Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Postcolonial Theory: Meaning and Significance --Dr. Shrikant B. Sawant S. R. M. College, Kudal Dist- Sindhudurg (M.S.) 416 520 The Post - colonial Literature and theory investigate what happens when two cultures clash and one of them with accompanying ideology empowers and deems itself superior to other. The Writers of Empire Writes Back use the term “ ‘post-colonial’ to cover all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day” (2). Post-colonialism marks the end of colonialism by giving the indigenous people the necessary authority and political and cultural freedom to take their place and gain independence by overcoming political and cultural imperialism. Postcolonial discourse was the outcome of the work of several writers such as Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Ngugi Wa Thiango, Edward Said, Bill Ashcroft and his collaborators, Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, Aizaz Ahmad and others. Postcolonialism: The concept of Post-colonialism (or often postcolonialism) deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies. The term as originally used by historians after the second World War such as ‘post-colonial state’, where ‘post-colonial’ had a clearly chronological meaning, designating the postindependence period. However, from the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization. Although the study of the controlling power of representation in the colonized societies had begun in the late 1970s with the text such as Said’s Orientalism, and led to the development of what came to be called ‘Colonialist Discourse Theory’ in the work of critics such as Spivak and Bhabha, the actual term ‘post-colonial’ was not employed in these early studies of the power of colonialist discourse to shape the form and opinion and policies in the colony and metropolis. “Postcolonialism”, in the words of Charles E. Bressler , “is an approach to literary analysis that concerns itself particularly with literature written in English 120 in formerly colonized countries” (265). It usually excludes literature that represents either British or American viewpoints, and concentrates on Writings from colonized cultures in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, South America, and other places and societies that were once dominated by European cultural, political and philosophical tradition. Although there is little consensus regarding the proper content, scope and relevance of postcolonial studies, as a critical ideology it has acquired various interpretations. Like deconstruction and other various postmodern approaches to textual analysis, postcolonialism is a heterogeneous field of study where even its spelling provides several alternatives. The critics are not in agreement whether the term should be used with or without hyphen : i. e. ‘Post-colonial’ and ‘postcolonial’ have different meanings. The hyphenated term ‘Post-colonialism’ marks a historical period as is suggested by phrases like ‘after colonialism’, ‘after independence’, ‘after the end of empire’ whereas the term ‘postcolonialism’ referring to all the characteristics of a society or culture from the time of the colonization to the present. As a historical period, post-colonialism stands for the post - second World War decolonizing phase. Although the colonial country achieved political freedom, the colonial values do not disappear with the independence of a country. According to Bill Aschcroft, Griffith & Tiffin, “The semantic basis of the term ‘post-colonialism’ might seem to suggest a concern only with the national culture after the departure of the imperial power” (1). Meenakshi Mukherjee rightly observes: Post-colonialism is not merely a chronological label referring to the period after the demise of empires. It is ideologically an emancipatory concept particularly for the students of literature outside the Western PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded world, because it makes us interrogate many concepts of the study of literature that we were made to take for granted, enabling us not only to read our own texts in our own terms, but also to re-interpret some of the old canonical texts from Europe from the perspective of our specific historical and geographical location (3-4). It seems that Postcolonial theory emerged from the colonized peoples’ frustrations, their direct and personal cultural clashes with the conquering culture, and their fears, hopes and dreams about their future and their own identities. How the colonized respond to changes in the language, curricular matters in education, race differences, and a host of other discourses, including the act of writing become the context and the theories of postcolonialism. The project of postcolonialism is not only applicable to the students of literature alone, indeed, it seeks to emancipate the oppressed, the deprived and the down-trodden all over the world. ‘Postcolonialism’, in the words of G. Rai , is an enterprise which seeks emancipation from all types of subjugation defined in terms of gender, race and class. Postcolonialism thus does not introduce a new world which is free from ills of colonialism; it rather suggest both continuity and change (2). Thus, the term ‘Post–colonialism’ marks the end of colonialism by giving the indigenous people the necessary authority and political and cultural freedom to take their place and gain independence by overcoming political and cultural imperialism. Colonialism: The term ‘colonialism’ is important in defining the specific form of cultural exploitation that developed with the expansion of Europe over the last 400 years. Elleke Boehmer defines ‘colonialism’ in her book Colonial and Postcolonial Literature as “a settlement of territory, the exploitation or development of resources, and the attempt to govern the indigenous inhabitants of occupied lands” (2). Colonialism has been a recurrent feature of human history. The history of colonialism has existed since ancient times. By 1900 almost every country or region in the 121 world had been subjugated by European colonialism at one time or another. The Period after the Second World War saw an upsurge of new independent states. India and Pakistan were granted independence in 1947. France’s decolonization was marked by wars in French, Indochina, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands all divested themselves of their overseas possessions during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70s. ‘Colonialism’ has taken many different form and has engendered diverse effects around the world that can be gauged by thinking about its relationship with the two other terms: ‘Capitalism’ and ‘imperialism’. Capitalism: Colonialism was the means through which capitalism achieved its global expansion. Ania Loomba marks, “Colonialism was the midwife that assisted the birth of European capitalism, or that without colonial expansion the transition to capitalism could not have taken place in Europe” (4). Colonialism was the lucrative commercial operation bringing wealth and riches to western nations through the exploitation of others. It was the first and foremost part of commercial venture of the Western nations. Dennis Judd argues, “no one can doubt that the desire for profitable trade, plunder and enrichment was the primary force that led to the establishment of the imperial structure …..” (3). Thus, colonialism was pursued for economic profit, reward and riches. As colonialism and capitalism share mutually supportive relationship with each other , colonialism can be defined as ‘the conquest and control on other peoples land and goods’. Imperialism: ‘Colonialism’ is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘imperialism’ but in truth the terms mean different things. In its most general sense, imperialism refers to the formation of an empire, and, as such, has been an aspect of all periods of history in which one nation has extended its domination over several neighbouring nations. Edward Said uses imperialism in this general sense to mean “the practice, and the attitudes of a domination metropolitan centre ruling a distant territory” (1993, 8). ‘Colonialism’, however, is only one form of the ideology of imperialism, and specifically concerns the settlement of one group of people in a new location. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Imperialism is not strictly concerned with the issue of settlement. Childs and Williams define ‘imperialism’ as “the extension and expansion of trade and commerce under the protection of political, legal and military control” ( 227). Colonialism is a particular historical manifestation of imperialism, specific to certain places and time.. Colonialism : Its forms and effects: Ashish Nandy in his book The Intimate Enemy (1983) states two forms of colonization : one is the physical conquest of territories. The other is the colonization of the minds, selves and cultures. The first mode is violent, transparent in its self interest and greed. The second mode is that of the rationalists, modernists and the liberals who claim to have the responsibility of civilizing the uncivilized world. Nandy comments on the colonization of minds as, This colonialism colonizes minds in addition to bodies and it releases forces within colonized societies to alter their cultural priorities once and for all. In the process, it helps to generalize the concept of the modern West from a geographical and temporal entity to psychological category. The West is now everywhere, within the West and outside; in structures and in minds(xi ). Marxist thinkers also distinguished the two forms of colonialism as ‘precapitalist’ and ‘capitalist colonialism’. Modern colonialism did more than extract tribute, goods and wealth from the countries that it conquered. It restructured the economies of the latter so that there was a flow of human and natural resources between colonized and colonial countries. This flow worked in both directions. Slaves and indentured labourers as well as raw material were transported to the metropolis. The colonies provided captive market for European goods. This results into the flow of profit and goods along with a global shift of population. Both the colonizers and the colonized moved – colonial masters as administrators, soldiers, merchants, settlers, travelers, writers, domestic staff, missionaries, teachers and scientists and the colonized as slaves, indentured labours, domestic servants, travelers and traders. Thus, colonialism produced economic imbalance that was necessary for the growth of European 122 capitalism and industry. The term ‘colonialism’ results in the consolidation of imperial power to govern the indigenous people in act ‘colonialism’. Colonial / Postcolonial Discourse: Theories of colonial discourses have been hugely influential in the development of Postcolonialism. Postcolonial discourse was the result of the work of several writers such as Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Ngugi wa Thiango, Edward Said, Ashcroft et. all , Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, Aizaz Ahmad. In general their work explores the ways of representations, and modes of perception that are used as fundamental weapons of colonial power to keep colonized people subservient to colonial rule. Frantz Fanon: Frantz Fanon is an important figure in the field of postcoloniality and central to any discussion in anti-colonial resistance. He was influenced by contemporary philosophers and poets such as Jean–Paul Sartre and Aime Cesaire. Fanon wrote two books – Black Skin and White Masks (1961) and The Wretched of the Earth (1963) that deal angrily with mechanics of colonialism and its effect on those it ensnared. Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks examined the main psychological effect of colonialism and The Wretched of the Earth is a broader study of how anti - colonial sentiment might address the task of decolonization. Fanon’s writing cover a range of areas and have been influential in a number of fields, such as psychiatry, philosophy, politics and cultural studies. Edward Said: If the origin of postcolonial aesthetics lies in Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1961), its theory is found in Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978). Postcolonial theory is an area that has developed largely as a result of Said’s work. Along with Said, Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak form what Robert Young has called the ‘Holy Trinity’ of postcolonial theorists. Said defines ‘Orientalism’ as “Western style for dominating, restructuring having authority over orient” (3). The term ‘Orientalism’ which refers to the historical and ideological process whereby false images of and the myths about the Eastern or the “orient” world have been constructed in various Western discourses, including that of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded imaginative literature. Orientalism which is based on the cultural superiority of the West over the East paved the way for imperialism. Edward Said looked about the divisive relationship of the colonizer and the colonized. Ania Loomba rightly says, “Said argues that the representation of the orient in European literary texts, travelogues and other writings contributed to the creation of a dichotomy between Europe and its ‘others’(44). Said’s project is to show how knowledge about the non- Europens was a part of the process of dominating them. Western attitude towards Orientalists is based on ignorance of the Eastern culture and literature. The colonizers imposed their culture, and literature on the colonized people through various means. Said tries to show that West was wrong to treat the East as inferior both culturally and intellectually. Said argues that Western views of the Orient are not based on what is observed to exist in Oriental lands but often results from the West’s dream, fantasies and assumptions about what this radically different place contains. The West has misrepresented ‘the Orient’ as mystic place of exoticism, moral laxity, sexual degeneracy and so forth. Orientalism constructs binary division. The Orient is frequently described in a series of negative terms. Leela Gandhi states “Orientalism is the first book in which Said relentlessly unmasks the ideological disguises of imperialism”(67). Said’s “Orientalism can be said to inaugurate a new kind of study of colonialism” (Loomba 44). He wants to do away the binary opposition between the West and the East so that one can not claim the superiority over the other. Said’s Culture and Imperialism (1993) continues and extends the work began in Orientalism by documenting the imperial complicities of some major works of the Western literary canon. Homi Bhabha: Bhabha has popularised the term ‘ambivalence’, ‘mimicry’ and ‘hybridity’. The term ‘ambivalence’ first was developed in psychoanalysis to describe a continual fluctuation between wanting one thing and wanting its opposite. Adapted into colonial discourse theory by Homi Bhabha, it describes the complex mix of attraction and repulsion 123 that characterizes the relationship between colonizer and colonized. ‘Mimicry’ is an important term in the post-colonial theory, because it has come to describe the ambivalent relationship between colonizer and colonized. When colonial discourse encourages the colonized subject to ‘mimic’ the colonizer, by adopting the colonizers’ cultural habits, assumptions, institutions and values, the result is never a simple reproduction of these traits. Rather, it results in a ‘blurred copy’ of the colonizer that can be