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LITR / CRCL 5734: Colonial &
Postcolonial Literature Research
Journal Table
of Contents Dale
M. Taylor Introduction Sample
essay #1 Sample
essay #2 Heroic
Ethnocentrism - assigned Unassigned
Colonialist Barbara
Stoller -- review of scholarly text Mimicry--review
of scholarly text Website2
Nigeria - one of two reviews of websites Website
1 Oxford Brooks three
sites -three more sites History
Africans West Indies -- historical report, Africans and Native Americans
History
of Christianity in Africa -- review of scholarly text Jamaica
Kincaid biography African
women--other item for inclusion (essay) Conclusion Research
Journal Dale
Marie Taylor Literature
5734 University
of Houston Clear Lake Professor:
Dr. C. White Introduction All
of the texts for the class focus on a world removed from the average American
experience. This is what the reader was hoping to experience, a glimpse into the
culture and lifestyles of people living in other countries and in other times.
Especially important was an understanding of the traditional lifestyle of
Africans and East Indians. The reader had been searching for a wider array of
literary criticism and primary texts that might be used in the classrom teaching
experience. That has been provided through this course and the journal provides
a partial record of that exploration. I read many more articles than are
reflected in the journal. I felt a hunger to understand the primary texts as
they related to the secondary. I felt that there is room for my own articles and
essays on the subject. With
an increased emphasis on global education, these tools are indispensable. In
addition, this as framed by the novel and literary criticism that addresses
colonial experience, has been an invaluable aid for future teaching and writing.
The novels serve the purpose of providing a structure that helps make the
culture accessible. All of the texts seem to focus to some degree on some aspect
of opression and difference through bigotry, racism, classicism or sexism _
within the framework of colonialism. Thus, the texts explore the issues of
difference and resistance within the imperalist objective. The components of the
research journal will represent a series of cross cultural items that will help
both student and teacher make connections between post colonial and colonial
literature. The literary criticism focuses on difference and mimicry. A
review of an essay from "Race," Writing and Difference, edited by
Henry Louis Gates, is included. A brief mention of Homi Bhabha's "Of
mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse," from Literary
Theories: A Reader and Guide, is also included. A breif historical summary of
the events that led to creolization of African and Native (Carib) Americans is
included. A biography on Jamaica Kincaid is included; the interest here is
gender. Also included is a breif essay on the commonality of short stories, etc.
by African women writers and African American women.
The
writer had read many other texts associated with African culture and history;
however, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart humanized the anthropological,
historical and religious information previously read. This is exactly what the
reader was hoping. As with Things Fall Apart, the reader was able to piece
together a fuller understanding of the cultures. Though literary critics
complain of the resulting hybridization of the cultures as a result of European
encroachment, one wonders how soon a national language might have been
available. One might argue that there is always translation. Yet, it is
indispensable for nations to be able to communicate with one another on a mass
scale. However, with the advent of computer technology, it is possible for this
to occur without the people of other countries giving up their native languages
and cultures. These
texts provoked careful thinking in the reader. That thinking lead the reader to
question the possiblity that today's imperial powers
— such as the U.S. — are exerting the same kind of colonial influence
through commerce and economic initiatives. One comes away from a consideration
of the texts with a new identity — that of world citizen. As a world citizen,
it is imperative to consider responsible behavior towards one's neighbors. These
texts bring one to this realization; therefore, they are indispensable both as
teaching tools and as reading material for the masses. The collection of various
sources for literary criticism that comment on the primary texts will be an
invaluable aid to teaching the material in the future. Summary
of a Student Essay
The Sample Student Essay by John Eberhart explores the relationship
between "cross-cultural tensions" and the individual. The essay begins
with an abstract, then opens with the title "Return to Personal
Spirit." House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday and The Plumed Serpent by
D. H. Lawrence are the focus of the discussion. Eberhart explores the
psychological forces that instigate a clash of cultures. He discusses both
characters, explaining the dramatic situation for both. Next, he compares the
conflict for both texts and characters, noting that "both authors also
suggest that the mental-spiritual life of the white race is sterile and
withering" (Eberhart 2).
The writer provides a comparison and contrast
of the themes in both stories, quoting from both Lawrence and Achebe.
He paraphrases: "Lawrence believed that christianity destroyed the
passionate inner life by denying the sanctity of the body and celebrating death;
in contrast, the religion of Quetzalcoatl elevated the individual and celebrated
a passionate physical life" (qtd. In Kubal 4768). It's interesting too that
he draws on Achebe who explains the tug of ancient religion on his psyche.
Eberhart's most impressive comment:
"Nature's power can become an individual's personal strength if it is
possible to discard the inhibitions imposed by artificial authorities such as
remote moral constructs, dominating colonialists, and economic necessity"
(3). This seems the theme of his piece and is developed through his comparison
and contrast of the characters, Abel and Kate. The writer uses many sources. It
seems a justifiable criticism that Eberhart's quotations are bulky and bunched
in too few places, namely the end of the piece. Overall, however, it is a good
reminder of the approach expected in Professor White's class.
Review
of Sample Student Essay Prathima
Maramraj's essay "Comparing Patriarchal Domination to Colonial
Imperialism" provides a clear analogy of the relationship between Britain
and India and the relationship between a husband and wife. The essay provides an
abstract as well as a list of main points. In the list, Maramraj discusses the
original motive for oppression by the colonialist _ personal gain. Maramraj
begins by saying that the various forms of oppression using race, class or
gender operate with "one uniform principle: belief in their own superiority
over another" (2). The writer uses Freedom at Midnight by Dorninique
Lapiere and Larry Collins and Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai to explore the
relationship between British colonizers and Indians. She begins by supporting
the assertion that Great Britain plays the "role of the maternal
parent" that intends to "save India" (2).
Maramraj introduces the reader to the major
protagonists in Clear Light of Day _ Bakul and Tara; there seems to be little
emphasis on characters in Freedom at Midnight. Maramraj refers to the British
and the East India Company generally, without naming particular characters.
Thus, the analogy of the couple compared to the British government remains
strong throughout the essay. Maramraj
demonstrates that Bakul makes an effort at controlling Tara, just as the
Britains make an effort at controlling and subduing India. Each effort fails.
