LITR 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Sample Student Final Exam 2005

6 December 2005

Pauline Chapman

Colonial and Postcolonial Experience in Africa and India

In the mid-term I concentrated on the texts set in Africa and how Achebe seemed to be "correcting" Conrad's representation of his culture.  That lent itself to the dialogue concept, but what seemed unfair about that dialogue is that the postcolonial writer always had the last word.  Postcolonial authors always have the advantage of perspective:  They are writing at least 25 or 50 years in the future, and they are insiders to the culture, so of course they will understand it better than the Europeans.  Perhaps a wider view of the colonialism and the colonized world could be obtained with a cross-cultural dialogue. Colonial and postcolonial literature in Africa and India could be examined through a dialogue between the two colonial texts, and then between the two postcolonial texts.

The colonial novels Heart of Darkness and A Passage to India reinforce the colonial model with their similarities, but more interestingly, exhibit differences in the colonial experience.

The similarities between the two colonial texts are that the authors are both male Europeans, outsiders to the cultures being represented, and creating fantastic images and prejudices that influence Western views of the colonized, even to today.  Conrad depicts the Africans as unintelligible savages as Georgann Ward pointed out in her dialogue presentation: "Conrad describes the noise of African language using animal imagery."  Forster's depiction of the Indians is much more positive, but also skewed by his romanticizing them and advancing Orientalist images such as in his description of Dr. Aziz:  "He was an athletic little man, daintily put together, but really very strong." (Forster,15)  The authors' inability to truly know the cultures they write about is evidenced by both novels making multiple references to the mystery of the people and place.  Both the Anglo-Indians and the Europeans in Heart of Darkness have superior attitudes to justify their domination.

The differences in these two novels are immediately striking: Heart of Darkness is an apocalyptic horror story and A Passage to India is a spiritual quasi-romantic comedy of manners. These contrasting genres imply that there can be variations in the colonial experience.  Some of the variables that affect the colonial experience are culture and environment of the colonized, enterprise that attracts colonialists, and types or classes of colonialists this enterprise requires or attracts.

Heart of Darkness is set in the Congo where the jungle environment and natives are hostile, but the area is rich in ivory that the Europeans want.  Therefore, the Europeans' intentions are purely enterprise--get the ivory and get out alive.  This type of enterprise only attracts opportunists who are willing to risk danger, primarily laborers, trades people or managers.  Their stations are little more than encampments. 

On the other hand, A Passage to India is set in the city of Chandrapore, big enough to have schools, modern medical facilities, as well as the social club exclusively for the Anglo-Indians. The colonizing British in Forster's India are magistrates, doctors, and professors--educated professionals of a higher class than Conrad's Europeans.  We might assume that these professionals are willing to go to India because there is a certain level of civilization or safety and opportunities exist for advancement in their careers.  Also significant in A Passage to India is the presence of European women, which also indicates a certain level of civilization and safety, a desire to settle for a significant period of time and create a homelike atmosphere for themselves. Just the use of the term "Anglo-Indian" implies belonging, settling rather than just passing through. 

The characterization and condition of the colonized and their primary concerns are very different in the two works.  In Heart of Darkness there is fear, violence, exploitation, and death, so survival is the major concern, whereas in A Passage to India independence and social concerns dominate.

The natives in Heart of Darkness are overworked, starving, being cheated of their wages--physically oppressed to the point of death.  "Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest." (Conrad, 35)  The relation of the Africans to the Europeans is either deadly enemies or a slavery-like existence.  Communication is minimal.  We can only assume from Conrad's depiction of their condition that they would want to be free of the Europeans for mere survival.  Of course, this has to be inferred since Conrad doesn't have them speak for themselves. 

All of the Indian main characters in A Passage to India have stature within their community and are educated and articulate.  Dr. Aziz works in the hospital under Major Callendar.  The Indians work among the British but are kept under them.  They interact professionally, but very rarely socially.  They want independence to have the jobs the British now occupy in government and education, and to not be discriminated against in any setting.   The sophistication and civilization of the Indian community in A Passage to India makes them desire autonomy for self-actualization, not just self-preservation.