quite threatening. Bhabha describes “Mimicry as one of the most effective strategies of colonial power and knowledge” (35). British wanted to create a class of Indians who should adopt English opinion, morals. These figures were just like Fanon’s French educated colonials depicted in Black Skin, White Masks. They are ‘mimic men’ They learn to act English but do not look English nor are they accepted as such. As Bhabha puts it, “to be Anglicized is emphatically not to be English” (87). Mimic men are not slavish. They also have power to menace the colonizers. The use of English language on the part of the colonized is a threat to orientalist structure of knowledge in which oppositional distinction is made. The mimic men in relation to the colonizers, “almost the same but not quite” (89) is what Bhabha thinks as a source of anti–colonial resistance. ‘Mimicry’ gives rise to postcolonial analysis by subverting the colonial master’s authority and hegemony. It is a weapon of anti-colonial civility, an ambivalent mixture of deference and disobedience. Leela Gandhi rightly says, “mimicry inaugurates the process of anti colonial self -differentiation through the logic of inappropriate appropriation’ (150). The term ‘hybridity’ has been most recently associated with the work of Homi K. Bhabha, whose analysis of colonizer / colonized relations stresses the interdependence and mutual construction of their subjectivities. ‘Hybridization’ is a kind of negotiation, both political and cultural, between the colonizer and the colonized. Like Bhabha, Edward Said also underlined the importance of ‘cultural hybridity’ and it has come to stay and no amount of effort can completely separate the West from the East. ‘Hybridity’ being an integral part of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded postcolonial discourse bridges the gap between West and the East. Gayatri Spivak: Spivak’s most significant contribution to feminism and subaltern studies is her postcolonial exposition of the status of the Indian woman. She asks whether the Indian subaltern woman has a voice, or a even a voice consciousness ? Can the subaltern speak? Will she be heard? And Spivak comes to conclusion that ‘the subaltern cannot speak’ (Gandhi 3). Spivak has praised Said’s ‘Orientalism’ because she is interested in the current concept of “marginality”. Said’s work has foregrounded marginality and created the ground for the marginal. In discussing the silence of subaltern as female, Spivak explains that she was not using the term literally to suggest that such women never already talked. It is not so much that subaltern women did not speak, but rather that others did not know how to listen, how to enter into a transaction between speaker and listener. The subaltern cannot speak because their words cannot be properly interpreted. It is, therefore, the silence of the female as subaltern is a result of a failure of interpretation and not a failure of articulation. The Project of English Studies: The Project of English studies becomes a medium to strengthen the colonial rule. English literature was used as a medium for the colonial civilizing mission. English “literature was made as central to the cultural enterprise of Empire as the monarchy was to its political formation” (Ashcroft etc. all 3). Macaulay’s minutes of 1835 is usually cited as an evidence that defended the introduction of English Education in colonial India: “a single self of good European library was worth the whole native literature of India or Arabia. Macaulay’s valourisation of English literature at the cost of indigenous literature is taken as a paradigmatic instance of canon formation” (Gandhi 144). Colonialism is defended as a project of civilizing the underdeveloped world. Gauri Viswanathan in her Masks of Conquest unmasks the British educational mission, as they tried to ‘mask’ or disguise their real interest by representing colonial rule as an educational mission and popularize the human aspect of English culture. In contrast to the 124 violence of European colonization the English literacy text becomes the mask for economic exploitation …….successfully camouflaging the material activities of the colonizer (20). Anti-Colonial Resistance : Anti-colonial resistance is another major issue in postcolonialism. The colonial experience is a continuing process even after the formal end of the colonial situation. Anti colonial struggles, therefore, must challenge colonialism at political, intellectual and emotional levels. The two historical figures, Gandhi and Fanon, represent a style of total resistance to the political and cultural offensive of the colonial civilizing mission. Both of them suggest Nandy’s idea of psychological resistance to colonialism. Fanon asserts, “Total liberation is that which concerns all sectors of personality” (250). In Fanon’s view the colonized has the ability to resist the cultural supremacy of Europe. Gandhi feels sad about Indians attraction towards the glamourous superficiality of the West. He remarks, “We brought the English and we keep them. Why do we forget that our adoption of their civilization makes their presence in India at all possible ? Your hatred against theirs ought to be transferred to their civilization” (Gandhi, Mahatma 66). Gandhi was a kind of liberators to literary men, the one who broke the shackles of all around. He freed the enslaved Indian writers. Anti-colonial resistances have taken many forms. Anti-colonial movements drew upon western ideas and vocabularies to challenge the colonial rule. They often hybridized what they borrowed by juxtaposing it with indigenous ideas. English education fostered the ideas of liberty and freedom in native population. There is shift from ‘abrogation’ to ‘appropriation’, from unlearning English to the project of learning how to curse in the master’s tongue, the emergence of Caliban- paradigm. The colonized may now assert like Caliban who tells Prospero : “You taught me language; and my profit on it is , I know how to curse” (Tempest Act I sc. II). Caliban symbolically illustrates the logic of ‘protesting’ out of rather than against the cultural vocabulary of colonialism. From ‘Commonwealth’ to ‘Postcolonial’: PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded The shift from ‘Colonial’ to ‘Commonwealth’ perhaps suggests particular version of history in which the status of colonized countries happily changes from subservience to equality. Commonwealth literature may well have been created in an attempt to bring together writings from around the world on an equal footing, yet the ‘Commonwealth’ in ‘Commonwealth literature’ was never fully free from the older, more imperious connotations of the term. Meenakshi Mukherjee observes that, The term Commonwealth literature has finally fallen into academic disfavour, one can see that its biggest problem indeed was the presupposition that an umbilical cord tied all there diverse bodies of writings --- from Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and the rest ---to the mother country England, which absent centre set the evaluative norms. Absent – because literature from Britain was never seen as a part of this package (6). However, the patient, detailed and enthusiastic readings of Commonwealth literature laid the foundations for the various postcolonial criticism that were to follow, and to which much postcolonial critical activity remains indebted. Recently, a new term ‘post-colonial’ foregrounding the political dimension of both text and context of this literature - is being used more often, slowly pushing out, the old seemingly apolitical name ‘Commonwealth literature’. “‘Post-colonial literature’, Mukherjee says, “is presumably free from such centralist undertones; it suggests decentring, plurality, hybridity, a dismantling authority – hence many ways it is an enabling and protean term” (6-7). In the late 1980s and early 1990s the term postcolonial has been used to replace the earlier term like ‘The Third World Literature’ the term coined by Alfred Sauvy or ‘Commonwealth Literature’. The term Commonwealth Literature fell into the rough weather in the hands of writers from erstwhile British colonies, when it was drawn upon them that the writers of the colonizer ( i.e. England) do not form a part of this body of literature. Hence, a new term, post-colonial literature is coined to suggest decentring of 125 colonial literature. Two books, Empire Writes Back (1989) by Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin and The Encyclopedia of Post –Colonial Literature in English (1994) ed. by Benson and Connolly have popularised the term ‘postcolonial’ and lent respectability to postcolonial literature. Post Colonial Theory: A Critique: Although a number of postcolonial theorist and critics such as Frantz Fanon, Homi K. Bhabha, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak contributed to postcolonialism’s evergrowing body of theory and its practical methodology, an inherent tension exists at the centre of postcolonial theory, for those who practice this theory and provide and develop its discourse are themselves a heterogenous group of critics. On one hand critics such as Fredrick Jameson and Georg Gubelberger come from a European cultural, literary and scholarly background. Another group that includes Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, and many other were raised in the Third World cultures but now reside, study and write in the West. And still another group that includes writer such as Aijaz Ahmad live and work in the Third World. A theoretical and practical gap occurs between the theory and practice of those who trained and living in the West and the Third World, subaltern writers living and writing in non - Western cultures. Out of such tensions, postcolonial theorists have to discover problematic topics for exploration and debate. No theory, either political or literary, can be totally objective. Postcolonialism can neither be rejected nor accepted fully. Makarand Parajape states, The best way to begin interrogating postcolonism is not by pretending that we are the masters of our own academic destinies but by admitting, how colonized we still are. What is more, we cannot continue to blame only the West for our sorry state of subjection; we must blame ourselves. The dignity of the brown-skinned scholarship depends more than even before on how we view ourselves, rather than how others view us (43). Post colonial situation has given our writers confidence to write creative literature in English and it would be good for them to gain confidence to write literary criticism in our way- then only ‘post-colonial’ redeem the PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded colonial. Paranjape further adds that, “We need to strengthen ourselves, our institutions, journals and publication industries. We need not merely attempt to duplicate or copy metropolitan system, but develop our needs” (46 ). Postcolonial studies are preoccupied with the issues of hybridity, creaolisation, inbetweenness, diasporas and liminality with the mobility. Arun P. Mukherjee is of the view that Indian literatures, I believe, are too multifarious and too heterogenous to be containable in the net of a single theory. Anyway, the questions Indian readers must ask Indian literary texts particularly in the context of struggle against fundamentalism, casteism and WORK CITED Ashcroft, Bill; Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back : Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. London : Routledge, 1989. Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. 1994. Boehmer, Elleke. Colonial and Postcolonial Literature, Oxford and New York : Oxford University Press. 1995. Bressler, Charles E., Literary Criticism : An Introduction to theory & Practice, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999. Childs, P. and Williams, P. An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theory. London and New York: Prentice Hall, 1997. Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Mask. Trans. Markmann. New York: Grove Press. 1963. Gandhi, Leela. Postcolonial Theory : A Critical Introduction. Delhi: OUP 1999. Gandhi, Mahatma. Hind Swaraj. Ahamdabad: Navjivan Publishing House, Reprint. 1938. Judd, Denis. Empire: The British Imperial Experience from 1765 to the Present. Harper Collins. 1996. Loomba, Ania. Colonialism / Postcolonialism. 126 patriarchy cannot be answered within the framing grid provided by postcolonial theory where readers are instructed solely how to decode the subtle ironies and parodies directed against the departed colonizer. I think I need another theory. (20) To sum up, the postcolonial theory deals with cultural contradictions, ambiguities and perhaps, ambivalences. It repudiates anticolonial nationalist theory and implies a movement beyond a specific point in history (i.e. colonialism). Hence, postcolonial theory is transnational in dimension, multicultural in approach and a movement beyond the binary opposition of the power relations between the ‘colonizer / colonized’, and ‘centre / periphery’. London: Routledge. 1998.EEEW Mukherjee, Arun P. “Post-colonialism: Some Uneasy Conjunctures” Interrogating Post-Colonialism: Theory, Text and Context. Ed. by Harish Trivedi and Meenakshi Mukherjee. Shimla: IIAS, 1996. Mukherjee, Meenakshi. “Interrogating Post-colonialism”. Interrogating Post-colonialism : Theory, Text and Context. Ed. Harish Trivedi and Meenakshi Mukherjee :Shimla :IIAS, 1996. Nandy, Ashish. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism, New Delhi: OUP, 1980. Paranjape, Makarand, “Coping with PostColonialism”, “Interogating Post-Colonialism: Theory, Text & Context. Ed. Harish Trivedi & Meenakshi Mukharjee. Shimla: IIAS, 1996. Rai, G. “ Postcolonialism : Its Meaning and Significance” The SPIEL Journal of English Studies, Volume : 1 No. 2 July 2005. Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto and Windus. 1993. --- Orientalism. London : Penguin, (1978) 1995. Viswanathan, Gauri. Masks of Conquest: Literary Studies and British Rule in India. London: Faber and Faber.1989. