A complex struggle often present in post-colonial literature is the attempt of the author to either break from or fuse together the literary and cultural traditions of the colonizer (in this case England) with the literary and cultural traditions of the author's own, colonized state. Salman Rushdie skilfully uses narrative technique and the concept of history in Midnight's Children in order to place his story outside the euro-centric, "colonizer" traditions of history. These traditions, made apparent in the colonial period, have constructed a notion of universalism in literature whereby the `classics' of the western canon set a standard for how all literature was to be written. Additionally, traditional history has been written with Europe as the subject of all interpretations of history. The theory of history presented in Midnight's Children is an attempt to deconstruct the traditional Western theories or interpretations of history, all of which place great importance in the notion of a purpose in history. Ultimately, Rushdie presents an opposing view of history, in a sense, a "purposeless" one, in an attempt to break from the traditional view of history presented in prior Euro-centric and British texts.
Most Western conceptions of history seem to equate history with an overriding objective, or purpose. This purpose is most often an attempt to obtain complete objective truth, or at least a certain reliability on the facts presented. Rushdie offers a very different view of history. He seems to suggest that these two concepts (fact and truth) do not exist; all we have is an infinite number of interpretations. Saleem's history does not attempt to be objective or to have a purpose. It does not even claim to be true. In f...
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...[a purpose], its name is childhood. But it dies; or rather, it is murdered"
Rushdie, through his astonishing command of the English language and brilliant use of Salem's unreliable narration, questions the validity of traditional history, as well as the misleading relationship between truth and fact. Despite his reliance on the language of the colonizer, Rushdie is skillfully able to set his work at odds with the traditional views and styles of the British Colonial canon, while simultaneously borrowing elements from this canon. In the end, Rushdie contrasts traditional history with his story, distinguishing traditional history's attempt to find purpose from his belief that there is no purpose.
Works Cited
Rushdie, Salman. Midnight's Children. United States: Penguin Books, 1991.
Rushdie, Salman. "Errata: or Unreliable narration in Midnight's Children."
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and character analysis to really tell the story of European colonization. Within Conrad's characters one can find both racist and colonialist views, and it is the opinion, and the interpretation of the reader which decides what Conrad is really trying to say in his work.
In Heart of Darkness, cultural identity and the dominance of the European, white male is constructed and asserted through the constructions of the "other", that is the African natives and females, largely through language and setting. Thus, while claims of Conrad's forwardness in producing a text that critiques colonialism may be valid, Heart of Darkness is ultimately a product of it's time and therefore confirms the contextual notions of difference.
During the Cold War and twentieth century there were several processes that influenced colonization and decolonization. To be examined is what the characters reveal about the colonization processes, the involvement of industrialization, the change in identities of the characters, and lastly the social and political changes during the cold war will be discussed.
In the present era of decolonization, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents one of fiction’s strongest accounts of British imperialism. Conrad’s attitude towards imperialism and race has been the subject of much literary and historical debate. Many literary critics view Conrad as blindly accepting the arrogant attitude of the white male European and condemn Conrad to be a racist and imperialist. The other side vehemently defends Conrad, perceiving the novel to be an attack on imperialism and the colonial experience. Understanding the two viewpoints side by side provides a unique understanding that leads to a commonality that both share; the novel simply presents a criticism of colonialists in Africa.
There are many legacies of colonialism that impacted the development of Latin American republics. As well, many of these legacies still thrive throughout modern Latin America. A legacy that impacted Latin America and still continues to affect it, is the change that colonialism caused with ancestral knowledge. Before colonialism, many parts of Latin America were inhibited by many tribes such as the Mayans. As colonialism swept through these parts of Latin America, these tribes started to diminish because of the “growing and ecological strains”, when this occurred, tribes disbanded and ceased to continued. Now these societies which once flourished, has not gone back to the way that it once was. One of the most profound legacies is religion in Latin America. The Catholic church had a part in the development of the continent. Missionaries helped build premises such as schools, hospitals and other buildings which benefited the communities. Even with the help they provided, missionaries also did harm. They caused people to change the way the practiced their religion. The aspects of the way religion was practiced before changed for the worst. The people had to entirely alter how they practiced religion and by doing so, many parts of their true identity needed to be forgotten. Lastly, colonialism
On October 12, 1492, Admiral Colon landed on a tropical Caribbean island. Finding this island was purely accidental. Colon had originally set out to find a shorter route to China and instead discovered the New World. If the purpose of Colon's voyage was not seeking out to dominate another country (definition of imperialism) but to find a shorter route to China, then how could he be considered an imperialist? While he didn't set out as an imperialist, some of his actions could be considered imperialistic.