However, Tara finds renewal in a sense of identity garnered from family
relationships. Therefore, the essay implies that India draws strength from
within to overcome her oppressors. One of the icons of that strength is Gandhi,
who is mentioned in Freedom at Midnight. The
writer used a number of sources, the most impressive of which being "Feminism
and the Colonial Body," from The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. I found your
comments regarding your visit to India very interesting. Research
Journal Review
_ "Heroic Ethnocentrism: The Idea of Universality in Literature" by
Charles Larson Charles
Larson provides a humorous and insightful consideration of the problem of
difference in African culture. He shines some light on why each of the texts
we've studied draws on the issue of difference. In order to understand to full
impact of his message, one should consider the foundation of his observations. A
basic understanding of the way in which cultures have developed may help one
appreciate his observations. The
development of the world is based on where ancient people settled in the early
history of the earth. The general theory goes that the earth was originally one
mass and was broken up into the continents that we know today. When those
continents broke, so the theory goes, they drifted to polar opposites and
extremes in temperature were created. With those extremes came the racial
characteristics that we know today. The people who lived closer to the warmest
part of the earth and received more sun, had the darkest skin. Those who lived
further away from the sun developed lighter skin. Thicker skin, lips and hair
served the purpose of protecting darker people from the harmful rays of the sun.
Lighter eyes and hair helped those who lived in cold weather climates to survive
the snow blindness that might otherwise occur. Certainly,
most of us know this. However, what most of us do not consider is what happened
after the racial characteristics developed. Cultures developed. Those
who lived in the colder weather climates needed to plan for the winter months.
Everything depended on timing. A person who did not plan for the winter did not
survive. Early cold-weather man might have begun hunting for wild game and
berries; however, the long season of freezing temperatures made it possible to
preserve food. Under such circumstances, one might need to develop a calendar to
remember when to grow and when how much to plan. Warm
weather humans eventually became agrarian too; however, theirs was a much milder
climate. It might have been more likely for the warm weather dweller to find
fruit and vegetable growing on trees rather naturally. Therefore, one might not
have had to plan growing seasons and preservations seasons so precisely. It is
to this difference in geographically oriented people that the Larson's text
speaks. Larson explains that he taught English literature in Nigeria in the fall
of 1962. As an example of the difference in cultures, Larson shares the anecdote
of his students who ask: "Excuse me, sir, what does it mean "to
kiss" ?'" He says that there are many aspects of western culture that
are simply quite foreign for the African _ namely attitudes toward love and
nature. Larson cautions the Western reader against trying to force the concept
of universality on "someone who is not Western," adding that doing so
implies that our own culture should "be the standard of measurement"
(Larson 64). Larson
draws on texts, citing The Savage God and the short story "Black
Girl." He demonstrates the degree to which Africans place more cultural
value on death that Westerners. He observes that the hero concept also is
underrated in African literature. Africans place more value on what happens to
the tribe, village or community. Larson cautions readers about responding to
African literature based on Western values. Doing so may mean that we understand
something totally different from what the author intended. He closes by saying
"For better or for worse, each of us was born into an ethnocentrically
sealed world... Just as literature is a bridge connecting a life lived with a
life not lived, so, too, all literature that is effective is a voyage into a
previously untraveled world" (65). Larson
ends benignly enough; however, there are some important issues that one can
apply to the understanding of the literature. There is such an issue made of
difference by humans throughout the world that examining the texts provide the
reader a glimpse of the humanity of those living in different cultures. Doing so
helps us deconstruct the myths associated with various peoples. There
is one glaring problem with Larson's text. He does not consider that African men
and women do in fact deal with the issue of love and romance. Yes, tribal and
community issues dominate; however, it is false that Africans do not in some
literature focus solely on romance. Wole Soyinka is a good example. Perhaps
Larson did not have access to Soyinka when he wrote his essay. Additionally,
Larson wonders whether Afrians and Westerners can ever understand one another's
literature. This is seems to suggest that Africans and Westerners are from two
different planets and do not speak the same language. We have the benefit of
reading African literature in English. It only takes a sprinkling of respect to
understand the literature. Review
of "Colonialist Criticism" by
Chinua Acehbe The
Post Colonial Studies Reader Unassigned
Review Achebe's
"Colonialist Criticism" provides a searing message to those who would
apply concepts of universality to African literature. Achebe begins by stripping
away the racism behind Honor Tracy's 1958 review. Though this review is removed
from 2001, its message is still valid. One must treat African literature with
sensitive, perceptive analysis. However, one must also understand its
uniqueness. Achebe
again refers to a more recent Tracy piece that surprises him: "The Nigerian
novelists who have written the charming and bucolic accounts of domestic harmony
in African rural communities, are the sons whom the labour of these women
educated..." The Tracy review questions the authenticity and validity of
African work. Achebe asserts that colonialists developed a theory that Africans
under their control, if engaging in overt or passive resistance, would never be
able to absorb European refinement. Achebe cites Iris Andreski's book,
"inspired by the desire to undercut the educated African witness... By
appealing direct to the unspoilt woman of the bush who has retained a healthy
gratitude for Europe's intervention in Africa" (59). Achebe
credits Charles Larson for questioning the application of the concept of
universality in African literature. To underscore his point, he questions
whether Western writers have ever tried replacing English names with African
names in a novel by a Western writer. The
essayist writes of Phillip M. Allen's review in the Pan African Journal of Yambo
Ouologuem's Bound to Violence (60). Achebe credits Allen for saying that
Ouologuem's novel is over-praised and that he is engaged in the "forcing of
moral universality on African civilization" (60). Achebe further criticizes
Ouologuem for not realizing that he cannot force a universality on African
literature. Achebe remarks: "That a critic' playing on the ideological team
of colonialism should feel sick and tired of Africa's pathetic obsession with
racial and cultural confrontation'
should surprise no one"... Certainly anyone, white or black, who chooses to
see violence as the abiding principle of African civilization is free to do so.