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 127 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Postcolonialism :An Aesthetic of Subversion and Reclamation -D. P. Digole P.G. Dept. of English & Research Centre, People’s College, Nanded (M.S.) ABSTRACT “No race has a monopoly on beauty, on intelligence, on strength and there is room for everyone at the convocation of conquest.” - Aimé Césaire “Notebook of a Return to the Native Land”. Postcolonialism or postcolonial aesthetic designates a broad, postmodern intellectual discourse that has renewed the perception and understanding of modern history, cultural studies, political theories and literary criticism. Emerging from the colonial testimony of Thirdworld countries and the discourses of minorities, it aims at shedding ‘the colonial amnesia’ and creating tabule rasae (blank sheets / slates) with a view to rewriting /rethinking of all aspects of the colonial process from the beginning of colonial contact and addressing the questions of history, culture, identity, ethnicity, gender, language and education It entered the agenda of metropolitan intellectuals and academics as a reflex of a new consciousness around 1960 in the wake of political independence sought by various Third-World countries in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria), Asian Continent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana).. These now independent states / countries shared a common history of colonial domination, the imposition of the English language and British ways and styles, loss of indigenous cultures, psychological dependency and slavish survivalism. Hence, the rejection of the Western hegemony forms the nucleus of the postcolonial rhetoric which in turn creates space for marginalized groups or the disadvantaged nations. It exploits the Derridean deconstructive strategies and subversive modes 128 like hybridity, orature, mimicry,ambivalence etc for destabilization of Eurocentric norms and ways of thinking and thus punctures the widespread tendency in contemporary discourse of giving,in the words of Homi k. Bhaba, “a hegemonic ‘normality’ to the uneven development and the differential, often disadvantaged, histories of nations, race, communities and peoples” (Bhaba,1994:71). In other words, it provides a means of reclamation of cultural past and resistance by which any exploitative and discriminative practices can be challenged. The term postcolonialism is replete with contradictions and conundrums owing to the varied forms of colonial rule and processes of decolonization. It has an inherent plentitude of connotations and/or significations that can denote a historical transition, a dying colonialism, an achieved epoch, a weltanschauung (world-view), a cultural location, an extension of anti-colonial movements, a theoretical stance or a critical practice and so on. In its most general sense, the label ‘postcolonialism’ is used in connection with any discursive contest against marginalization or subjugation. One may wonder that colonies no longer exist and yet how can the term ‘postcolonial’ survive? Timothy Brennan rightly observes that “the term, however, survived in part because it successfully euphemized harsher terms like imperialism or racism in professionally respectable academic environments”. (Brennan, PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 2004: 132). Another postcolonial theorist Aijaz Ahmed also holds a similar view evident from his blunt assertion: “postcolonial is simply a polite way of saying not white, not Europe or perhaps not Europe-but-inside-Europe” (Ahmad, 1995: 30). Moreover, the hyphenated (postcolonialism /post-colonial) and non hyphenated terms are not always used consistently which fuel the debate regarding the very nomenclature. The hyphenated term tends to refer to the historical period after a nation has been officially recognized as independent whereas the non-hyphenated form denotes the consequences of colonialism from the time of its first impact. The present paper proposes to outline postcolonialism as “an Aesthetic of Subversion and Reclamation” thereby pointing out the centrality of the states of marginality, hybridity, mimicry backwardness, plurality and perceived ‘otherness’ as sources of energy and potential change in the postcolonial thought. Beginning with “erasure” and culminating in ‘reclamation” or assertion, the postcolonial aesthetic involves a renewed quest for native roots and distinct selfidentity. This progression can also be viewed as ‘a move from ‘imposed innocence’ to awakened conscience’.The seminally canonical texts like Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611), Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) embody the recognizable paradigm for postcolonial ends as they deal with the conflict between the natural inhabitants and the intruders. The play The Tempest allegorizes an altercation between Miranda, the daughter of the proto-colonial settler, Prospero and Caliban, the dispossessed native of the Island. Miranda accuses Caliban of being selfish and ungrateful towards the masters who endowed him with the pedagogic gifts of language and self-knowledge. Caliban thus replies bluntly: You taught me language: and my profit on it is, I know how to curse; the red plague rid you, For learning me your language ! (The Tempest Act I. Sc. II: 77). This reverberation of the dubious benefits of the linguistic indoctrination particularizes, in the 129 words of Leela Gandhi, “the logic of protesting ‘out of’ rather than ‘against’ the cultural vocabulary of colonialism” (Gandhi, 1999: 148). His native intelligence and astonishing mastery of newly learnt language – an amalgam of force, magic and the seduction of new learning is clearly evident from his description of the Island occupied by Prospero: “Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs that delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twanging instruments will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices” (The Tempest Act.III. Sc.II: 136-9).This Calibanesque eloquence and use of colonizer’s language in his own indigenous way substantiate the native ways of living and the native’s primitive but self-reliant and independent universe. Homi Bhabha uses the terms like hybridity, mimicry ambivalence and subversion to denote how the colonial authority is rendered ‘hybrid’ or ambivalent in the postcolonial era. Postcolonialism stands for the cultures and societies at margin and challenges the centre-margin archetype with an intention of the removal of inequality. Therefore, it eschews the high culture of the elite and espouses subaltern cultures and knowledges. It combines and draws on elements from post-modernism, post-structuralism, Socialism, feminism and environmentalism. Its difference from any of these as generally defined is that it begins from a fundamentally tricontinental world, third world, subaltern perspective and its priorities always remain there. For the people in the west, post-colonialism amounts to nothing less than ‘a world turned upside down’. It looks at and experiences the world from below rather than above. Like colonialism, postcolonialism is state of consciousness, a crucial phase in the continuum of our cultural process and self awareness. Colonialism is very much a part of power dynamics used for domination and exploitation. The colonizers use myths, history, language, literature etc. as powerful tools in the process of colonization. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Ashish Nandy in his book The Intimate Enemy presents the theory of colonialism in light of the colonial conditions between India and Britain. The Britishers enslaved the natives in India through an ideology which replaced the native consciousness with the consciousness of the master. As a result the Empire is gone but the imperialism of the West is left in several manifestations or incarnations. The colonial rule has crippled the thinking of the colonized Indians who privilege even now everything that is western-values, traditions, manners, and even literature. What the Kenyan novelist N’gugi Wa Thiong’o says of Africa is stunningly relevant to India also:“A new world order that is no more than a global dominance of neo-colonial relations policed by a handful of western nations… is a disaster for the peoples of the world and their cultures… the languages of Europe were taught as they were our own languages, as if Africa had no tongues except those brought their by imperialism bearing the label ‘MADE IN EUROPE’ ” (Thiong’o, 1993:35).He uses the terms like ‘linguistic oppression ‘cultural bombing’ and delocalization to denote the hegemony of the West operating through ‘linguistic globalization’. The cultural values, family relationships, respect for elders, respect for knowledge, ability to be happy even without material comforts and philosophical and religious values of the natives are being replaced by ‘foreign’ values. In order to shed the hegemony of the West, he abandoned the use of English and firmly decided to write in his indigenous language Gikuyu. He justifies his choice of the rural language of Gikuyu people thus: Language is a carrier of a people’s culture, culture is a carrier of a people’s values; values are the basis of a people’s self definition – the basis of their consciousness. And when you destroy a people’s language, you are destroying that 130 very important aspect of their heritage… you are in fact destroying that which helps them to be themselves … that which embodies their collective memory as a people (Journal of Commonwealth Literature 26:1). The postcolonial theorists and practitioners like Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Edward Said, Gauri Vishwanathan, Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak Chakravarthy have developed the theory of colonialism and its aftermath in their works. Frantz Fanon, the patriarch of postcolonial discourse has analyzed very minutely the psychological aspects of colonialism and myths of racism in his works like Black Skin, White Masks (1952), A Dying Colonialism (1959) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961). According to him, the colonizers deliberately paralyze the natives’ consciousness and insert their ideology into the fabric of consciousness of the colonized with an aim to justify their rule and occupation of the native’s territory. The indigenous world of the native is thus corrupted by using the socalled supremacy myths and attributing the opposite qualities of what they represent reason, sophistication, morality and so on. The natives are thus forced to believe that they are by definition irrational, uncultured or barbaric, immoral, feeble and therefore require the correcting hand of the ‘cultivated man’. This very denial of any worthwhile indigenous culture or history necessitates the assertion of identity and celebration of native ways of living and history. Fanon’s observation is quite appropriate and summative here: The claims of the native intellectual are not a luxury but a necessity in any coherent programme. The native intellectual who takes up arms to defend his nation’s legitimacy and who wants to bring proofs to bear out that legitimacy, who is willing PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded to strip himself naked to study the history of his body, is obliged to dissect the heart of the people (Fanon, 1968: 211). What Fanan advocates here is nothing but “a search for nativism” and “the recovery of past” through the celebration of the indigenous values and traditions. Therefore, he views past as a resource of ‘alternative history’ and links it with the present from the standpoint of a future vision without European rule and a nation capable of future achievements. Fanon’s another pioneering work Black Skin, White Masks (1952) probes deeper into the colonizer’s psychology and the diabolic effects of racism and colonialism on the minds of the colonized people. The effects lead to ‘a paralysis of consciousness’ thereby resulting into psychological dependency, loss of self and identity and loss of culture. Anger is replaced by surrender and voice is replaced by silence or mutedness. The European values and traditions gain absolute superiority and greater authority over the colonized people. Fanon in the context stresses the importance of asserting their negritude, to use Aimé Césaire’s famous term, and negation of imposed values and traditions. Aimé Césaire’s description of the native people under the colonial rule is highly suggestive and worth quoting here: “Societies drained of their essence, cultures trampled underfoot, institutions undermined, lands confiscated, religion smashed, magnificent artistic creations destroyed and the extraordinary possibilities wiped out” (Aimé Césaire, 1972: 21-22). This is the blunt reply to the colonizers who talk about progress, achievements, diseases cured and improved standard of living. But the reality is that the colonial domination of Britain took the form of a denigration of native cultures and a silencing of the native voices. Hence, postcolonism demands the reclamation of native cultures by challenging the colonial 131 misrepresentations. Frantz Fanon aptly states that: “Black men want to prove to white men at all costs, the richness of their thought, the equal value of their intellect” (Fanon, 1967:10). The postcolonial intellectuals developed a new perspective whereby the conditions of marginality/subalterneity, plurality, mimicry, hybridity and perceived ‘otherness’ are seen as sources of energy and potential change. They argued that Western values and traditions of thought and literary practices are guilty of ‘repressive ethnocentrism’. Such values and traditions of thought are instrumental in establishing the centremargin archetype and marginalizing the non-western values and traditions. Edward said in his magnum opus Orientalism (1978) enlarged the scope of the post colonial approach by exposing the Eurocentric universalism that establishes western superiority over the East. He elaborates the European modes of governing knowledge and reinforcing power and thus dismisses or excludes “the knowledge which natives might claim to have”. He points out that Orientalism is not only a geographical location but also an ideology - “a Western style of dominating, restructuring, having authority over the Orient”. He argues that the Orient has been managed or even produced politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically and imaginatively by employing certain systematic ways by the Europeans. He observes that: “European culture gained the strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self.” (Said, 1991:3) The people in the East are seen as ‘masses and not as individuals. The Westerners attributed the qualities like decadence, laziness, cruelty, stupidity, effeminacy etc. which they do not wish to attribute themselves. They thus essentialised their own culture by ‘denuding’ the native cultures. While PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded commenting on the important role played by anticolonial nationalism, Edward Said in his canonical book Culture and Imperialism rightly points out: It is a historical fact that nationalism-restoration of community, assertion of identity, emergence of new cultural practices-as a mobilized political force instigated and then advanced the struggle against western domination everywhere in the non-European world. It is no more useful to oppose that than to oppose Newton’s discovery of gravity. (Said, 1993: 218) Claiming Derrida’s authority, postcolonialism rejects such notions and celebrates plurality, hybridity etc. as the sources of vigour and vitality. Derrida maintains that ‘literature’ is only a free play of signifiers without a ‘centre’ and ‘far from presenting any meaning words carry with them a certain absense or indeterminancy of meaning’. He recommends ‘dissemination’ as an alternative to the polysemy of interpretation as he believes “there are thus two interpretations of interpretations, of structure, of sign, of free play” (Derrida, 2005: 411). Said through this inspirational key text of post-colonial discourse succeeds to a great extend in teaching the colonized people how to teach a literature which is not their own: “To deconstruct the text, to examine the process of its production, to identify the myths of imperialism structuring it, to show how the oppositions on which it rests are generated by political need at given moments in history quickened the text to life in our world”. (Pathak, 1991: 195) The postcolonial scholars attempt to overcome the stigma of marginality or ‘otherness’ by foregrounding differences and diversity. Gayatri Spivak has rightly pointed out that ‘when a cultural identity is thrust upon one because the centre 132 wants an identifiable margin, claims for marginality assure validation from the centre.’ (Collier and Geyer-Rayan, 1990: 220) She goes on to add that postcoloniality is a conceptual structure that need to be deconstructed. She devotes her essay “Post-structuralism, Marginality, Postcoloniality and Value” for negotiating the postcolonial condition by using deconstructive strategy. She thinks that the deconstruction of postcoloniality bears not only the status of migrants in the Western metropolis but also the conditions in the decolonized world. She notes that decolonized nations include disenfranchised, subaltern populations that were exploited by the old colonialism yet do not share in the energy of decolonization. But intellectuals like Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze maintain that the colonized subjects also through their participation in the celebration of native ways of living can “speak, act and know for themselves”. Her highly controversial essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” with an obvious negative answer denies the very possibility of cursing or voicing their anger/wrath. One finds it very difficult to agree with her argument as the subalterns-oppressed people also ‘look back in anger’ towards the colonizers while asserting their individualities. She further argues that, postcoloniality is neither to recover signs of self representation of “the disenfranchised speaking for themselves” nor to address victimhood “by assertion of identity”. (Spivak, 1990: 56) Like Said and Spivak, Homi Bhabha theorizes postcolonial discourse in his edited books Nation and Narration (1990) and the Location of Culture. By coining the terms like mimicry and hybridity, Bhabha advocates the plurality of postcolonial cultures as they embrace the European and indigenous traditions. This celebration of hybridity, according to Bhabha is a positive advantage that allows the postcolonial writers and critics PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded to analyze the West as insiders as well as outsiders. Bhabha’s theory of hybridity thus provides an affirmative answer to Spivak’s celebrated question ‘can the subaltern speak?’ The postcolonial writers have shown that they have not only gained independence but successfully made the colonizers language as vehicle for the creative expression. Each former colony uses English in its own way and therefore, we get Indian English, African English, Caribbean English etc. in the postcolonial age. Hence, it is difficult to agree with Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, the authors of the book The Empire Writes Back, when they say that ‘postcolonial literatures are result of this interaction between imperial culture and the complex indigenous practices….imperial language and local experience’. (Ashcroft et. al., 1995:1) Leela Gandhi in her book The Post-colonial Theory: A Critical Introduction (1990) refutes their claim by pointing out the fundamental differences between the colonial rule in the countries like Australia and New Zealand and the countries in Asia and Africa. Such differences pertain to cultural subordination in those countries. Peter Barry in his book Beginning Theory identifies three phases of postcolonial theory. The first phase is the ‘adopt’ phase in which the writers and critics follow the European form and norms to describe their experience. The creative writers Chinua Achebe, E.M.Forster, R.K.Narayana, George Lamming etc. belong to the first phase. Forster’s novel A Passage to India, in the words of Revati Krishnaswamy, “offers an entire grammar of colonial desire, a narrative that codifies an entire spectrum of intra-and interracial male relations, from most outrageously homo-social to the most subtly homo-erotic. It not only ridicules the racialised opposition between English manliness and Indian effeminacy in strident terms but surreptitiously draws the homo-sexual 133 into the orbit of the erotic…”. The second phase is the ‘adopt’ phase in which they suitably modify the form and norms to their own specifications. It includes writers like Derek Walcott, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth. Rushdie’s tour the force Midnight’s Children is the best example of the adopt phase as it uses magic realism and the multicultural ethos to convey the reality of the Indian sub-continent. The process of ‘chutnification’, pickling or biryanification is also a part of the postcolonial desire. The third stage is called ‘adept’ phase where a colonial mind becomes independent, creative and really cross cultural in expressing it’s experience. This stage is dominated by the writer’s like Shashi Tharoor, Kiran Desai and others. Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss embodies the features of the independent and cross cultural mind liberated from the shackles of colonial ideology. To conclude in brief , postcolonialism is truly a dissentual, subversive theory/ practice erasing the debunking of cultural past by the colonizers. It sought reclamation of native cultures through the celebration of indigenous traditions and values.As Rushdie says ‘the Empire writes back, but with a vengeance’, the Caliban’s successors/ children like Chinua Achebe, Derek Walcott, George Lamming, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth and Kiran Desai are competent enough to get the due benefits of the English language – ‘the power of colonizers’, to curse and thus showing their native intelligence in the use of colonizers language also’. By exploiting the deconstructive approach, postcolonialism redefines, reassesses and restructures history, politics, culture, literature, knowledge and psychology of the erstwhile British colonies. It marks the end of colonialism by giving the indigenous people the necessary authority and political freedom to take their place and gain independence by PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded overcoming political and cultural imperialism. An indigenous approach based on our own needs and suitable to our multi-cultural and muti-lingual context can be helpful in decolonizing mind and thus handling the dangers of neo-colonialism. In the end, one is REFERENCES: * Aijaz, Ahmad. In Theory: Classes, Nations,Literatures. New Delhi, OUP, 1999. * Ashcroft Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin.. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post Colonial Literatures. London Routledge, 1989. * Barry, Peter..Beginning Theory. New York:MUP,2000. * Das, B.K. Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. New Delhi: Atlantic Pub., 2004. * Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse and Human Sciences” ed. B.Das and J.M. Mohanty..Literary Criticism: A Reading. Culcutta:OUP, 2005. * Gandhi, Leela..Post-colonial Theory : A Critical Introduction Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. * Krishnaswamy, N. et.al. Contemporary Literary Theory : A Student’s Companian Delhi: Macmillan,2001. 134 inclined to agree with B.K.Das’ view that “post-colonial theory is transnational in dimension, multi-cultural in approach and a movement beyond the binary opposition of the power relations between the colonizer/ colonized and centre/periphery”(Das:233). * Krishnaswamy, R.Effeminism: The Economy of Colonial Desire,1998. * Pathak,Z., Sengupta, S., Purkayashtha, S. “The Prison house of Orientalism”, Textual Practice, 1991.Vol.5 no. 2 p.195218. * Said, Edward. Orientalism. London & Henley : Routledge & Kegal Paul,1978. * Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Post-structuralism, Marginality, Post-coloniality and Value”. Literary Theory Today Ed. Peter Collier & Ryan New York 1990. * Wa Thiong’o, N. Moving the centre: The struggle for cultural freedom. London: Heinemann,1993. Young, Robert J.C. Post Colonialism :A Very Short Introductio Delhi: OUP, 2003. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Post-Colonial Theory: A Retrospect --Totawad Nagnath Ramrao, Vivekanand Arts, S.D.Commerce and Science College, Samarthnagar, Aurangabad. Abstract: Post-Colonial theory is a discussion of “migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender, place and responses to the influentional master discourses of imperial…. Europe and the fundamental experiences of speaking and writing by which all these come into being” -Bill Ashcroft Post-Colonial theory signifies a closure with colonialism. It also opens with an inquiry and understandind.Postcolonialism also appeared as a decolonization which as marked the second half of twentieth century.Post colonial theory allows for a wide ranging investigation such as :post-colonial history,economy,science,culture and marginalized.It is also an attempt of development and recovery of identity.The present research paper aim at analyzing the the women condition in pst-coloniai age.It also focus on various sociakl problems such as prostitution rape,violation,murder and harassment.Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-CandyMan, Water or The Pakistani Bride, describes in detail about Hira Mandi. The Prostitution still continues in the society. It is also labeled as Devdasi Custom still continues in the society against the Dedication Act of 1982 (The ban on Devdasi). Prostitutes are considered lower and downtrodden. On the other side they have no place in any society in the hierarchical order. In Water, 2006, Bapsi Sidhwa rightly, point out the upper caste men secretly and often visit to the widows. And some men keep them (widows or prostitutes) as sexual commodities. In Water, Narayan, the Gandhian idealist is against widow system and tradition. He decides to marry a widow, Kalyani, knowing she is a prostitute (sex works to run the widow house). At this moment father Dwarkanath, upper caste, suggest Narayan to keep her. And on the other, Seth Dwarkanath has many times put the sexual relation with Kalyani. same like Water, Freddy slept with Rosy. 135 In Ice-Candy-Man 1988, the Partition experience very well narrated. Women became the victim in all communities. Hindus abduct Muslim, rape, murder or make a sexual violation. While on the other Muslim men caught Hindu women, the experience is narrated by the novelist as follow. Ice-Candy-Man, a Muslim abducts Hindu Ayah, a friend of him, played, enjoyed & spent together. In Partition he forgets everything, marries with her, named her Mumtaz, and finally forced her into prostitution. Ice Candy man’s nature is exposed by the novelist as follow: Any man who has the money.... my cook. Wrestler, Imam Din, the Knife Sharpner, Merchants, Peddlers, the Governor, Coolies.... can come to relax and enjoy by playing with women's bodies with 'make-up on their faces and flowers in their hair. (1988:124) The same narrative also very well highlighted in Hindi Cinema. The places like Mandi & Tawaif are shown in the Cinemas like- Water and Earth: 1947 by Deepa Mehta, Canadian Director. The cinema also highlights the problems and silences of women (or prostitutes). The marginalized women have dreams and desires along with tender feelings but no escape. They have trapped in the system in which one enters, no exist at all. Men do not suffer in these partition upheavals but women. Women only the subject of sexual and physical violence. The violation of women is a weapon of domination and repression. Susan Brown Miller in her seminal text Against Our Will: Men, Women and The Rape, well highlighted Hiravery Mandi in Lahore has emerged as a m the pattern of abuse to women. According PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded to her the sexual violence is not about sexuality, she comments: It shows a pattern of power and domination..... For centuries, in groups and individuals, as soldiers and civilians, ordinary men have used rape to humiliate and subordinate women and to proclaim there masculine superiority and dominance to women and to other men. (1975:193) The power of men over women is only a matter of pride. Women from the centuries became the inferior. In partition or in any issues women only became victims. The silence and patience of women that only survived them. The women suffered a lot from the past. Once they loss the chastity or became the victim of rape or abducted, the family gave them the second treatment of non accepting. Partition has focused women identity in many ways. It has faced many acts of brutality and all the memories are preserved in literature in various tones and ways. The writers who have contributed to the issue of Partition in literature they are Khushwant Singh; 'Train to Pakistan', Chaman Nahal; 'Azadi', Attia Hosain's; 'Sunlight on a Broken Columns', Anita Desai, 'Clear of of Day', Shauna Singh Baldwin's, 'What the Body Remembers' Manju Kapoor's, 'Difficult Daughters', Mumtaz Shah Nawab's, 'The Heart Divided', Meher Nigar Masroor's,'Shadow of Time', Sophia Mustafa, 'Broken Reed' and Anita Kumar's; The Night of the Seven Dawns. Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-Candy-Man, 1988, also scripted by Deepa Mehta in the Film, Earth: 1947 is a unique in its content. Partition in multicultural India has affected mostly three cultures- Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. It has faced migration, death, destruction, and loss. Before partition no one could have foreseen the ferocity of blood and enmity among the cultures. In partition women is the central issue in all cultures. The abduction of women, mass rape, women's abduction and marriage with other community members. 136 Rape and molestation of women became a matter of Bride to other community, but none could understand the harsh reality. The violation of women of every community by the opposite means systematically all communities women are violating. Partition is an example of extreme sexual brutality involves all patriarchal conception. The each community member involves in the rape of other community women. It is according to them is the only way to penetrate them. Rape, abduction, molestation, marriage, kidnapping of a young girl, these issues are the challenging to men and their manhood. The attack on honor and chastity of women is the only way of defiling them. Bapsi Sidhwa presents the general opinion of people towards woman. Lenny, in IceCandy-Man, 1988, became the victim of Polio. Which the Britishers brought. Col. Bharucha the president of the Parsi Community decides the fate of Lenny, as follow: She'll marry - have children - lead a carefree, happy life. No need to strain her with studies and exams. (1978:15) Her brother Adi goes to school on the other Lenny is denied from several privileges. Comparing to other Parsee boys including her brother she gets the secondary treatment. As a child, polio-stricken and finally a woman nobody cares her education equal like boys. Speaking of women is not allotted, there role is only the passive, observer and listener. The women's passive role and its acceptance. Susie Tharu comments on the issuein ‘Patriarchy and Feminism: The Birth of Consciousness': As women we often believe our exploited sexuality passive, dependent role in best for us. We are contented, often exalted by its meager rewards, its promised glitter. Further we have so identified with patriarchy's hostility to anything that challenges the established order we fear and even actively resist critical speech and radical action. Worst of all, we are ourselves so PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded insecure in the system (the time between good and bad, and hence acceptable and totally unhoused, is slippery) that often we are the most vicious in our castigation of those who do not conform.