A dialogue can then be created noting similarities and differences in the two postcolonial novels, Things Fall Apart and Train to Pakistan, to gain insight into their cultures, the experiences of colonialism from the perspective of the colonized, and the concerns of postcolonial literature.

Similarities between the texts include that both are written by men from colonized or formerly colonized regions and showcase traditional, male dominated cultures.  They are set in rural, agrarian based communities. Religious elders are respected and exercise power in the community. Abuse of women is an accepted practice as evidenced by Onkonkwo's beating of his wives and Nooran's fear that her father will beat her when he finds out she's been intimate with a Sikh. There is strong loyalty to fellow villagers and mistrust of outsiders.  In both stories the peace of the village is disrupted by outside forces and the culture is damaged.  Both are written in a realistic, candid style that tends to reinforce credibility.

A significant fact about these texts, which accounts for some of their differences, is when they were written relative to the independence of their respective countries.  Things Fall Apart was published in 1959, during the colonial period, one year before Nigeria gained independence.  Therefore, his country was still in the anti-colonialist unifying stage, as the Indians were during A Passage to India.  Train to Pakistan was published in 1956, nine years after independence and partition.  At that point, Singh had the opportunity to see the far-reaching effects of partition.  These authors are at very different vantage points in the histories of their nations.

The time period in which the text is set is then influenced by that vantage point.  Things Fall Apart begins in the pre-colonial era depicting a culture completely untouched by modernization of any kind or by any contact with the white man.  Another difference is the entire village practices the same animist religion--a religion most Westerners would consider pagan. This makes the village a prime "target" for colonialist missionaries. Since their religion was a unifying principle in the village, having it challenged shakes them to the core.  His choice of time period and conflict indicates Achebe's opinion that colonialism was the start of the destruction of his culture. One of the concerns of African postcolonial writers is to inform both Africans and Westerners about pre-colonial culture since their traditional culture was oral.  That is another justification for the bulk of Achebe's story being a detailed depiction of pre-colonial life.  The Indians have pre-colonial literature, so their postcolonial writers are not compelled to create it.

Train to Pakistan is then set in the postcolonial era, depicting a village that is still traditional, but that has had the beginnings of Western modernization that came with British colonialism such as the train and the police department.  The villagers live in harmony with these fairly impersonal changes.  Because they are so far remote, they don't have direct contact with Anglo-Indians, which means they aren't educated or discriminated against.  There are three major religions practiced in the village and they have had minimal bother from missionaries.  Therefore, colonialism did not cause any major disruptions or changes in their way of life to this point.  The villagers even discuss with Iqbal how life will not improve for them with independence.  " 'Educated people like you, Babu Sahib, will get the jobs the English had,' " is the claim of the lambardar.  Then later adds, " 'The winds of destruction are blowing across the land.  All we hear is kill, kill...We were better off under the British.  At least there was security.' " (Singh, 49)

What then happens are life-changing events--the evacuation of their Muslim neighbors and the murders on the trains, which are a consequence of the Partition of India.  This decisive event in the history of the subcontinent was so dramatic and destructive, and the impact so profound, that it seems to eclipse the colonial experience. 

Another distinction between the two postcolonial novels is the messages they are sending through their main characters.  Both main characters cause their own deaths at the end of the stories, but with important differences.  Onkonkwo's suicide is an act of despair, a completely futile act, because he can't adapt to his changing world.  Should he viewed as a victim of colonialism, or is he to blame for not being able to adapt?  Either way, Achebe is either resigning his people to victimhood or assigning them some responsibility in the decline of their culture.

On the other hand, in Train to Pakistan, Jugga's death is heroic, an unselfish act to save his beloved riding on the train.  We could speculate also on the death and rebirth possibilities because with his act he's also unknowingly ensuring that his child will be born. In the end, Jugga is someone his people could be proud of, not an outsider, but one of them, who showed that one person could make a difference. In a very tragic story, there is a small bit of hope for the future.  For this reason, Train to Pakistan is a much more constructive example of postcolonial writing than Things Fall Apart.