But let him not pass himself off as a restorer of dignity to Africa, or attempt
to make out that he is writing about man and about the state of civilization in
general.. Perhaps for most ordinary people what Africa needs is a far less
complicated act of restoration" (61). Achebe
closes the discussion by focusing on the uniqueness of African literature,
drawing parallels to jazz developed by American negroes. There is one
significant problem in the essay. Achebe fails to mention African American
literature and its similarities to African literature. Though this is not the
same as comparing African literature to Western literature, certainly, it's
important to note that African American themes share some common threads with
African literature. Tony Morrison's Beloved focuses on the community as many
African novels focus on the village. Its structure is similar to the traditional
novel. Many African women writers shared themes in common with African American
women writers, Bessie Head writes about fidelity and the steadfastness of the
female spirit in overcoming rejection. Adelaide Casely-Hayford of sierra Leone
wrote Mista Courifer" in 1960. This short story tells of the conflict
between European and traditional tribal values using a family as the focus of
the conflict. Mabel Dove Danquah of Ghana writes in "Anticipation" the
story of a king who does not realize that a wife he has purchased was already
his wife. This theme of male greed is paralleled in Zora Neale Hurston's
"Sweat." In both stories, the woman gets the upper hand. Ellen Kuzwayo
of South Africa wrote "The Reward of Waiting." Its parallels can be
found in the bible and early African American literature that celebrates
Christianity. Grace Akello in her
poem "Encounter" writes of the difference between Western values and
African values. She encourages the Westener to laugh with her not at her. She
ends saying "My son built your cities/What did your son do for me..."
this poem is close to the African American tradition of poems that express a
difference in African and African American values and Eurocentrism. Some of the
short stories tell of the disappointment of women who do not want to be married
very young. These themes are similar to those of writers such as Linda Brent who
wrote about her attempts to avoid her master's sexual overtures. Charity Waciuma
in her short story, "Daughter of Mumbi" writes of a childhood
experience when her mother had a baby. In doing so, she also tells of the
ostracizing she undergoes because she and her family will not engage in female
circumcision. Though this is not a cultural value shared by the African
Americans, other subjects involving difference within the clan are certainly a
parallel. "Stones of The Village" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson is a good
example of this. Characters in the story make an issue of the protagonist's
difference, and so does the protagonist. Other stories in Daughters of Africa
tell of mothers and fathers going to great lengths to provide for their
children. This certainly demonstrates some parallels to African American themes. Barbara
Stoler Miller "The
Imaginative Universe of Indian Literature" Review Barbara
Stoler Miller provides an overview of Indian literature. It is important to
understand how various types of Indian literature fit into the whole. For
example, how would texts such as Roy's and Forster's fit?
These are very recent modern pieces compared to the ancient literature
that has been studied by scholars for centuries. Miller
breaks down the various types based on languages, mentioning Persian and
Sanskrit. Miller points out that most of the Western impressions of Indian
literature are based on images of social chaos and exoticism. The powerful
religious imagery encourages such stereotypes among people of the Western world,
she says. Miller explains the origins of Sanskrit literature, discusses Tamil
and Dravidan languages. In the next section of her discussion, "Authorship
and Poetics," Miller explains the legends of authorship: "legends of
authorship often involve transformations in which authoritative knowledge and
poetic inspiration are acquired through divine intervention. In the Rg Veda,
poetry is a means of establishing relations between the world of humans and the
world of the gods" (7). In
"Categories and Controlling Metaphors," she discusses the sense of
intellectual order that Indians apply to the universe. "Early Indian
thinkers speak of the four cyclic ages of the cosmos (krta of satya, treta,
dvapara, kali, named for dice-rolls in gaming), the four ranks of society (brahman
priest, warrior, community member, menial labor), and the four stages of life
(celibate student, householder, forest dweller, wandering ascetic)" (8).
Professor Godbole of A Passage To India seemed to be a brahman priest. Godbole
seems to be going through at least two of the stages. Miller continues by
delineating the four stages of life for a Hindu. She further reports that in
Hindu society, "right and wrong are not absolute" (9). The information
contained in her introduction sheds some light on the workings of the Forster
novel and the Roy novel. Some of the characters in these novels do not react to
injustices as those in Western society would react. For example, Mrs. Moore and
Godbole's interpretation of events are more like that of a Hindu. Miller's
explanation helps one understand these reactions. She further explains the
relationship between nature, poetry and eroticism. Much of her remaining
discussion focuses on poetry. However the concluding statements explain the
relationship between Indian philosophy and values and literary themes. She
mentions a range of themes that dominate Indian literature from order and chaos,
notions of male and female creativity and destructiveness, etc. The
writer realized the remote relationship between this essay and the literature
studied in the class. However, she felt that the overview of Indian literature
might help with an understanding of the material studied as part of the course.
The one great gap in Ms. Miller piece is that she gives little or no attention
to Muslim material. "Of
Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse" by Homi K. Bhabha Bhabha's
work speaks to a strategy of colonial power — that is "the desire for a
reformed, recognizable Other, as a subject of a difference that is almost the
same, but not quite. Which is to say, that the discourse of mimicry is
constructed around an ambivalence; in order to be effective, mimicry must
continually produce its slippage, its excess, its difference." Bhabha
provides as an example Locke's Second Treatise which refers to the word slave
and interprets its function in two ways _ "first as the locus of a
legitimate form of ownership, then as the trope for an intolerable, illegitimate
exercise of power." This ambivalence is one that focuses on a need to
reform and reshape the colonial subject; however, the result is that the
colonial subject always has a "partial presence." Bhabha uses several
historical texts as examples of this ambivalence. He says such an approach
disavows and denies the "differences of the other but produces in its stead
forms of authority and multiple belief that alienate the assumptions of civil'
discourse (474-480). This essay is included in Literary Theory — which has 12
parts. The parts cover structuralism, feminism, Marxist literary theories,
reader-response theories, psychoanalytic criticism, deconstruction,
postructuralism, postmodernism, new historicism, postcolonial theory, gay
studies, cultural studies. Each chapter has an introduction that explains the
particular approach to analysis; following that sample essays that represent the
various techniques are included. The book has a Works Cited section, notes on
contributors, and index of proper names. An annotated bibliography and
supplementary bibliography are included. Website
Review One
of the most impressive websites on colonial and postcolonial history focuses on
the literature of Nigeria. The introduction opens by explaining a background of
colonial history. "In many ways, Nigeria has a unique Colonial history.
Perhaps more than in any other colonial project, missionaries were used to their
utmost effectiveness. After their success in fighting for the abolition of the
Slave Trade, they targeted Nigeria with a dual purpose _ to convert the natives
and to discover natural resources which could be traded as a substitute for
slaves" (1). The
first page of the site describes the contents of the three sections into which
the pages have been divided. Section one focuses on Joyce Cary's Mister Johnson
and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Section two focuses on the Igbo people,
giving historical and cultural background. Section three focuses on the work of
Amos Tutola.All of the sections are interesting _ one of the most information
and enlightening is the section on "Religion and The Igbo People."