Norman, Mailer. The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, the Novel as History. New York: Plume, 1995. Print.
... complete and satisfying history is to read multiple sources and to inquire into the history of the writing of history on a topic – that is, the progression over time of ways of thinking about a conflict like the English Civil War, or the different interpretations and motivations of different schools of interpretation. History is a subtle discipline, where interpretations are never finally ruled to have been right or wrong as theorems in the physical sciences have been. An historical account tells us as much about the environment and particular philosophy of the historian as it does about the event or change it takes as its topic. The criteria presented here basically ask the historian to do some of the work of the critical reader, but the student of history must always make his own comparisons and investigations before deciding how much to trust the historian.
The Heart of Darkness explores reality and perspective in several interesting ways; these include amongst others the interplay of reality and objectivity, the use of otherness to define one’s own identity and the construction of that otherness in direct association with one’s perceptions of oneself. This essay seeks to trace the interconnectedness of the ideas of reality and perspective in Heart of Darkness with a view to both the process and results of colonisation on the identity of the coloniser. We will do this through focusing primarily on the narrative style of the text followed by accessing the importance of this style in a wider context. Finally the essay will explore the relationship between reality, perspective and the colonisation process and the effects this process bears on the coloniser.
To show how stories can affect colonialism, we will be looking at British authors during the time of colonialism. During this period of British colonialism, writers like Joyce Cary, author of “Mister Johnson” wrote novels about Africa and more specifically, a Nigerian named Johnson. Johnson in this novel is represented as “[an] infuriating principal character”. In Mr. Cary’s novel he demeans the people of Africa with hatred and mockery, even describing them as “unhuman, like twisted bags of lard, or burst bladders”. Even though Cary’s novel displayed large amounts of racism and bigotry, it received even larger amounts of praise, even from Time Magazine in October 20, 1952. The ability to write a hateful novel and still receive praise for it is what Chinua Achebe likes to describe as “absolute power over narrative [and...
Each work is littered by destruction that comes in the forms of: a control over the native population; a need to keep order among the colony; and a mental destruction incurred from having views opposed to the ruling government’s. That each book denounces colonization is no surprise; but each present a conflict to make clear the protagonist’s struggle. In Shooting an Elephant, this conflict is between George Orwell and the natives over an unruly elephant, and in The Heart of Darkness the conflict is between Marlow and happenings on the river Congo.
Historical novels written by authors who experience the history are great sources for a more first hand account of history that is often one sided and simply based on facts. Historical fiction can make the history more personal and enjoyable to the reader reading it, but it can also be deceiving if the reader is not already at least vaguely familiar with the history. God’s Bits of Wood and No Longer at Ease express and explain colonization and the way that it affected those who were colonized in a way that textbooks often cannot. When comparing the two novels, differences in the nature of the ruling and similarities in the impact it has on various social classes and generations are evident. Though historical novels are a great source, it must be kept in mind that they are novels and should not be relied on for one hundred percent factual evidence.
Generally, as expressed in Charles Bressler’s Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (4th Edition), post-colonialism encompasses a study of literature written in countries that are or were at some point in time colonized by England or some other imperial power (235). This analysis of literature implies or assumes that the peoples of these texts experienced social, political, and economic influences from an outside force, and were made out to be the “other” right on their own homeland. While Frankenstein is by no means a tale of conquest, the concepts of isolation and oppression are eminent throughou...
...edieval times. Moslems leaders claim that the title of the novel The Satanic Verses disrespected their god, because it refers to their god as Satan. Even though Rushdie was raised as a Moslem, and claims he follows no religion, the Khomeini mentions that Rushdie rejected the words of his former religion, therefore, joined the enemies of Islam, and committed a crime.(Phillips 18) In the Islam tradition, the Koran is factually the word of God, transmitted by the Archangel Gabriel through the Prophet Mohammed. The result of Rushdie's novel is viewed as mocking wordplay.(Phillips 19) Socrates gained enemies for his speculations on philosophy. Socrates had young rich men followers who viewed him as an inspiring leader, therefore, was also blamed for teaching the youth his ideas. Both Salman Rushdie and Socrates were held responsible for religious insult. (Plato 20 - 24)
History is no more confined to a monolithic collection of facts and their hegemonic interpretations but has found a prominent space in narratives. The recent surge in using narrative in contemporary history has given historical fiction a space in historiography. With Hayden White’s definition of history as a “verbal structure in the form of a narrative prose discourse” literature is perceived to be closer to historiography, in the present age (ix). History has regained acceptance and popularity in the guise of fiction, as signified by the rising status of historical fiction in the post colonial literary world.