(1982-50) According to Tharu, women must be real conscious. The conscious which will lead against the victimization. There is a need to step ahead to protest patriarchy. According to Urvashi Butalia the women's bodies became the defining identity of nation. Women who are highly valued in a national representation and a spirit of nation crushed bitterly and largely in partition. It is in the words of Krishna Sobti, 'difficult to forget and dangerous to remember'. The women in Partition were abducted as Hindus and converted as Muslims. Recovered as Hindus got pregnant and the children of Muslim fathers. Finally these women disowned by their own families by the label of 'impurity'. The identity of women as neither Hindu nor Muslim. The result many women have made suicides, some has taken a support of Ashrams and some made invisible. The Partition has taken much death. All the dominant communities Hindu, Muslim and Sikh suffered a lot. Hundreds of women were killed by their own husband in order to avoid humiliation and sexual abuse. Many women were also killed by their own fathers and brothers to avoid sexual abuse and violation. Partition in India has brought a permanent hatred among the communities. It gave birth to the communal hatred. Women and her body treated as the territory of one's identity. Women became the symbol of exploitation of the communities. The Partition uses largely 'sex' as a weapon of revenge of all community. It is the attempt of humiliation of the rival community. The Partition has also given birth to the forced marriages and conversions of women into other. Urvashi Butalia, as a social historian comments on the crucial condition of women in Partition, she comments: Mass scale migration, death, destruction, loss - no matter how in 137 evitable Partition seemed, no one could have foreseen the scale and ferocity of bloodshed and enmity it unleashed.... Still less could anyone have foreseen that women would become so significant, so central, and indeed so problematic.(1998: 188) Women's self sacrifice and murders are the courageous and inhuman actions. It is a continual process of suffering of women’s sexuality. The constant exploitation and objection continues after the post-partition period. Women were restored and put their violated bodies aside but away from accepting in the society. Finally many experienced homelessness at home. Thus, patriarchal values and communal identity and the honor of nation have converted many women into murder & suicide. It is labeled in the words of women writers as an act of 'heroism'. Many women were became the victim of Partition, talking about the death ratio of women in Partition, Urvashi Butalia comments: 'There is no record of the numbers of women and children killed by men of their own families, their own communities. Unlike in the case of abducted women, there families did not report the deaths of their women, for they themselves were responsible for them. But while abducted women then entered the realm of silence, women who were killed by families, or who took their own lives, entered the realm of martyrdom.(1998: 208) Partition, of the Indian subcontinent, thus has many ways made target to the women. Women who suffered a lot in the Partition to the maximum. The minute observation and study reports that women are the major victims of Partition comparing to men. Women in Partition have experienced many identities that none could imagine and think. The study lastly expresses their sacrification as an act of heroism and martyrdom. References: PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 1) Barbara, Smith (ed) 'A Black Feminism: A Movement of Our Own', 1975: 12 2)Castillejo, Irene de Claremont (ed). 'Knowing Women: A Feminist Psychology'; P. 91. 3)Goodyear, Sara Suleri (ed). 'Blurb of Water, Penguin Books, India: 2006, P. 30. 138 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Post Colonialism: A Substantial Contribution of English to the Study of Literature and Culture -Dr. Rupali P Hiwarkar Vivekanand Arts, Sardar Dalipsingh Commerce and Science College, Samarth Nagar, Aurangabad, 431001. “Language has always been the consort of empire and forever shall remain its mate. Together they came into being together they grow and flower”. -Elio Antonio de Nebrija, Bishop of Avila. The global spread of English has resulted in the emergence of a diverse range of postcolonial varieties around the world. Postcolonial English provides a clear and original account of the evolution of these varieties, exploring the historical social and ecological factors that have shaped all levels of their structure. It argues that while these English’s have developed new and unique properties which differ greatly from one location to another, their spread and diversification can in fact be explained by a single underlying process, which builds upon the constant relationships and communication needs of the colonizers. Outlining the stages and characteristics of this process, it applies them in detail to English in sixteen different countries across all continents as well as in a separate chapter, to a history of American English. Language and empires have always gone together. Colonization, requiring legal social and political control, is also an archivization project, to document, disseminate and formulate rules, information, and policies, often, colonialisms drive to generate its own vocabulary and command and evacuate non - European languages of signification in official transactions means that the natives were forced to speak the language of the colonizer. England itself has seen the domination of Latin since the Romans and Latin continued to be the language of prestige, power, and scholarship. 139 Thus English suffered colonization by Latin during the early phase. It must also be kept in mind that there were languages and literatures in England well before English. Old English Norse, Welsh, Latin, Irish-Gaelic among others. English suppressed Celtic, Welsh, Cornish (of which there are about 300 speakers today), and Gaelic on its route to domination of the islands. Spanish, French, Dutch, English, and Portuguese acquired the status of 'international' languages because their dissemination across their local geographical borders (into Asia, Africa, and South America) was facilitated through the machinery of empire. As Walter Mignolo's magisterial study, The Darker side of the Renaissance : Literacy, Territoriality and Colonization (2003) has demonstrated, language grammars, codices and cartography are all rhetorical forms engineered by colonialism to attain control over the nonEuropean. Incidentally, when the British Empire expanded and Spanish and Portuguese empires shrank, English replaced Spanish and Portuguese the most dominant imperial language. Postcolonial literary and cultural studies explore the role of languages in the process of colonialism. The subjects of post colonialism's study of language in colonialism include: • • • PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 The domination of native languages by European ones; The hybridization of both languages; and The politics of language, literature, and translation. Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Gandhi declared in Hind Swaraj (a text that continues to have relevance for postcolonial processes of decolonization, as Makarand Paranjape has argued, 1993): 'To give million knowledge of English is to enslave them. Raja Rao, one of the first generation of Indian novelists in English, in a much-quoted formulation expressed the linguistic and narrative anxiety of the postcolonial writer: One has to convey in a language that is not one's own Spirit that is one's own. One has to convey the various shades and omissions Of a certain thought movement that looks maltreated in an alien language. I use the word 'alien', yet English is not really an alien language to us... Our method of expression therefore has to be a dialect which will some day prove to be as distinctive and colorful as the Irish or the American. 4. Shukla, Bhaskar A(ed). Critical study of postcolonial literature, Mark publishers 2009. 5. Wolfreys,Julian(ed).Introducing literary Theories, Edinburgh University Press, 2002. The debate about English derives from the context of globalization. For countries that have barely begun to recover from the cultural assaults of colonialism, globalization presents the newest challenge English is clearly the language of globalization, represented mainly by business and economy, where it becomes the language of management, trade debates and negotiation, and even dispute - resolution. That is, language here has a close correlation with actual socioeconomic processes. English as the language that drives globalization is also the best contender for the status of a 'global language', where it homogenizes various parts of the world under its umbrella. References: 1. Nayar, Pramod K(ed). Postcolonial Literature An Introduction, 2008, Pearson Longman 2008. 2. Krishan Das Deepchand Patra (ed). Postcolonial English Literature, Daya publication 2009. 3. Schneider, Edgar Werner(ed). Post colonial English: Varieties around the world, Cambridge University Press, 2007. 140 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Reconnecting Past: Orhan Pamuk’s ‘Snow’ --Dr. Shaikh Kalimoddin Rashid Maulana Azad College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Aurangabd. The present paper deals with reconnecting past as one of the themes of the novel Snow by Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish author, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2006. It was published in Turkish in 2002 and in English in 2004 which is translated by Maureen Freely. Though story of the novel encapsulates many of the political and cultural tensions of modern Turkey and successfully combines humor, social commentary, mysticism, and a deep sympathy with its characters. The plot revolves around the return to Turkey, after twelve years, of an exiled poet, Ka, for his mother’s funeral. He is a rootless figure. Never inspired by the traditional faith of his childhood, Ka has abandoned the idealistic leftist politics of his youth, seeing only how the authoritarian, violent state smashed young people’s idealism. Notwithstanding his retreat from politics to art, in Germany, Ka becomes an isolated figure, who is misunderstood or ignored by the locals, who has lost his muse, and has stopped writing poems. Ka returns to Turkey after twelve years political exile and his journey to Kars function as- a journey to reconnect past. In Turkey, he takes up a journalistic assignment to discover why the “headscarf girls”, banned from the local schools in the dilapidated border town of Kars, have taken to committing suicide but more than this he also has another purpose that is to hook up romantically with an old friend, Ipek, whom he has never forgotten. Therefore the theme of reconnecting past this novel deals not only with the headscarf girls of Turkey but also similarly with the narrator Ka’s past. Kars, a cut off place by heavy snow, Ka wanders through a decaying city haunted by its glorious former selves: there are architectural remnants of the once vast Ottoman Empire; the grand Armenian church stands empty, testifying to the massacre of its worshipers; there are ghosts of Russian rulers and their lavish celebrations, and pictures of Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic and 141 instigator of a ruthless modernization' campaign, which included not incidentally a ban on headscarves. Ka's pose as a journalist allows Pamuk to put on display a wide variety of opinions. Those not living in the shrunken remains of former empires may find it hard to imagine the mix of resentful entitlement, shame, blame, and anxiety about identity that takes up a great deal of headroom in such places, and thus in Snow. There are two strong female characters, the emotionally battered Ipek because of her divorce from Muhtar partly due to his interest in political Islam and another strong woman is Ipek’s sister, the stubborn actress Kadife, who has joined and become the leader of the ‘headscarf girls’ those who insist upon being ‘covered’. Those scrapping for power on both sides use these dead girls as symbols, having put unbearable pressure on them while they were alive. Ka, however, sees them as suffering human beings. 'It wasn't the elements of poverty or helplessness that Ka found so shocking. Therefore he asks Ipek as: Why are so many people turning to religion all of sudden? Why is everyone in this city committing suicide? asked Ka. It’s not everyone who’s committing suicide; it’s just girls and women. The men give themselves to religion, and women kill themselves.1 Neither was it the constant beatings to which these girls were subjected, or the insensitivity of fathers who wouldn't even let them go outside, or the constant surveillance of jealous husbands. The thing that shocked and frightened Ka was the way these girls had killed themselves: abruptly, without ritual or warning, in the midst of their everyday routines.'' Their suicides are like the other brutal events in the novel: sudden eruptions of violence thrown up by relentless underlying forces. The attitudes of men toward women drive the plot in Snow, but even more important are the attitudes of men toward one another. Ka is always worrying about whether other men respect or despise him, and that respect hinges not on material PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded wealth but on what he is thought to believe. Since he himself isn't sure, he vacillates from one side to another. Shall he stick with the Western enlightenment? But he was miserable in Germany. Shall he return to the Muslim fold? But despite his drunken handkissing of a local religious leader, he can't fit in. Once Ka gets to Kars, a bigger story develops, as the town turns in on itself when three days of heavy snow isolate it. All the divisions and tensions between old disillusioned leftists, Kemalists, the military, the virtually omnipresent intelligence services (the “MIT”), the press, the Sufis, Kurds, Armenians and the Islamists are there, and they are about to boil over into violence. So in a meeting with Serdar Beythe owner of the Border City Gazette, Ka being ironic asks, This is the work of international Islamist movement that wants to turn Turkey into another Iran...’Is it same with suicide girls? Aren’t the Islamists against suicide? 