This section explains the various religious beliefs, including the practice of
the disposal of twins, of which Achebe writes in Things Fall Apart. It occurs to
the reader after consideration of the extensive and complicated religious rites,
that some of these practices may have been a method of controlling the
population. The
site explains: "There is a strong belief that the spirits of one's
ancestors keep a constant watch over you.... Single births were regarded as
typically human, multiple births as typical of the animal world. So twins were
regarded as less than humans and put to death (as were animals produced at
single births). Children who were born with teeth ( or whose upper teeth came
first), babies born feet first, boys with only one testicle, and lepers, were
all killed and their bodies thrown away in secrecy"
("Religion"1). This
site creates links to several pages, including "the experience of European
administrators in Nigeria," "The role of missionaries in pre-colonial
and early colonial Nigeria," "Government and Social Structure in
Igboland," "Corruption as a Consequence of Colonialism - as portrayed
inAchebe's African Trilogy. School
of Humanities: Oxford Brookes University--Website Review Black
Literature and Post-colonial Theory This
Oxford Brookes University website appears to be a representation of a Masters
of Arts program to address "the production of literature and the complex
mechanisms of identity-configuration in the Diaspora." The project is
addresses post colonial literature by exploring issues of race, hybridity,
syncreticity and cross-culturalisation. Most of the central issues focus on
slavery, migration, autobiography, relationships between the colonizer and the
colonized and "black women's writing and the transformation of the English
language by black authors (e.g. via creolisations and oral traditions)"
(1). Learning
outcomes, and requirements for the course are included on the home page of this
website. However, it appears to be a work in progress.
Lynette Turner appears to be the director of the project. Reading
assignments include P. Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow, E.K Braithwaite's
The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy, T. Morrison's Beloved, VS Naipaul's The
Mimic Men, S. Rushdie's Midnight Children and Ngugi wa Thiongo's Petals of
Blood. The Post Colonial Studies Reader as well as other material is included
for further reading. Historical
Report "The
Impact of Africans on the West Indies During Slave Trade Immediately Following
Columbus" Source:
Africans and Native Americans: The
Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples Author:
Jack D. Forbes Copyright:
1993, University of Illinois Press
One of the major events in the history of the world was the slave trade
that began in the Western hemisphere of the Americas just after the arrival of
Christopher Columbus. Columbus, following his discovery, became a large supplier
of slaves to the New World. Though slave trading was a part of the European
community prior to then and though it also included people of color from other
regions, it was the events that followed the discovery of the Americas by the
Spaniards that led to widespread dissemination of African genes throughout the
West Indies, North America, Central America and South America. The slave trade
complicated the Castillian preoccupation with race and caste. Many of the
colonies founded by imperial Spain and England in the West Indies became a
genetic melting pot for a new group of people. This report focuses on some
aspects of the slave trade that contributed to the existence of a new people
forged in the colonial world. The report is limited to those aspects of the
development of the new identity that occurred during colonization and primarily
focuses on events that effect the West Indies. Since few texts focus on this
aspect, Forbes will be the major source. Native
American includes pre-Columbus natural inhabitants of the Americas, i.e North
America, the West Indies and South America. However, evidence of an African
Native American relationship existing prior to Columbus can be found in the
analysis of spiritual deities, anthropological records and climatological data.
Therefore, the event that shaped the identity of West Indies people as we know
them today is one that historical and anthropological investigators might
consider to have only increased the numbers of genetically mixed Amer Indians in
the West Indies. In
fact, Africans travelled the world prior to and following the arrival of
Columbus, according to many historical and anthropological records. In the South
Atlantic, evidence suggests that a "strong current runs from the West coast
of North Africa towards Trinidad" (Forbes 8). Another current runs from the
"mouth of the river Zaire (Congo) to the north of the Amazon, where it
divides, part joining the northwesterly current which becomes the Gulfstream and
part swinging southwards along the coast of Brazil until it veers eastwrads
across the Atlantic to Africa again, reaching southwestern Africa, from whence
it curves northwards to rejoin the Zaire-Amazon current" (8-9). In
addition, the inhabitants of the West Indies are also known to have been able to
navigate the Atlantic. Many of them were well acquainted with the string of
islands we call the Caribbean. Theory has it that they too traveled to Africa
and other parts of Europe prior to the arrival of Columbus. However,
the major event that increased the population of mixed race and African peoples
in the West Indies began with the arrival of European imperialism. With it came
a number of contacts with "black Africans and Native Americans." As a
result, a great deal of interracial mixing took place. The
hostility that modern West Indians express toward Columbus can be understood in
this explanation by Forbes: "Moreover, Columbus' impact was singular in
that he was from the first, a dedicated slaver and exploiter with an extremely
callous and indifferent attitude towards culturally different human beings"
(22). Forbes provides several examples of Columbus' indifference. On his first
voyage he took 27 Americans hostage and wrote to the imperial power that the
Americans could be forced to do whatever the Spanish wished. Columbus' approach
to colonialism was to strip the Americans of their language, customs and land in
order to force them to build and cultivate for the monarch. In 1494, he proposed
sending a group of captives to Spain to learn Castillian and be trained to serve
the monarch. His overall plan was to use slaves to finance his conquests. As a
result of Columbus' dominance many thousands of Americans and Africans were sold
into slavery in the Caribbean. His attitude about their survival was that if 10
percent died, this was natural. He held with the values of slavers of his day. Between
1493 and 1501, an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 slaves were shipped to Europe. Many
went to the Seville area; others were sold at nearby slave stations _ islands
where Spanish slavers could avoid the wrath of Queen Isabel who did not approve
of the "dividing up her' vassals without her prior permission" (24). Forbes
quotes Miguel de Cuneo, a member of Columbus' second expedition: When
our carvels... Were to leave for Spain, we gathered... One thousand six hundred
male and female persons of those Indians, and of these we embarked in our
caravels on Feb. 17 1495, five hundred and fifty souls among the healthiest...
For those who remained, we let it be known in the vicinity that anyone who
wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done.
