Keaton Patterson

10 December 2011

(R)evolution of Knowledge:

A Few Things I Learned about the Educational and Political Potential of Postcolonial Studies

            I did not know what to expect from taking the colonial-postcolonial literature seminar. Before this semester, the main concentration of my academic studies was in American literature, particularly modern and contemporary, and my only intention was to gain a more worldly literary perspective. However, what ended up happening was nothing less than a revolution in my analytical thought process, as well as a revitalization of my belief in the possibility of using literature and literary criticism to enact/influence positive, liberating sociopolitical change. Throughout the semester, I was continually exposed to literature that undermined the dominant Western understanding of foreign cultures, and, as a result, I learned more about America’s peculiar position within the postcolonial worldscape.

In comparing texts in dialogue, such as Robinson Crusoe and Lucy or Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart, what is really striking to me are the conflicting perspectives that emerge regarding the “education” arising from the cultural exchange of colonial contact. Herein lies the crux of what I learned—the effects of colonialism, including the cultural products it engenders (i.e., literature), have controlled how privileged individuals in the West perceive the “Third World,” shaping the political relationship between the two regions in the process. Furthermore, the schooling delivered through colonial administrations was intended not solely to educate its subjects, but also to imbue the colonized mind with the “superiority” of Western culture and civilization. However, postcolonial texts challenge this hegemony, presenting a view that strips the colonial endeavor of its benevolence to more fully perceive its agenda of domination.

I began exploring this idea with my midterm, focusing on the self-other dialectic and the possibility of intertextuality in colonial-postcolonial literary studies to illuminate “the way for a new, more egalitarian synthesis of human relations” (para. 1). However, I discovered that this outcome is only possible by exposing the oppressive power relations in the cultural-educational discourse surrounding colonial contact. For example, in Robinson Crusoe, the titular character shows a capacity for benevolence in tutoring the native he names Friday, but this education is founded on a political hierarchy as is seen clearly in the first “lesson”: “[F]irst I made him know his Name should be Friday … I likewise taught him to say Master, and then let him know, that was to be my Name” (149). After this initial introduction into Western education, Friday becomes the faithful servant/slave of the English castaway, helping Crusoe greatly and learning much in return, but Friday’s education and thus his worldview are always importantly governed by the structure of this power relation. He never questions his social position or the subservient role to which he is relegated as a result. In Lucy, though, the destructive dominance of colonial education is directly addressed. In the “daffodil” scene, Lucy is forced to recollect her school memories and the cultural indoctrination she received as an English colonial subject. Unlike, Mariah, the bourgeois American housewife, Lucy knows that “nothing can change the fact that where she saw beautiful flowers I saw nothing but sorrow and bitterness” (30). Lucy relates the flowers to the education that taught her to value English culture over her own, as her own in fact. Instead of the generous “civilizing” experience of Friday, Lucy is aware of the power relations that hold her in servitude. Rather than improvement, she only sees conquest and destruction.

This pattern was also viewed in the dialogue between Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. Marlow’s description of the ship’s fireman as an “improved specimen” (38) is especially telling in this regard. When taken in context with Kurtz’s mission to bring civilization and “light” to the dark masses of Africa, it is clear that education as a method of “improvement” in colonial literature is a process of domination. Still, the ambivalence of Conrad’s novel problematizes this stance somewhat, and it is necessary to compare the depiction of education with that of postcolonial literature to gain a clearer understanding. In Things Fall Apart, the educating mission of the colonial administration (i.e., missionaries) is portrayed by Achebe as a divide-and-conquer strategy that fractures Umuofian culture and society, turning clansmen against their own:

How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won out brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. (100)

With these four examples, the differing perspectives of colonizer and colonized in regards to colonial education becomes apparent. While the colonizer uses education as justification for his domination of others, the colonized recognize it as such in an effort to enact resistance. Through the use of literature, both sides work to achieve their ends. However, as I will touch on below, the simple fact that there is a dialogue over such issues holds out hope for an “egalitarian synthesis of human relations” (Patterson midterm para. 1).

             First, though, it is important to bring America into the conversation. American culture and education has traditionally resisted postcolonial criticism, seemingly removed from world issues stemming from colonialism and later decolonization. In my research journal, however, I explored how the “insincere framing of America’s colonial roots has been instrumental in advancing the nation’s imperialist aspirations from its very founding” (entry 1, para. 3). Ultimately, America’s position as the world power is reliant on its exemption from colonizer status, and American education reflects this larger political context. Postcolonial studies is largely ignored in mainstream American education, and the criticism that does arise is always viewed with suspicion (such as that leveled at Edward Said for his political beliefs) in order to maintain the dominant narrative in which America plays the role of liberator. Yet, as history shows, this ruse enables neocolonialism to be disseminated throughout the world, maintaining the supremacy of American culture and perpetuating its influence.

            The course of this seminar built upon my previous knowledge by not only giving me access to differing perspectives of world events, such as colonialism. Moreover, I found in postcolonial literature the direct relationship I was looking for between culture and sociopolitical change. Most important in this regard was the dialogic reading of the texts. By establishing a dialogue, we move beyond the dichotomous realm of domination and resistance. Instead, we foster the emergence of reconciliation and egalitarianism in human relations. Moreover, the field of postcolonial studies builds a bridge for cross-cultural understanding that is not as prevalent in other modes of literary analysis. According to Camille Buxton, “Although the purpose of this class has been to create a dialogue between colonial and post colonial texts, it has also been able to expand student knowledge of a variety of cultures using literature … Therefore, literature has become a useful tool by expanding its reach from the realm of entertainment to education” (final essay para. 5). Therein is the true value of postcolonial studies—the questioning or refutation of old understanding in exchange for the new. As such, this field has social importance that extends far beyond the scope of literature, and what I learned will influence my academic and professional career from now on. Question everything…especially the authority by which knowledge is categorized. To improve human relations, it is necessary to take all views into consideration.