2 But, unlike in Istanbul, where everyone lives separately in “tribes”, in Kars everyone stills knows and mixes with each other, and these divisions get played out within families. It is worth pointing out that none of main protagonists come across as cardboard cutout caricatures either. The forces of the state believe that a wanted Islamist terrorist named “Blue” is behind the religious agitation in the city. The Islamists are poised to win the municipal elections. Ka witnesses the assassination of a local school head for upholding the ban on headscarf by a young Islamist in a cafe. The Islamist violence and terror is real enough, but it pales into insignificance beside the manipulation and torture of the intelligence services, and the even more brutal and open violence of the military and the police force. The chief villain in Snow is not “Blue”, but the murky and sadistic figure of Z. Demirkol, head of the local intelligence service, whose runs MIT in Kars with the efficiency of the former East Germany’s Stasi. Everybody suspects somebody else, and there is no such thing as a private meeting. With Kars temporarily snowbound and unaccountable, the forces of repression take their chance to smash the Islamists with searing brutality. Demirkol’s puppet is the has been theatrical star, Sunay Zaim, famed for his resemblance 142 to Ataturk, whose performance of the play My Fatherland or My Headscarf at the city’s main theatre becomes the pretext for bloody suppression, with soldiers killing the religious high-school kids in the audience who have come in support of the “headscarf girls”. At the exact time of firing, the short, fearless boy stood up and shouted:Damn the godless secularists! Damn the fascist infidels! (169) The great central metaphor in Orhan Pamuk’s Snow is embedded in the title, and the novel’s deeper themes are connected with it. Ka, like Kafka’s K, is either a witness to events, or occasionally a catalyst for them, rather than a protagonist. He finds love, trauma and inspiration in Kars: all of the town’s profoundest hopes and fears surface violently when snow in Turkish, “kar” blocks all ways in and out. Ka, having no traditional faith, having abandoned his youthful political idealism and bereft of poetic inspiration, finds, in the tumult of snowbound Kars, his muse — in the antinomies of religion and atheism, authoritarianism and freedom, aesthetics and politics, love and duty. Finding inspiration, nineteen poems are “dictated” to Ka during his short stay, which he attempts to map through the use of a snowflake diagram, in the years after those three strife-filled days in the town. His poems narrate a complex individuality, irreducible to mere labels, aligned on the axes of logic, imagination and memory in his snowflake diagram. Snow is thus a double metaphor: it stands for both confinement and freedom, and, through Ka’s alternation between these two poles, this doubleness is played out as the dramatic tension between personhood and politics. Yet it is Ka’s seemingly ambiguous, cipher-like indecisiveness that does much to cause distrust among many in Kars, when, after getting dragged into the town’s political crisis, a local paper accuses him of being a spy. He doesn’t want to take sides, and thus reduce his art to political propaganda. His newfound “faith”, expressed through his rebirth as a poet, is not enough: Before I got here, I hadn’t written a poem in years,” he [Ka] said. “But since coming to Kars, all the roads on which poetry travels here have reopened. I attribute this to the love of God I’ve felt here. I don’t want to destroy your illusions, but your love of God comes PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded out of Western romantic novels,” said Blue. In a place like this, if you worship God as a European, you’re bound to be a laughingstock. Then you cannot even believe you believe. You don’t belong to this country; you’re not even a Turk anymore. First try to be like everyone else, then try to believe in God.3 Ka is similarly berated for his naivety in protesting state violence: it is merely a European vice, an idealistic liberal pretence. As one reviewer has astutely noted, everyone has a double in Pamuk’s writing. Ka’s “double” is Sunay, who stages a “postmodern” military coup in Kars, who puts his “art” in the service of the state, instigating the imprisonment, torture or killing of Kurds and Islamists in the town. Sunay embraces politics as the culmination of his art, to serve the fatherland, while Ka embraces its contradictions creatively but runs from its practical consequences. Most of all, this running away is a refusal to be labelled as a Europhile, a naive liberal, an Islamist sympathizer, a spy and informant, and so on — all the things he is, in the end, accused of because of his wish not to take sides, but to live for art and love. In the short-circuiting of politics, art becomes escapism, and so, offering no solutions, finds no vindication in the blood and repression of Kars Snow is also a tragic love story, a thriller and, more broadly speaking, a dark journey into familiar Pamuk territory: faith, identity, betrayal and solitude. Similarly this novel vividly portrays the cruelty and intolerance of both the Islamic fundamentalists and the representatives of the secularist Turkish state. More importantly, however, Pamuk has created believable, sympathetic characters representing both sides of that great divide and has given eloquent voice to their anger and frustration. According to Margaret Atwood the novel, Snow is an in-depth tour of the divided, hopeful, desolate, mystifying Turkish soul. In short, in Snow Orhan Pamuk uses his powers to show us the critical1) dilemmas of modern day Turkey. How a European country is it? How can it respond2) to fundamentalist Islam? And how can an3) artist deal with these issues? Snow is a book4) 143 about the difficulties faced by the nation torn between tradition, religion, and modernization. Set in the farthest east of Turkey, the locals are certain that in Western eyes they’re all considered ignorant yokels. They suffer from a dreadful inferioritycomplex and a need to prove them to counter that. Religion is the easiest crutch to rely on. The struggle is not only with West, however, but with the strong tradition of secularism in Turkey itself. In Snow Pamuk effectively portrays these difficulties, and the many ambiguities in contemporary Turkish life. Snow is the latest entry in Pamuk's longtime project: narrating his country into being. It's also the closest to realism. Kars is finely drawn, in all its touching squalor, but its inhabitants resist ''Orhan's'' novelizing of them. One of them asks him to tell the reader not to believe anything he says about them, because ''no one could understand us from so far away” (p.435). This is a challenge to Pamuk and his considerable art, but it is also a challenge to us. In the final lines of Orhan Pamuk’s masterful novel Snow, the narrator describes how he boards a train leaving the town of Kars in eastern Anatolia, looks out through its windows, and meditates on the life and death of his friend Ka, a poet murdered after his visit to Kars four years previously. The novel closes with him staring into “the thick falling snow” until “the thin and elegantly quivering ribbons of smoke rising from the broken chimneys at last seemed a smudge through [his] tears” (436). The moment is pure Pamuk: tears of melancholic longing become a lens that bends the landscape around the contours of a sadness mirrored in the broken buildings he regards.4 To sum up, Orhan Pamuk’s Snow deals with a clash between radical Islam and Western ideals, it can be an insight into rapidly rising fundamentalist movements or a modern day life in Turkey but simultaneously it tries to reconnect with the past. References: Orhan, Pamuk. Snow. NewYork: Faber and Faber Limited. 35. Print. Orhan, Pamuk. 27. Orhan, Pamuk. 334. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 144 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Post- Colonial Analysis of ‘Riot’ --Pramod R. Jaware R.C. Patel Institute of Technology, Shirpur Dhule (MS) --Vinod Kumar Mangwani O.P. Jindal Institute of Technology,Raigarh (CG) I. INTRODUCTION TO POST-COLONIAL PERSPECTIVE: To know Post-Colonialism it is important to know about colonialism. Colonialism is the expansion of a nation's sovereignty over foreign territories through forcible occupation. European colonialism began in the fifteenth century and reached its culmination point in the late 19th century. At the height of European colonialism, more than three quarters of the earth belonged to European nations. These colonial powers were interested in increasing their own political power and in exploiting the colonies’ resources. Most of the indigenous people of colonial territory were oppressed and enslaved by the occupying power. Sometimes they were even deported from fertile land or murdered to make room for new settlements. At the same time, they were forced to give up their cultural heritage and to assimilate to the colonizers’ culture. This strategy, which is also known as culture colonization, was supposed to manipulate the colonized peoples' minds. The colonial powers believed that a colonized nation which adopted and admired Western culture would no longer resist the colonizers' occupation. In British colonies, for example, the colonized population had to convert to the Christian religion and learn the English language and read English literature in school. As a result, they adopted Western values, and the colonizers were eventually able to rule by consent and not by violence. However, this assimilation could never be complete. Similarly in this novel the cultural, ideological and existential colonization got never possible. Post-colonialism is an intellectual direction that exists since around the middle of the 20th century. It developed from and mainly refers to the time during and after colonialism. The post-colonial direction was created as colonial countries became independent. Nowadays, aspects of post-colonialism can be found not only in sciences concerning history, literature and politics, 145 but also in approaches to identity, ideology, and culture of both the countries those colonised and the former colonial powers. A major aspect of post-colonialism is the rather violent-like, unbuffered contact or clash of identities, cultures and ideologies as an inevitable result of former colonial times; the relationship of the colonial power to the (formerly) colonised country, its population and culture and vice versa seems extremely contradictory.This contradiction of two clashing cultures, identities ideologies and the wide scale of problems resulting from it must be regarded as a major theme in post-colonialism. Postcolonialism is a spcifically postmodern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of , the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Identities, cultures and ideologies have always been a dominant preocupation of the Indian novelists in the postcolonial era. This compulsive obsession was perhaps invevitable since the genre originated and developed from concurrently with the climatic phase of clonial rules and in the final stages of the freedom movement. Post-colonialism can take the colonial time as well as the time after colonialism into consideration. II. POST-COLONIAL STUDY OF THE NOVEL: Author, peace‐keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist, a Director of Communications cum Executive Assistant to the UN Secretary-General and once as the member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram Loksabha constituency in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. His is a multi-faceted personality, carving a curious niche in the literary scenario of the Contemporary Indian English writing after independence. He can be hailed as a major voice in contemporary Indian literature as far as the nature of his anxieties is concerned. Shashi Tharoor’s works normally resound with rhetoric of multiple socio-cultural affairs. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Like ‘The Great Indian Novel’, ‘Show Business’ and The Five Dollar Smile and Other Stories’, ‘Riot’ also conforms to the criteria. In fact, this novel confirms Shashi Tharoor as a major voice in contemporary literature. Some of the great reviewers appreciate its concern with the multiple kinds of social, political & cultural affairs in varying degrees. He has been appreciated for the freshness of his ideas, stylistic novelties, and unrestrained experimentation in narrative technique as well. Moreover, he can also be remembered highly to bring in the post-colonial aspects of different types of conflicts and collisions. There have been no attempts to unveil the collisions and conflicts in this novel. Shashi Tharoor himself has confessed in many of his interviews that the novel is full of conflicts and collisions of various sorts- identity, culture and ideology. This major voice has tried to solve different kinds of global problems as a senior official of the UN for more than two decades. Besides, he has searched the way-out of pacifying communalism and violence plaguing Indian awareness to a great extent. Naturally, this novel discourses various types of conflicts and collisions between identities, cultures and ideologies. Various forms of postcolonial collisions and conflicts such as identities, cultures and ideologies have been productively and extensively explored in postcolonial theory. Here, the conflict of identity commences with the author’s engrossment with finding his own unique identity in the literary sphere. While reading this novel, ‘Riot’, one comes across the observation that Tharoor is not different from a journalist for he resorts to journalistic reporting, diary writing, and interviews to depict reality. ‘Riot’ appears to be great in more than one way. One of the strengths of the novel is implicit in the unconventional narrative structure- the writer has come up withperhaps more successfully. This fact has been highlighted and justified by the writer also who defines novel as a literary genre in which one can always bring some kind of novelty. In fact, his personality itself is very experimental and, therefore it does not seem very surprisingly that he has tried his hand on a very unconventional structure. A modest attempt to understand some of the features of the narrative structure of this masterpiece is necessary since Tharoor has 146 interwoven time in the narrative of the text in well and innovative manner. This attempt may be perhaps to carve out identity amidst Contemporary personalities of the genre. Another striking point about the narrative is that the whole novel is divided into seventy eight sections of varying length. These sections help in unfolding the story of the novel in two-tier system. The first strand runs through records entries and letters, whereas the second one unwinds through interviews, conversations and interrogations. The various sections impart the novel a touch of an encyclopaedia where each section brings linear perspective about Priscilla Hart’s multidimensional personality, and her universe and also the tragic flaw of her character, if any, which might have contributed to her death. Further, many of these sections also attempt to explore socio-political condition of the time in which she served and stayed in India and finally got entrapped in its storm leading to her death. Apart from these, one of the great merits of this novel is that though each section is an independent whole in itself, one can find interrelatedness among them besides like an encyclopedia, one can take the liberty of reading it in any order without missing the crux of the story. This novel contradicts the traditional view that every novel should start with exposition and then go on to a resolution via complication. Here the novel begins with resolution, if gone by the spatial arrangement, and then keeps on alternating between exposition and complication. This is nothing but a search for identity by the author by resorting to innovativeness. The plot of the novel starts with the death of an American social worker Priscilla Hart, during the sectarian violence in the wake of Babri Masjid agitation. Her estranged parents come to visit Zalilgarh- the place of Priscilla’s death and the story unfolds the investigation of an American journalist, Randy Diggs who is looking for a “story” for the western media and accompanies Rudyart Hart and Katherine Hart, the parents of Priscilla Hart from United States of America. There he meets the local chaunistic Hindu fundamental leader Ram Charan Gupta to investigate the politics behind riot which ultimately led to Priscilla’s death. One perceives different types of collisions and conflicts in the plot of the novel. The novel PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded focuses on Priscilla Hart, a 24 year-old American volunteer serving in association with ‘Help-Us’, involved in developing awareness among women about family planning program. However, she does not witness anything changing as women are still so subservient that they cannot question even for their welfare rather they yield to the demands of