And when each man was thus provided with slaves, there still remained about four
hundred, to whom permission was granted to go where they wished. Among them were
many women with children still at suck. Since they were afraid that we might
return to capture them once again,... They left their children... And began to
flee like desperate creatures. Included
in the description is an example of the viciousness of the conquest as Columbus
describes the rape of a "beautiful Carib woman" by Cuneo.
North Africans initially came into sustained contact with Americans after
1500 in the West Indies and after that time in Brazil, Mexico, Central American
and Peru (61). Though historical accounts say that Africans and Ameri-Indians
collaborated to overthrow colonial powers on many occasions, the two groups also
remained distinct to a degree and had their differences. Because of the
oppression of the European empire during this period in history, very few people
of color were able to escape the lowest rungs of society. The initial slave
population prior to 1510 consisted of Americans. After 1510, Black Africans were
brought to the Caribbean. A larger number were brought to Brazil after 1550. Forbes
research establishes that there has been no replacement of Native Americans in
the West Indies. "American survivors and African survivors (because huge
numbers of Africans also died in the process) have merged together to create the
basic modern populations of much of the Greater Caribbean and adjacent mainland
regions" (270). The development of Afroamericans is the result of 300 to
400 years of intermixture of a "very complex sort." He notes that the
ancestry of modern-day Americans has been marginalized by racism. "It is
now the principal tasks of scholarship to replace the shallow one-dimensional
images of non-whites with more accurate multi-dimensional portraits" (271).
Jamaica
Kincaid-Biographical Report Jamaica
Kincaid comes to the table with honesty, anger and insight. Her work examines
life in the West Indies and in North America from the perspective of a West
Indian woman. She also explores the underside of colonial life, into which she
was born May 25, 1949. Kincaid came to the U.S. In 1966 to work as an au pair
and to get an education. She became a writer for the New Yorker Magazine after
some of her work was published in Ms. Magazine and Ingenue. She
was born Elaine Potter Richardson in St. John's Antigua. She was an only child
until the birth of her three brothers, which increased the family sense of
poverty. The arrival of her brothers also increased the sense of alienation she
felt with her mother. Kirtin M. Benson and Cayce Hagseth quoted this source on
their webpage: "Interviewer and New York Times Magazine journalist Leslie
Garis writes, Kincaid has never gotten over the betrayal she felt when she began
to suffer from her mother's emotional remoteness' (70)". Kincaid
was educated in colonial schools that provided few opportunities for her
development. Of this early period in her life, she remarks that she was
"incredibly unhappy" and talked back to authority figures. During this
time, she became interested in reading and did everything she could to find
books and read them. She describes stealing books and reading under the house
where there were spiders and lizards. Because
of her increasing contempt for the British government's rule of Antigua and
because she wanted to escape her home environment, Kincaid went to New York for
a job as an au pair. She also worked as a receptionist, magazine writer and
studied photography at New York's New School for Social Research. She spent a
year at Franconia College in New Hampshire before settling in New York.
"Her first published piece was an interview with Gloria Steinem that
appeared in Ingenue in 1973" (Perry 493). In
an interview in Reading Black, Reading Feminist, Kincaid says that she draws on
experiences in her life to write her books. She explains to Perry that the
"Columbus in Chains" episode in her book Annie John was based on words
her mother spoke about her father: The Great Man Can No Longer Just Get Up and
Go'? Kincaid responds: "Yes, but my mother had really said, "The great
man can't shit." I had written that and it wouldn't go in The New Yorker,
so I changed it. Then I left it that way for the book because I realized that it
had a more profound meaning, and now I can't exactly remember why" (Perry
497). During the interview, Kincaid also speaks of noticing people who had more
than her family; however, not being aware of class. She says that she simply
noticed the differences between her and others. Kincaid's
break came when she met George W. S. Trow who began writing columns about her in
The New Yorker. Following that, William Shawn, the editor began publishing her
stories. Later, she married Shawn's son Allen. She lives with her husband and
three children in Vermont. Kincaid credits William Shawn for helping to realize
her internal voice was important. Kincaid
has written Talk Stories (2001), My Garden (1999), My Favorite Plant (editor)
(1998), My Brother (1997), The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), "Song of
Roland," New Yorker (12 April 1993), At The Bottom of the River (1992),
Lucy (1990), "Ovando." Conjunctions 14 (1989), Annie John (1983), "Antiqua
Crossing," Rolling Stone (29 June 1978).
Kincaid has received a number of distinctions, including: one of the
three finalists for the Ritz Paris Hemingway Award, recipient of the
Anifield-Wolf Book Award and the Lila Wallace-Reader's
Digest Fund Award and the 1997 National Book Award. Benson
and Hagseth quote Derek Walcot on her work: "As she writes a sentence, the
temperature of it psychologically is that it heads toward its own contradiction.
It's as if the sentence is discovering itself, discovering how it feels. And
that is astonishing, because it's one thing to be able to write a good
declarative sentenc; it's another thing to catch the temperature of the
narrator, the narrator's feeling. And that's universal, and not provincial in
any way" (qtd in Garis, 80). Kincaid's stories explore the loss of a bond
between mother and daughter and the oppression of colonialism. Primary
Sources Kincaid,
Jamaica and Fischl, Eric. Annie, Gwen, Lilly, Pam, and Tullip. New York:
AA Knopf, in association with the
Whitney Museum of American Art, 1989.
(pictorial boards)--- .
Annie John. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985. Kincaid,
Jamaica. Lucy. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 1990. ---.
The Autobiography of My Mother. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996. ---.
My Brother. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. ---.
My Garden (Book). Jamaica Kinciad. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999. ---.
A Small Place. New York, N.Y.: New American Library, 1989. ---.
Talk Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. Secondary
Sources Alexander,
Simone A. James. Mother Imagery in the Novels of Afro-Caribbean Women.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001. Ashcroft,
Bill, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin. The Post Colonial Studies Reader.
New York, N.Y.: Routledge,
1995. Bloom,
Harold. Jamaica Kincaid. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1998. Bell-Scott,
Patricia. Life Notes: Personal Writings by Contemporary Black Women.