After having reviewed the colonial experiences of Africa and India as represented by our two colonial and two postcolonial texts, it is clear that there are variations in these experiences.  In most cases resources, homes, dignity, jobs, families, language, religion, or lives were taken from them.  Important aspects of their lives and cultures were disrupted. It is helpful to see a clear picture so that people can begin to become individuals and move beyond the generalization of the colonized.  It is important to note that the villagers in Train to Pakistan, who didn't mind the British, were unusually lucky in that they were given things, like the train, but nothing was taken away.  Unfortunately, Train to Pakistan also shows that the end of colonialism is often just a new beginning of conflict.

Where have you been, where are you going?

I was introduced to colonial and postcolonial literature in last semester's class about the canon in which we put an accepted canonical text and a newer text in dialogue.  One of the pairs we studied was Heart of Darkness and The Poisonwood Bible, and as a consequence I was exposed to postcolonial theory.  The Poisonwood Bible is not a postcolonial text because it is written by an American, but it does explore colonialism, independence, and imperialism.  I am very interested in studying about other parts of the world, and especially historical events and social movements that affect present day reality.

However, I am having problems with the term "postcolonial" since finding out that Things Fall Apart was actually written pre-independence. I had assumed there was a "postcolonial" period that started after independence, not that postcolonial simply referred to any time after colonization began.  The terms colonial and postcolonial then become labels for the colonizer and the colonized, just perspective.  The term doesn't refer to the time they are written or written about.  To label someone a "postcolonial" author almost denotes they are forever colonized, no matter how much time has passed or what they are writing about.  I will make it a point to find out background information on the authors I read, so they don't become lumped into a postcolonial bin.

I will continue reading African literature, possibly women writers to get a different perspective.  I'm also interested in the ethnic clashes post independence, which I think would dialogue well with Train to Pakistan.  I'm curious whether postcolonial literature in Africa has shifted from an emphasis on colonialism to the postcolonial internal conflicts. 

We brought up in class the fact that our Indian postcolonial text Train to Pakistan wasn't engaged in responding to our colonial text.  In the end, I liked that because we saw a different experience by reading about a rural area.  I also appreciate that with each Indian text we moved forward in time and, to a greater or lesser degree, in progress. I would like to read more colonial literature set in India, something less romanticized and upper class than Forster. Forster depicted such a narrow view that I know there must be much we're missing. 

The partition of India and the ensuing violence was the most important fact I learned this semester.  I was shocked that I had never learned about this huge event.  The largest migration in modern world history and I had no recollection of being exposed to it. This reinforces two things about Americans:  we don't study much history and even less about world history.  Jasmine is such an interesting text because we can set it in dialogue with Train to Pakistan and see how the partition continued to affect lives years afterward, especially in Jasmine's father continuing to mourn the past and their former lives.  We can also see increased modernization alongside the traditional ways.  The rise of fundamentalism in response to a rapidly modernizing culture is also dramatized. 

With Jasmine we also got the long awaited consummation after the initial flirtation in A Passage to India.   She was able to connect because she was able to see that Americans and Indians had similar problems, that problems were universal, not just colonial. The challenges she had were more having to do with being an illegal immigrant, the grief of losing her husband, and the fear of the fundamentalists.

Jasmine demonstrates how a traditional country can't change fast enough for a woman who is smart and becoming modernized.  However, immigration can't be the solution for everyone.  I was actually encouraged by the essay about outsourcing jobs to India because immigration is not a long-term practical the solution. I'd rather see the formerly colonized country rise as a whole than for just a few to escape. 

Our dialogue in Caribbean literature lost a voice to a hurricane.  I just realized how appropriate that is.  I'm sure hurricanes could be added to the list of life disrupting events in the region.  I had been dreading reading Robinson Crusoe, but now after some of the references to it in class, I plan to read it.  Reading Lucy makes me want to find out where all her anger comes from, so that too motivates me to read more about the region.  The Caribbean is closer than the other areas we studied this semester, and I've actually been there, and yet I probably know less about it.  I plan to read more of both Caribbean and South American writers including Allende, Garcia Marquez, Danticat, Naipaul, and Jean Rhys.

Fiction that brings to life history and other cultures is one of my favorite types of reading.  It has the power to touch people, to make an impression that just learning facts doesn't have. One of the things that I have appreciated about this class is that the texts have informed me, but they have also opened up so many questions that inspire me to further study, both fiction and non-fiction. This class will not be the end of my study of colonial and postcolonial literature .