Susanne Allen

December 6, 2011

Western Culture Nipping at Traditional Society

   Dr. White’s Colonial and Postcolonial Studies course isn’t your grandmother’s basic western text course where the philosophies of others are taught. While studying the classics of philosophy is a privilege, the eye-opening study of intertexuality as it pertains to colonial and postcolonial literature is not only a privilege—it is also a life-changing experience. I now have a greater understanding of the atrocities of racial tensions as it relates to the colonization of a second country. The remnants of colonization are seen as normal to younger generations as the parent-colonized generations pass down newly learned traditions that quickly become embedded in the hearts and minds of a country.

   I was most amazed at how quickly a country could be forced into submission, and how their native customs could so easily be dissolved or become hybrid customs that barely resembled their former meaning or ceremony. A good example of how colonial influence is entrenched in the colonized people is in the movie White Teeth. The father symbolizes the mother county and has the power to unite or separate his family. He selfishly chooses to divide his children to protect his own indiscretions. The father covers up his personal mistakes by claiming that he needs Millet to be a more devout Muslim. However, the father had not lived in Bangladesh for decades, and obviously forgot that Bangladesh was in the throes of major cultural rebellion. The father’s plan to re-educate Millet is never achieved; instead, western society becomes Millet’s model. He learns western ways to facilitate his radical Muslim associations. This is a profound part of the movie because all of the father’s hopes and dreams are lost to the western world. Dawlat Yassin, in her 2007 final post says, “There is no going back to a pre-colonial situation or regaining a pre-colonial identity. Neither the colonizers nor the colonized culture are pure anymore.” Simply put, there is no turning back. There is a constant struggle between traditional cultures and the desire for democratizations and modernizations.

   Our studies highlighted the Americans ignorance to the larger world view of postcolonial issues related to democratization and modernization.  All one has to do is look at the New York Times best seller list, or walk into Barnes and Noble to see that the literary world is a closed society of modern day pulp fiction writers and biographies about western political figures and movies stars. This literary slant is not a real representation of the world as a whole and lends nothing to the need for a greater understanding of how colonization has affected the ongoing process of democratization in these now postcolonial countries. The process of modernization uses the mechanisms of neocolonialism to transform the underdeveloped country (Midterm). The process is complex, but it basically means that more material possessions and more technology are a necessary and preferred way of life. A good example of the process is South Asia which is undergoing different stages of democratization and the entire region is not passing through the same stage, and this phenomenon is causing major cultural unrest because of religious and economic disparities—all remnants of colonialism (Sharma 284 Research Post).  

    Of all the books that we read I was most influenced by Train to Pakistan. I was one of the ignorant Americans who thought that the India was filled with pacifists. Americans remain sublimely retarded in their world view. Basically, if you can talk to someone on the phone in India, isn’t everything okay over there? Americans are limited in their postcolonial world travels and rarely migrate to other countries to live; therefore, the ignorance is not intentional, but innate. It was my own ignorance that made the Train to Pakistan so interesting. It caught my eye immediately in the opening pages. Singh sets the record straight about the violence at the time of the Partition saying, “Muslims said the Hindus had planned and begun the killings, according to the Hindus, the Muslims were to blame. The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed. Both tortured.” (1) The colonial powers were gone and the country, divided, was now in its own struggle to reclaim its identity. Is it a fear of colonial regression that prompts a cultural war, or is it a fight for resources, beliefs, or just a state of confusion? I am still not sure.

   I felt somewhat helpless when I read the novels about Africa. The violence described the Heart of Darkness and the images seen in the video clip about King Leopold were unimaginable. I think the title of the novel is very appropriate. The colonizers and the country found their darkest heart in colonization. One of the most promising aspects of colonization is transnational migration to the first country. In Jasmine, she blossoms in the United States and Do also finds his way as a Vietnamese transnational. The book ends while they are young and I think this is on purpose to engage us as we wonder what adventures they can produce as they grow old.

   The Train to Pakistan was written over fifty years ago, but I felt as if it was a contemporary novel. While these novels are all fiction, they can easily be used as historical fiction, and they do help students understand the context of social change and resistance to colonial and postcolonial issues related to their countries. My view of the world is forever changed due to the texts that we read. I plan to continue my own study of interesting texts. I want to be the person in the airport who isn’t reading from the New York Times best seller list.