New York: Norton, 1994. Ferguson,
Moira. Jamaica Kincaid: Where The Land Meets The Body. Charlottsville:
University Press of Virginia, 1994. Gilmore,
Leigh. The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony. Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press,
2000. MacDonald-Smyth,
Antonia. Making Homes in The West Indies: Constructions of Subjectivity
in The Writings
of Michelle Cliff and Jamaica Kincaid. New York:
Routledge, 2001. Madison,
D. Soyini. The Woman That I Am: The Literature and Culture of Contemporary
Women of Color. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Mistron,
Deborah E. Understanding Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John: A Student Casebook
to Issues,
Sources and Historical Documents. Paravisini-Gebert,
Lizabeth. Jamaica Kincaid: A Critical Companion. Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 1999. "A
Discussion of the Writing of Women from Africa and Women of African Descent
from America" [To
Dr. White: This piece will be used both as a tool for future discussions of
African literature in my work, probably as a conference presentation after some
adjustment and probably as a point of reference during Galveston College's fall
lecture series. The college will probably host a First Friday luncheon in
conjunction with the lecture series. I will present these thoughts if invited.] An
interesting question arose during a discussion of colonial and post-colonial
literature. Do African American women and African women share common themes in
their writing? The answer to this question is that the two share some common
themes. In addition, women from other countries also share themes in common with
African women. While there are aspects of the culture of women in various
countries being different, there is evidence to suggest that there are some
shared themes. This brief essay will summarize and compare and contrast some of
the common themes found in the literature of women from other countries,
African-American women and the literature of African women. The major texts
addressed will include but not be limited to Arundhati Roy's A God of Small
Things, Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy and various essays and short story writers in
Daughters of Africa. The writers of Daughters of Africa include women of African
descent from many different countries. One
of the arguments that might be used to demonstrate that there is no similarity
between the literature of African women and the literature of African American
women is to point out that African American women do not accept polygamy;
however, African women accept it. One must be careful in asserting such an idea.
Mabel Segun, from Bendel State, Nigeria, in her essay "Polygamy _ Ancient
and Modern," explains that there are three types of polygamy. One is the
old type where a man simply has more than one wife living in a household. The
other is the type where a man has affairs _ he is married to one woman but has
many affairs with other women on the side. The other type is the kind where a
man has one marriage after another _ the kind, she says, that is
"popularized by Hollywood." Segun continues her essay by saying that
some African women theorize that it is better to be able to see what a man is
doing rather than have him do it behind her back. Therefore, many African women
accept polygamy. She demonstrates through example, however, that it takes much
intelligence for a man to manage such a household. She explained the various
approaches to quarreling wives that a polygamous man must address. She does so
using a tone that seems not to be sympathetic _ ending with this tongue in cheek
confession: "Considering all the tack, diplomacy, strength and patience
such a man must possess he would surely be well equipped to rule a nation. And
he'd get my vote every time!" (Segun 376). Jamaica
Kincaid provides a searing indictment of polygamous behavior in Lucy. In her
novel, two of the principal characters, Mariah and Lewis, are married. Lewis
falls in love with Mariah's best friend. Lucy's reaction to this is rather
cynical since her home life on the Island of Antigua is full of examples of such
polygamous behavior. Segun considers polygamy to be the type of behavior that
says it's acceptable to remarry several times. Lucy reacts to Lewis' behavior by
observing that her own father had affairs with other women while married to her
mother. In this way, both texts talk to one another. The colonizers view of
polygamy in African society is that it is primitive and uncouth. Segun uses
oxymoron to make her point _ drawing a parallel between the multiple unions in
American society and the multiple unions in African society. Bessie
Head's short story "The Special One," tells of a woman who appears to
be having a nervous breakdown because her husband takes another woman. His woman,
Gaenametse, found a method of coping with her pain _ at first she dated younger
men, however, in the end she married a Christian man. The story incidently
explores the sexuality of women. These are themes that African American women
share in common. The novel How Stella Got Her Grove Back by Terry McMillan is a
good parallel to Head's story. In McMillan's story, a woman is jilted by her
husband for another woman. One can
see a parallel between the McMillan, Head and Kincaid stories since all deal
with the issue of multiple partners. Head's story ends with the protagonist
making a choice to be with a Christian man instead of a man who believes in
polygamy. Head allows her character to make this choice in the interest of
feminine liberty. Though the colonizer's narrative might see Gaenametse as
uncivilized for being sexually aggressive, the feminist view is that she has
selected Christianity over an African religion because Christianity provides a
man who believes in monogamy. Thus, greater value is placed on Gaenametse.
Though there may not be a direct cultural parallels, there are many
essays and short stories that African American women and American women have
written that explore the subject of fidelity among the American male. For
example, Zora Neale Hurston writes of a man who is having an affair behind his
wife's back in her short story "Sweat." In the story, the man who is
the focus of the action, plans to get rid of his wife by frightening her with a
snake. This is not a good plan since it backfires. However, the point is, both
writers address the issue of polygamous behavior. The difference is that Hurston
provides a none to tidy ending for the polygamous male. In
"The Reward of Waiting," by Ellen Kuzwayo of South Africa, a first
wife selects a younger second wife for her husband because she is unable to give
him a son. When the second wife arrives, the first wife becomes pregnant, thus
shaming the younger second wife. As a trope, this story is an indictment of
polygamy and thus shares themes in common with African American women (DOA 254). Adelaid
Casely-Hayford of Sierra Leone wrote the short story, "Mista
Courifer," as a method of reversing the assumptions of English society
about African society. In the story, Casely-Hayford crafts the character of
Mista Courifer who is a proud anglophile. The third person narrator ridicules
the character as he places much value on everything English. He even hopes that
his son will be a capitalist in the same way the English are. His son, however,
who is a metaphorical representation for the traditional African, wants no part
of his father's values. He shares this with his sister: "these white chaps
come and go ... Drawing a big fat pay all the time, not to speak of passages,
whereas a poor African like me has to work year in and year out with never a
chance of a decent break..." He tells his sister that he will arrange to be
dismissed because he loathes these values so much. Eventually, the son throws
over his father's values in the same way Africa will throw over the
colonialists. Casely-Hayford's story resembles Roy's text. Ammu who is part of
the anglophile-conscious family in Roy's text rejects its class and caste
conscious values that are a metaphoric representation of English values.
An
autobiographical story by Kebbedesh of the Tigray province of Ethiopia recounts
the harsh conditions under which she lived when her family decided to sell her
to an older man. They were very poor, so her family decided she would be sold at
seven years old. She says: "He was rich, chauvinistic and rather foolish.