their men folk and swallow any number of pregnancies merrily. So, this is a great conflict, which is hard nut to crack for Priscilla. She herself acknowledges that her project is not so easy but at the same time it is difficult because religion, ageold traditions and the male’s ego interfere in getting her objective achieved. Further, she also accepts that these women folk are so gifted, so knowing, yet so weak to stand up against their tradition and society in limiting their family and thus providing their children a quality life and preserving their health too. She attempts to convince them to avoid bearing undesirable children but she has to compensate for this by suffering the anger of Fatima Bi’s husband who calls her a foreigner and threatens to kill her as he thought her to be responsible for the abortion of Fatima Bi’s eighth child. She feels bewildered as to why they are after her life when she is trying to elevate their condition by teaching the real art of living with dignity and happiness. This comes up as a great conflict in any progressing nation where no one is ready to ponder upon another’s perspective, where no one wants to change, where no one wants to stand and ask questions regarding their better future. The American version of the novel contained the label “A Love Story.” It is really a sensual but ill-fated romance between Priscilla Hart, the American heroine, a 24 year old family planning counsellor and V Lakshman, an older married Government official posed as the district Magistrate. This relationship brings to surface several kinds of conflicts, like the conflict between the existential need and social expectations. Lakshman, though deeply in love with Priscilla Hart, refuses to go with her, as he does not want to lose his social image, his job and his daughter. Though every cell of his wants to be with this American lady, he does not want to lose social prestige and honour just to feed his emotions. Besides, it also exposes the traditional Indian social fabric that does not consent a lady to fight against her husband. Further, the relationship 147 between Indian civil servant and the American researcher leads to the perennial conflicts between the Oriental values and the Western perception of truth. The officer who talks sensibly, and who thinks alike attracts her. But it seems that love does not provide long-term pleasure, rather it brings fear, insecurities, tension, confusion and uncertainty. Lots of things that have been taken as a sinful act, like extramarital affairs in Indian culture, does not even raise an eyebrow in the Western culture. On occasions, Priscilla has been roled to question the very foundation of the traditional Indian marriage system where the elders of the family arrange the marriage. She is unable to swallow this marriage as the lifetime commitment between a boy and a girl.In deeper analysis, we come to know that his affair with the American lady paints a conflict between his being and nothingness. His whole being cries for this woman so much that he is unable to remain away from her even for a week. He just thinks of an alternative life where he will not suffer the loveless life he has suffered for nine years with his wife, Geetha. Priscilla, for him is a mere fantasy come true, the possibility of an alternate life. This also brings to the surface some of the so-called social taboos, like sex for discussion in a very bold way as sex also plays a very crucial role in bringing this civil servant closer to the foreign researcher. Geetha has a different attitude towards sex. She just takes it as a routine job in which she does not want to initiate or welcome in any way; she just wants to be a passive partner. She also feels that she is born to bear it rather than enjoy it. On the other hand, Priscilla enjoys every moment of it as if sex is a great festivity and celebration for her. All these bring Lakshman closer to her but ultimately his social face wins over his personal and existential faces and he decides to end the relationship, as he has to look after the family, especially his daughter Rekha. Besides these, Priscilla is always lost because of his double standards and feels that perhaps it is a part of Indian culture. She finds even Holy Scripture supporting her point. On 16 July 1989, she writes in her scrapbook: Learned something interesting about the Hindu god, Ram the one all fuss is about these days. Seems that when he bought his wife back from Lanka and became king, the gossips in the PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded kingdom were whispering that after so many months in Ravan’s captivity, she could not possibly be chaste anymore. So to stop the tongues wagging, he subjugated her to agni-pariksha, a public ordeal by fire, to prove her innocent. She walked through unscathed. A certified pure woman. (p. 63) She further continues: That stopped the gossip for a while, but before long the old rumours surfaced again. It was beginning to affect Ram’s credibility as king. So, he spoke to her about it. What could she do? She willed the earth to open up, literally and swallowed her. That was the end of the gossip. Ram lost the woman he had warred to win back … What the hell does this say about India? Loyalty is all one way from the woman to the man. And when society stacks up all the odds against a woman, she’d better not count on the man’s support. She has no way out than to end her own life. (p. 63) She is remorseful for having an affair with the civil servant for this very reason: ‘And I am in love with an Indian. I must be crazy.’ (p. 63). These remarks speak volumes about women’s status in India even towards the end of 20th century. Connected to the conflict of standards in Indian society is the conflict between he scientific facts and public opinion. She is shocked to know that even now ordinary people believe that a lady is responsible for the birth of a girl or a boy not the gentleman. Besides, her value is, normally, decided by the fact if she has been able to deliver a male child in the family. Priscilla brings forward Sundari’s episode. Sundari is rebuked often by her mother-in-law: ‘what use this woman who …cannot produce a son.’ Implicitly, a girl child is a curse and a boy is considered, more often, a boon. Sundari, who is brought to hospital with 75% burns and in her feeble voice, narrates the circumstances leading to the severe burns. She could not bring the expected dowry from her parents. Besides, she is accused of carrying a female child in her womb. So the result is that her own husband and mother-in-law set her ablazed. Through, Sundari, Tharoor puts forth the trauma 148 and pangs of the evil of dowry. Kadambri terms it as our major concern: That is the real issue, for women in India. Not population control, but violence against women, in our own homes. (p. 249) Next, Tharoor highlights a conflict between the promotion of multinational companies and our age-old consciousness. Rudyard Priscilla’s father is always surprised to know that where people keep on facing infinite problems, how members of parliament get sufficient time to attack Coca-Cola. This novel also exposes an ongoing conflict between so called idealism and realism in the life of civil servants. Lakshman knows that a riot is nothing but just as ‘an assault on the political value of secular India.’ However, he finds himself helpless to control the situation because of the government’s wrong policy. ‘Riot’ is a product of increasing communalism, so it is always concerned about the growing gap between the two communities –the Hindu and the Muslim. In the novel Ram Charan Gupta represents the Hindu ideology but Moh’d Sarwar articulates the Muslim one. Lakshman and Gurinder have been shown being neutral and always dancing as puppets in the hands of politicians. Moh’d Sarwar, the historian, is shocked at the controversy arising out of Ramjanambhoomi – Babri Majid issue. He prefers to quote Maulana Abdul Kalam to vent the sentiments of Muslims and to assert that India belongs to them as much as she belongs to Hindus: I am part of that indispensable to this noble edifice. Without me this splendid structure of India is incomplete. (p. 108) Moh’d Sarwar peeps back to the history of freedom of struggle and highlights two different images of Muslims in pre-independence and post – independence India. Muslims were considered a great force to end the British regime in India but as soon as India was made a free country, we witnessed a partition of the whole country into two parts and somewhere deep down our hearts, Muslims are held responsible for this partition. He holds a very clear view that ‘… Muslims did not partition the country, the British did, the Muslim PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded league did, and the Congress party did.’ (p. 111) Now with the discriminating attitude towards Muslims, he is shattered and lost: …where do Indian Muslims like me fit in? I have spent my life thinking of myself as a part of ‘us,’ now they are Indians, respectable Indians, Indians winning votes, who say that I am really ‘them.’ (p. 114) To elaborate, even some Americans may be haunted with history and some Indians also look to the future as well. But that juxtaposition, for Tharoor, may be a necessity to make a really larger and important point. However, he does not believe only in highlighting the conflicts but also tries to implicitly suggest pluralism and openness for the healthy growth of Indian society. ‘Riot’ depicts different types of conflict of people, attitudes, philosophies, religions, loves and hatreds. Therefore, it was difficult to have just one point of view and naturally, a multitude of narrators were needed to be resorted, presumably, different points of view. Some examples will make this idea clear. Ram Charan Gupta is an extremist firebrand Hindu who feels that even the Taj Mahal is actually a Hindu temple. Prof. Sarwar believes in India's pluralism but, by no means, he is a representative of the majority of Muslim ideology. However, the world is known for having varieties of people with unlike perspectives. Tharoor conceives India as ‘an extraordinary, polyglot, polychrome, poly-confessional, country with five major resources of division – language, region, castes and sub-castes, class, and religion.’ Though, himself a practicing Hindu, he does not subscribe to Gupta’s points of view in constructing a temple with bricks and cement, rather he counsels building a temple in people’s minds and hearts. III. CONCLUSIONS Instead of having faith in religious dogma, he Thus, Shashi Tharoor, a multi-dimensional subscribes to Hindu creed, a set of beliefs which and controversial personality, can be hailed as a nurture humanity and help them in blooming fully major voice in Indian English Literature during and having its all round development. Besides, he 80s and 90s for his in depth grasping of the actualchampions diversity and openness instead of living reality. In fact, he is praiseworthy in terms of the in an isolated world. He is sore with Gupta’s depiction of the bitting reality especially when two Hindu zeal as well as Moh’d Sarwar’s aggressive different identities, cultures and ideologies clash defense of Muslims. He feels shocked to note than together for the sake of each of them. when the whole world is crying for globalization, India is still beset with identity crisis. REFERENCES Returning to the issue of having different [1] Tharoor, Shashi. Riot. New Delhi: Penguin Books, perspectives, one can refer to Gupta who is highly 2001 interrupted because of pampering one community [2] Tharoor, Shashi. Interview with Sandeep Raiat the cost of another and giving so many special Chowdhary, Octobr, 2001. privileges to the Muslim community on various [3] Patil, G.M. 2007. Shashi Tharoor: His Vision and occasions while Hindus are deprived of such Art. New Delhi: Creative Books. privileges in the garb of their majority. Shortly, one may say that Tharoor is really an expert in bringing out the various conflicts successfully. In his interview with Harvard International Review in 2002, he blames our history for most of these conflicts: Many clashes and conflicts occur as a result of contending narratives, and these narratives are often based on recapitulations of history, in some cases, contrived to make a point for its contemporary relevance and often not in a constructive way. So, yes, history can be misused. 149 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Reconstructing Village as Nation: A Study of Raja Rao’s Kanthapura --Jeevan S. Masure Netaji Subhashchandra Bose College, Nanded The discourse of ‘nation’ and ‘nationalism’ is the gift of ascendancy of colonial paradigm. In recent years, the study of nation has focused on the formulation of nation and cultural construct. Defining the ‘nation’ is somehow problematic. The very idea of a nation is never static or fixed. It is constantly in the process of making or becoming. But some critiques and studies of nation throw light on the definition of nation. Benedict Anderson defines the nation as an ‘imagined community’ born with the demise of feudalism and rise of capitalism (Benedict 1991:113). This definition is significant while referring to constructions of nation and nationalism with regard to third world countries. In the formulation of nation, the native intelligentsia played a crucial role. The native people shaped the nationalism, nationstate in the colonies. The present paper comprises three parts. The first part deals with the traditional village community in India whereas the second invokes the domination of Gandhian ideas and revitalization of villages. The contribution of village in nationalism and national identity is included in the last part. Village as a Traditional Social Structure The village represents India in microcosm where one can see and study the ‘real’ India with its social organization and cultural life. By studying a village one could generalise about the social processes and problems to be found occurring in great parts of India. The Indian village signifies the authentic native life. It is a social and cultural unit without outer influences. In India, the village acquires a status of primary unit that represents the social formation of the entire civilization. So it becomes necessary to see the primary and traditional village community. The primary stage of village, without machines and motorized transport, reveals the real soul of India. The village India was religious and spiritual in nature. It had its own village deities, gods and goddesses, customs, beliefs, superstitions and fears. The villagers 150 had strong faith in god and in the local deities. Tales from mythology became indivisible part of their conversation. They frequently followed the rites and rituals. The recitation of Gita, HariKathas, verses of the Mahabharata, of the Ramayana, of Gayathri, and Bhajans marked their life. No village was without its own legendary history or a rich sthalapurana. As Raja Rao points out in his forward of Kanthapura: There is no village in India, however mean, that has not a rich sthalapurana, or legendary history, of its own. Some god or godlike hero has passed by the village – Rama might have rested under this pipal-tree, Sita might have dried her clothes, after her bath, on this yellow stone, or the Mahatma himself, on one of his many pilgrimages through the country, might have slept in this hut, the low one, by the village gate (Rao 1938:5). The simple village folk replaced the godlike personalities by comparing to the gods. They believed in incarnation of God. So Gandhi and Moorthy were compared respectively