transferring the term post-modernism from the study of literature to architecture.
Postcolonialism is the continual shedding of the old skin of Western thought and discourse, and the emergence of new self-awareness, critique, and celebration. With this self-awareness comes self-expression. But how should the inhabitants of a colonial territory, or formerly colonized country or province see themselves, once they have achieved their independence?... ... middle of paper ...
the prefix "post"....implies an "aftermath" in two senses - temporal, as in coming after, and ideological, as in supplanting. It is the second implication which critics of the term have found contestable: if the inequities of colonial rule have not been erased, it is perhaps premature to proclaim the demise of colonialism. A country may be both postcolonial (in the sense of being formally independent) and neo-colonial (in the sense of remaining economically and/or culturally dependant) at the same time. (7)