James Seth

3 December 2011

World Lit Final Exam– Essay One – Learning Outcomes in Colonial-Postcolonial Literature

This course in Colonial and Postcolonial literature has made me more aware of narrative structures and devices in the novel, the ways that dialogues form and expand between different countries, and the historical and topical issues surrounding colonialism. First, I gained a greater appreciation of what narrative and voice are doing to shape the text in a meaningful and productive way. Rather than reading texts simply to uncover the author’s intentions, this course emphasized intertextuality and understanding how texts “speak” to each other. I also learned how these texts represent the anxiety or anticipation connected to colonialism or postcolonialism, mapping out their “personal and cultural trajectory, direction, or history” (White). It was also beneficial to talk in class about what specifically the text brings to this dialogue in their characterizations of European imperialists, Americans, transnational migrants, and the African and Asian populations disenfranchised by colonialism.

I enjoyed the way that the course centered on storytelling and artistic medium, a strategy that forced me to look more closely at how I was getting information. In the colonial texts we read, such as Robinson Crusoe and “The Man Who Would Be King,” the narrative was manipulated to create a “multivocal” account, which I mention in my research project. Defoe and Kipling relay information from a variety of sources, such as journals, messages, and newspaper headlines, and then assemble them to create a cohesive narrative. In many of the postcolonial texts we read in the course, the authors relied heavily on dialogue to tell a story. Novels such as Things Fall Apart and Train to Pakistan are told through a single narrator, affecting the way that these stories are both told and interpreted by the reader. Analyzing the means that I receive information became much more important, I think, than simply processing and storing it.

I also learned many things on dialogue and how dialogues are formed and interpreted in colonial and postcolonial literature. In our class discussion on Heart of Darkness, I mentioned how the cries and sounds of the Congo were attempting a dialogue that Marlow, as well as the narrator, interprets as discord due to his preconceived ideas on the native peoples. While I was not suggesting that the tribes were attempting a face-to-face conversation, I believe that this scene portrays an interchange that is misinterpreted as nightmarish sounds in the darkness, signaling the way that European colonists portray the native peoples in the Congo. While other colonial novels such as Robinson Crusoe do not have hardly any dialogue for its native characters, particularly Friday, there is also an argument that Defoe limits dialogue for all characters, especially Crusoe. In the latter argument, Defoe controls the output of dialogue to focus on Crusoe’s inner turmoil and growth through journal entries. In my midterm, I stated that Crusoe is a model for the self-made man, which complements Defoe’s narrative scheme in having Crusoe’s story be told through introspective journaling. Crusoe creates a version of himself in his journals, a kind of self-making achieved through writing and contemplation. On a side note, I felt that the voyeuristic appeal in reading Crusoe’s journals on mundane activities connects to the way that social media also incites a fascination on the mundane information volunteered by individuals, who, like Crusoe, create a version of themselves and the world around them unique to their own views and beliefs.

This class also made me more aware and knowledgeable of the conflicts that have plagued postcolonial nations following European rule. The various films, discussions, and presentations updated my judgments and evaluations of first-world political strategies and the ways that European powers have, in their pursuit of resources and territory, prevented African, Caribbean and Asian countries from living in peace. In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow notes Kurtz’ sense of ownership with distaste, commenting on the way he calls the ivory “my ivory.” In the class presentation on the African ivory trade, the images of giant tusks and gaunt African workers were jarring. The realization that African tribes were divided into nations on paper by European colonials and how even the names of nations were nonchalantly given by wives of colonist leaders without any deep understanding of the culture was particularly unnerving. Before taking this course, I was also very unknowledgeable of the conflicts in the Punjab region in Pakistan and India, and it discouraged me at how little I was taught about this region in the public school system.

At the beginning of the course, I felt that the most challenging aspect was engaging in the course objectives, which seemed isolated from the texts I was reading. However, when I began writing my midterm, I realized just how important the objectives are with understanding how a text is continuing or challenging canon formation, the methods of narrative or dialogue, and especially what other voices can interpret a text. The course objectives and especially the helpful links to articles, essays, and definitions were crucial to my understanding of textual implications of race, gender, culture, otherness, modernity, and a bevy of other topics. By learning to take advantage of all of the resources provided through the course website, I was greatly rewarded, and I recommend future students with similar apprehension to explore the website as thoroughly as possible.