He was huge, with a beard, and he seemed like a giant to me. My uncles told him
not to have sex with me. They made him promise in front of a priest that he
would wait until I was mature, but this did not work" (Kebbedesh, DOA,
775). She ran away from this man several times; however, members of her family
and community took her back to him. She finally became old enough to find her
way to a community where she became a prostitute. She tells of being
discriminated against by the community because her mother was a single parent.
She eventually joined a liberation army group that led her to some sense of
freedom and he overcoming of her miserable circumstances. This liberation army
existed in part due to the colonial interference of European countries.
Ironically, it provides a solution for a young woman whose life is in conflict
with traditional values. This is an autobiographical story that demonstrates a
change in world conditions. A territory that probably based it method of social
organization on a agrarian economy where everyone's role was very well defined
meant that no one was to defy his or her role. To defy such a role might have
meant danger for the entire community or family. Yet, such roles were upset by
the encroachment of imperialism. Obviously, this young woman feels that such an
encroachment benefitted her. If one examines the life of Maya Angelou, one can
find some striking similarities between the Kebbedesh story and Angelou's story.
Though she had two parents, Angelou was reared by her grandmother. When she was
about eight years old, her mother's boyfriend had sex with her. She did not
speak for several years after that. Angelou writes of this experience and the
state of siege under which African Americans lived during Jim Crow in her book I
Know Why
the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou has confessed in public that she led the life of a
prostitute for a while. However, like Kabbedesh, Angelou has overcome her
circumstances to become a success. Kabbedesh, by the standards of her society is
now a success too. She overcame an abusive environment, eventually becoming a
student and learning to sew. Both stories blend a coming of age theme with a
story of the political transitions of a country. Though Kabbedesh's story is
much more compact as a short story, both women tell the similar stories. Though
Angelou is living within a capitalist, democratic society the siege which
African Americans experienced during and following slavery was similar to the
objectification experienced by the colonized in countries such as India and
Africa. Angelou's more organized agrarian society is upset too by encroaching
imperial-like influences. Charity
Waciuma of Kenya writes in an excerpt from her autobiographical book, Daughter
of Mumbi, the story of a new baby being born into the family and the affections
that are displaced by its arrival. While telling stories of her life in the
Gikuyu custom she shares some insights that echo the sentiments of other African
women _ namely Jamaica Kincaid _ who also addresses the feeling of displacement
in a mother's affections upon the arrival of other children.
Like Kincaid, Waciuma writes of the clash between traditional values and
Christianity. Waciuma writes: "Everything I saw reminded me of the
greatness and the freedom of our land in the days of my grandfather's stories,
when a man could travel about the country without being stopped by the White
Man's messengers to produce his tax certificates or by rogues to rob him"
(Waciuma 378). In the next paragraph she describes a white man riding across his
coffee estate, smoking a pipe. She describes his wife as someone who wears
trousers and has a face "as hard and bleached as a stone in the river
bed." These observations are similar to those of African American women who
are writing about the domination of their cultures by people of European
descent. "I was filed with a desire to study and become educated in the
White Man's ways and in his knowledge so that I could help in turning him out of
my country." Though she regrets the discrimination she feels for having not
been circumcises, she also wishes that her mother might return to the
traditional ways of religious worship. Certainly,
the issue of circumcision does not come up among African American women, except
of course if it is a subject of art as in Alice Walker's novel. In Walker's work
as well as Kincaid _ who is from Antigua_ there is this echo about having to
deal with the domination of white men. One of Walker's characters describes
events the events of desegregation and concludes: "I grew up believing that
white people, collectively speaking, cannot bear to witness wholeness and health
in others, just as they can't bear to have people different from themselves live
among them. It seemed to me that nothing, no other people certainly, could live
and be healthy in their midst" (Walker 298). This
sentiment is born out in Kincaid work "A Small Place." "...the
people at the Mill Reef Club were puzzling (why go and live in a place populated
mostly by people you cannot stand)..." (PCSR 94). In Kincaid's novel, Lucy,
the protagonist observes: "The other people sitting down to eat dinner all
looked like Mariah's relatives; the people waiting on them all looked like mine
(Lucy 32). She latter observes that the people on her island were much more
engaged in passive resistance. This too, then, is the point in Waciuma's
excerpt. She is demonstrating a method of passive resistance against the foreign
invasion of her homeland. While African American women are not protesting the
invasion of a homeland, they are certainly protesting invasion of the sanctity
of community. Some are grateful for the imposition of traditional values; some
not. However, it is a matter of conjecture whether these societies might have
been influenced in a less violent manner without European encroachment. In the
ways outlined above, these writers share common ground.
Research
Journal Conclusion Literature
5734 University
of Houston Clear Lake Post
colonial and Colonial Literature Student:
Dale Taylor This
has been one of the most challenging assignments of the semester. The more I
explored, the more I wanted to explore. There is plenty of literary criticism
that focuses on the literature that will be part of this writer's specialty.
However, included in the journal are several examples of literary criticism from
sources that serve as an adequate but not direct application to the field of
feminine third world literature. The major focus of the journal is to collect
that information that will be helpful in teaching. The
two student papers from the 1996 course demonstrated the extent to which
students can compare and contrast outside material to colonial works. It was
interesting that John Eberhart selected the Plumed Serpent and House Made of Dawn.
I'm familiar with the Momaday piece and did not previously see the possibility
for drawing some concrete parallels between it and post colonial and colonial
work. His text makes this possibility evident. Prathima Maramraj's comparison of
patriarchal domination to colonial imperialism in Freedom at Midnight and Clear
Light of Day provided a clear demonstration of the colonial power at work in the
colonized environment. Her citation of the Sharpe piece made evident the lack of
similar work in PCSR on African women. Though Larson does not focus on African
women in his text, he provides an interesting overview of the community based
culture in African society. This piece was instructive as an explanation of the
issue of difference as perceived by the European. It will have applications for
material in African studies classes as well as in cross cultural contexts. His
remarks that speculate on whether Africans and Europeans can ever understand one
another's literature is an overstatement. Though
the writer reviewed Achebe's, "Colonialist Criticism," and agrees with
some aspects of his assertion that there is no universality between African
literature and European literature, the writer disagreed on other points. It's
obvious that Achebe did not take into account the literature of African American
women. Reading this piece forced the writer to commit to writing some of the
short stories she has read by African women. A careful review and consideration
of them taught her that there are indeed some important themes that African
American women and African women share in common. That Achebe does not use the
word theme is inconsequential. It's important that this was one of the most
important pieces in the journal because it forced the researcher to question the
authenticity of Achebe's remarks as they apply to African American women and
women from other Third World countries. Another
important piece in the collection has been Jan Mohamed's "the Economy of
Manichean Allegory: The Function of Racial Difference in Colonialist
Literature." Many of the essays in PCSR included words that were not even
included in the dictionary. Some of essays seemed far fetched and out of reach.
However, this work seemed to use the language that most reflected some of this
writer's assessment of the material. It is apparent from reviewing his piece
that there are several works that might be used as comparable reviews to post
colonial works. I was impressed with his assessment of Isak Dinesen's Out of
Africa. It seems that, like Cabeza DeVaca, Dinesen eventually comes to see the
Africans as individuals deserving respect.As I reviewed the contents, it
occurred to me that though Miller's "Imaginative Universe..." piece,
helped me to understand more about Indian Literature, that it might not
necessarily represent literary theory. It is a valuable tool, however, placing
in perspective the various ancient literatures of India. This helped the writer
to understand some of the references to Indian religions. Though I did not
include a summary of this in the journal, Wilis and Tony Barnstone in their
text, "Literatures of Asia, Africa and Latin America," include a very
good compact history if India. I was able to glean some appreciation for the
fact that India was really besieged long before the English arrived. I sought it
for an explanation of cultural references that were unfamiliar. I learned for
example of the Gupta King Chandra Gupta II who was a great patron of the arts
and of Asoka, who advocated nonviolent rule, vegetarianism, religious tolerance
and responsible government. I believe Aziz refers to Aurangzeb, who was not as
tolerant as the Hindu people suffered persecution under his rule. A
review of the websites made it clear that there are a number of fertile sources
on the internet for research and reference. Some of the sites were not complete;
however, those that were complete provided many cross referents. I include the
site on the Philippines because I have a personal interest in this area and plan
to do some research in this field some day. The
historical report on the creation of Native American and African people as one _
the West Indian or Caribbean _ provided many insights about the viciousness of
Columbus. Though I had read Todorov in a previous course with Dr.
White, I had not realized the large number of slaves that Columbus himself had
brought to the West Indies. It was also instructive to learn that a large number
of West Indians were after intermarriage, taken to Seville where some of their
descendants remain today. This project provided much in the way of insight about
the origins and displacement of Native Americans and Africans. The
biography on Jamaica Kincaid helped me understand the historical context into
which her work belongs. It also helped me understand why her work reflects such
a bitter tone _ it sells books. Perhaps this is an oversimplification; however,
it was insightful to learn how she perceives her role as a writer. I drew on
several sources for this work. The work of which I am proudest is the brief
comparison of African American women writers to African women writers. It will
be the cornerstone of my future teaching endeavors. Works
Cited/Consulted Achebe,
Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Bantam Doubleday Publishing Group,
Inc., 1959. ---.
“Colonialist Criticism.” The Post Colonial Studies Reader. Eds. Bill Ashcroft,
Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. Adelaide
Casely-Hayford. “Mista Courifer.” Daughters of Africa. Ed. Margaret Busby.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. “Black
Literature and Post-colonial Theory” School of Humanities: Oxford Brookes
University. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/humanities/pgrad/ ssblpt.html Bhabha,
Homi K. “Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse.” Literary
Theories and Reader and Guide. Ed. Julian Wolfreys. New York, N.Y.: New
York University Press, 1999. “CaribbeanLiteratures.”http://www.ubourgogne.fr/ITL/postcol.htm#New%20Publica tions:%20the%20Caribbean “Caribbean
Literature.” http://www.journal_carribbean_lit.homestead. com/index~ns4.html Conrad,
Joseph. Heart of Darkness: An Autoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources
Criticism. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
1988. Eberhart,
John. “Return to Personal Spirit.” Colonial and Postcolonial Literature.
Ed. Professor Criag White. University of Houston Clear Lake. 25 July
1996. <http://www.uhcl.edu/itc/course/LITR/5734/p96ndx.htm>. Kincaid,
Jamaica. Lucy. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Group, 1990. Forster,
E.M. A Passage To India. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1924.
Defoe,
Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. London: Penguin Books, first published, 1719; reprinted
1985. Janmohamed,
Abdul R. “The Economy of Manichean Allegory: The Function of Racial
Difference in Colonialist Literature.” “Race,” Writing and Difference.
Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1985. “Filipino
American Literature and Contemporary Filipino Literature.” http://labweb.soemadison.wisc.edu/cni514/fall97/sumera/phillippines.html Forbes,
Jack D. “Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution
of Red-Black Peoples.” 2nd edition. Urbana and Chicago: Univesity of
Illinois Press, 1993. Larson,
Charles. “Heroic Ethnocentrism: The Idea of Universality in Literature.”
The Post Colonial Studies Reader. Eds. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths,
Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. Maramraj,
Prathima. “Comparing Patriarchal Domination to Colonial Imperialism.”
Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. Miller,
Barbara Stoler. “The Imaginative Universe of Indian Literature.” Columbia
Project on Asia in the Core Curriculum: Masterworks of Asian Literature
In Comparative Perspective — A Guide for Teaching. Armonk, N.Y.: An
East Gate Book, 1994. “Nigeria.”
Website: http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/imperial/nigeria/nigeria.htm Kebbedesh.
“No one knew more about women’s oppression than I did...” Daughters
of Africa. Ed. Margaret Busby. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. Kuzwayo,
Ellen. “The Reward of Waiting.” Daughters of Africa. Ed. Margaret Busby.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.
Head,
Bessie. “The Special One.” Daughters
of Africa. Ed. Margaret Busby. New
York: Ballantine Books, 1992. Perry,
Donna. “An Interview With Jamaica Kincaid.” Reading Black, Reading Feminist.
Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Group, 1990. Roy,
Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Random House, 1997. Waciuma,
Charity. From, “Daughter of Mumbi.” Daughters of Africa. Ed. Margaret
Busby. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. Walcott,
Derek. Derek Walcott: Collected Poems 1948-1984. New York: Farrar, Straus
& Giroux, 1986.
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