to Rama and Hanuman whereas Jawaharlal to Bharatha. Villagers’ surging and swelling humanity could be seen at the celebration of various festivalsDussehra, Diwali, Holi, Rakshabandhan and some jayanti. The corporate life of the entire village community revolved around an endless cycle of pageants, festivals and carnivals. The structure of village clearly reflected the feudalistic rural set up. For the simple village folk, a house was not necessary a place for shelter but a symbol of one’s prestige. Raja Rao in Kanthapura has not only given a faithful reconstruction of the village life but has breathed life into it, making it vibrant and pulsating. The intimate description of the village, the hill and the river is intended to provide a strong sense of locality. Kanthapura represents a typical Indian village caught up in the tortuous cyclicality of change, growth and self-transformation, but ultimately PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded held together by the reality of its own generic personality far above the sequential logic of history. The village folk were known by their picturesque names- water-fall Venkamma, Nose-scratching Nanjamma, Front-house Akkamma, Temple Rangappam, CoffeePlanter Ramayyam, Gold-bangle Somanna, Patwari Nanjundiah etc. There was also the village Bhatta who symbolized the perverted orthodoxy and the blind casteism. The Bhatta never spared Moorthy, the village Mahatma, from his vitriolic comments. He tried to create disunity by holding a threat that Swamiji would excommunicate Moorthy, who mixed with the untouchable freely. There was Range Gowda, the village patil, the symbol of commonsense and stolidity, a sort of Sardar Patel to Moorthy. At the other extreme there stood Bade Khan the policeman who symbolized the oppressive soulless bureaucracy, and made visibly repulsive. Thus, the novel ‘projects the total image of India with its diverse social and religious customs binding the different sinews of its life’ (Rao K. 1980:55). Indian Village was the land of superstition and orthodoxy. The village Kanthapura, a small South Indian village in the province of Kara of Maysor, had the different superstitions. Kanthapurian thought that the famine and diseases were given to their sins. In order to avoid the curses of god and goddess, they took the oaths and vows. They assured the goddess saying that “we shall walk the holy fire on the annual fair.... We shall offer you our first nice and our first fruit, and we shall offer you saries and bodice-cloth for every birth and marriage, we shall wake thinking of you, sleep prostrating before you, Kenchamma...” (Kanthapura 8-9). Kenchamma was their benign and bounteous goddess. So they begged for their life and for protection from ‘famine, disease, death and despair’ (9). Traditional India was thus religious India which was embedded in various superstitions. The village Kanthapura was never disliked itself with the past of orthodoxy and the conventional division of society. It had the traditional Indian society that comprised the quarter of ‘Brahmin... a Pariah, a Potter’s 151 quarter, a Weaver’s quarter, and a Sudra quarter’ (11). The caste was the core social institution of traditional Indian village. Indian villages were the centres of orthodoxy where untouchability was serious problem. The popular feeling of pollution and purity was there. The separation of quarters to Brahmin and Sudra revealed historically isolation of Touchable from Untouchables. It exhibited the social excommunication that presented in the village community. ‘Every Hindu village had a ghetto. The Hindus lived in the village and the untouchables lived in the ghetto’ (Ambedkar 1948:22). Indian society had ‘an old social structure based on ‘the autonomous village community, caste and the joint family (Nehru 1946:244). Apart from the castes and untouchability, village performed the valuable role in the construction of Indian civilization. The village was not merely a place where people lived. It had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilization. Revitalization of Village and Gandhian Ideas Gandhian ideas revolutionized Indian masses. Connecting Gandhi’s ideas to the traditional and religious folk culture of India, the nature of the mass-upsurge could be seen. During 1930s the Indian people were gathered against the British Empire. They were impressed to his benign and bounteous nationalism. His combination of religion and politics revitalized Indian milieu. The country men accepted the Gandhian ideas of nonviolence, truth and the resultant moral outlook on life. Raja Rao’s construction of India of the 1930s and 40s in his Kanthapura is the outcome of Gandhian influence. Rao’s faith in Vedic and Upanishadic values, his idea of good and evil, and the morality are clearly the evidence of Gandhian philosophy. The village Kanthapura being inspired by Gandhiji’s philosophy starts fighting against the Redmen’s government. Moorthy, a local Gandhi, educated in the city. He became a staunch follower of Gandhiji. He had gone through life as ‘a noble cow, quiet, generous, serene, deferent and brahmanic, a very prince...’ (11). He spread out the Gandhian messages from village to PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded village. He began to go door to door, even in the Pariah quarters of the village and explained to the villagers the significance of Gandhi’s struggle for independence. Teachings of Gandhi such as harm no soul, love all, all are equal before God, don’t be attached to riches, tell the truth, spin and weave every day inspired not only Moorthy but also the countrymen. Gandhis’s fighting against the enemies of the country, his pure voice, and wisdom assembled the Indian villagers against the tyrannical rule of the ‘alien’ government. Moorthy using Gandhian ideas awakened the villagers and trained them in Charka-spinning with weaving their own cloth. The satyagrahis along with Moorthy fought as valiantly against the puritanical forces of orthodoxy. Moorthy inspired people to use the slogan Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai! Men and Women were organized and trained. ‘The people were directed not to pay land revenue to the unjust Red men. They should remain peaceful and non-violent even if their fields, crops, cattle and houses were auctioned and occupied’ (Agrawal 2007:77). Moorthy advised the villagers that “Our gold should be in our country. And our cotton should be in our country..... Because millions and millions of yards of foreign cloth come to this country and everything foreign makes us poor and pollutes us. To wear cloth spun and woven with your own God-given hands is sacred... Our country is being bled to death by foreigners. We have to protect our Mother. They bring soaps and perfumes and thus they bug your rice and sell their wares. You get poorer and poorer, and the Pariahs begin to starve...” (24-26). For the villagers, Moorthy was a deep-voiced and a god-loving person. He would do not mixing of castes. Moorthy was the youngest son of a pious old woman, Narsamma. She was tall and thin, and her big, broad ash-marks gave her such an air of ascetic holiness. Moorthy had seen a vision of the Mahatma mighty and God-beaming. He became a volunteer and threw his foreign cloths and his foreign books into the bonfire. He walked out as ‘a Gandhi’s man’. He helped his country by going and working among the dumb millions 152 of the villages. The villagers warned Moorthy not to mix with Pariahs. But Moorthy frequently visited the Pariahs to distribute the free spinning-wheels. So the Swami sent word to say that ‘the whole of Kanthapura will be excommunicated’ (47). His mother got the shock after hearing the news of excommunication. She warned her son. But Moorthy ‘went more and more into the pariah quarters, and now he was seen walking side by side with them... and even carried the body for a while...’(53). What happened was shocking. Moorthy was excommunicated. He and his family were excommunicated to all the generations that come. It became the cause of his mother’s death. After the death of his mother, Moorthy still went to the Pariahs. And he gave them cotton to spin and yarn to weave. He taught the Pariahs alphabets and grammar, arithmetic and Hindi. Moorthy was now the satyagrahi and the leader of the non-violent movement in Kanthapura. The other leading spirits of the Gandhian revolution in the village were Rangamma, Range Gowda and the girl Ratna. They suffered terribly for the noble cause of their country. Gandhian ideas paved the way for a non-violent destruction of the imperialistic hegemony of Red-men’s government. The villagers launched on the ‘Don’t-touch-the-Government Campaign’, the ‘no-tax Campaign’ and other forms of Civil Disobedience. For that the villagers sacrificed their life with smile. Their valiant struggle thus attained the dimensions of a heroic myth. In this village Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of untuochability and other items of Gandhiji’s programme were being implemented. In short ‘this village is in the vortex of momentous national struggle and it is a faithful picture of what Gandhiji wanted Indian villages to be like in those days’ (Agnihotri 1984:126). Village in Identity Nationalism and National During the British colonial rule, India was constructed as a land of ‘village republics’. In the subcontinent, the British colonial rulers attributed autonomy, stagnation and continuity to the village life. They did it to their own political interests. Constructing India as an ancient civilization, the colonial administrators also explained the social PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded structure and economic life of the Indian people. To distinguish Indian society from the West, the colonial ethnography deployed the two most important categories-castes system and village communities. These two categories later came to be accepted as the concrete social unit of the traditional social structure of India. However, the nationalist leadership did not see village simply as the constituting ‘basic unit’ of Indian civilization. For them village represented the real India, the nation that needed to be recovered, librated and transformed. The village imparted a strong sense of belonging and represented a rootedness of the Indians. The ‘village’ remained a core category for the leaders of the nationalist movements. The Indian villages, awakened by Gandhian ideas, actively participated in the creation of nationalism. The village as a concrete reality with regional variations and historical specificities represented the essence of Indian civilization. The Indian nationalists especially Gandhiji used the idea of village to establish equivalence of the Indians with the ruling English community. For Gandhiji village was the site of authenticity, the real or pure India without the Western influences. He revealed the reality that ‘our cities are not India, India lies in her villages, and the cities live upon the villages’ (Gandhi 1966:288). Even the real Swaraj or self-rule of M.K. Gandhi based on the revival of village communities. By restoring the civilisational strength of India through revival of its village communities, the Hind Swaraj could be achieved and visualized. The Indian villages created a common national bond with the sense of common culture, common traditions, common heroes and saints, and common land. Village was a central category in the nationalist imagination. The representation of rural life in the nationalist imagination built sociology of the Indian nationalist movement. In the Indian nationalist movement, India could be represented as a single cultural and political entity. On the basis of this ideology, they could imagine nationhood for India. Anti-colonial nationalism is the result of European political and intellectual history. On the one hand it challenged the colonial state and on the other hand it enabled the colonized to assume their difference and autonomy. Anti-colonial nationalism attempted to create ‘its own domain of 153 sovereignty within colonial society’ (Chatterjee 1986:46). It divided the world into a material and a spiritual domain. The material, the outside sphere, constituted of the economy state craft, science and technology. The spiritual or inner domain of culture constructed on religion, customs and the family. In the material domain the supremacy of the West was admitted. The spiritual world was claimed as the essence of national culture that must be protected and defended. The assertion of a spiritual or inner core thus became the site for the construction of national identity. For the traditional Indian village community ‘a nation is a soul, a spiritual principle’ (Renan 1990:19). The villagers shaped their national consciousness deriving its strength from the glorious past, its folk tradition, religion, rural dialects and so on. They never tolerated the domination and slavery of British rule. They were fascinated by the idea of ‘Bharatha’. The consciousness of enslavement fanned the fire against Redmen who came ‘from across the seas and oceans to trample on our wisdom and to spit on virtue itself ... to bind us and to ship us, to make our women die milkless and our men die ignorant’ (18). The representative of the Redmen’s government like Bade Khan started collecting revenue. The Red-men exploited the simple village folk in the Skeffington coffee Estate. The coolies ‘half-naked, starving, spitting, weeping, vomiting, coughing, shivering, squeaking, shouting and moaning’ marched to the skeffington coffee Estate for rice. The leaders of Indian nationalist movement had tried to visualize India as a unified national identity. So the leader Moorthy in Raja Rao’s Kanthapura acted as a ‘negotiator between national politics and the village awakening. The novel is primarily ideological construct building up saga of nationalist struggle’ (Jain 2006:09). Moorthy, the self-conscious Gandhian protagonist rose above the common humanity by the sheer force of his character. His initial reluctance to enter an untouchable’s house, his attempts to gain control over his emotions and his efforts to eradicate orthodoxy of the village Bhatta made him real volunteer of Gandhian movement of nationalism. When Moorthy cleared the fog of ignorance up, the villagers supported him with all their enthusiasm. To ensure their support and enthusiasm the PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded satyagrahis among with Moorthy accepted religion as the sure way of winning over the masses. So they arranged Bhajans and Hari Kathas. They mixed politics with religion. A small congress was formed with Range Gowda as its elected president. To keep patriotic fire burning, they were in touch with some nationalist publications like Deshbandhu, Vishwa Karnataka, Tainadu and Jayabharata. The isolated and orthodoxical villagers at last actively participated in freedom movement with patriotic fervour and political activism. Legends and myths, the very staples of the villagers’ imagination, naturally get merged with political fact. Gandhi’s emphasis on political and cultural independence consolidated India under one banner and provided a specific national identity as against Indo-British identity (Jha 1983:92). Thus, the novel reveals human commitment both individual and collective. The collective consciousness is guided the embodiment of Eternity like the Mahatma, the village gods and goddess Kenchamma and the river Himavathy. The villagers’ outward failure revitalised into abundance spirituality. It brought the new begging for the villagers as the members of ‘nation’. • • • • • • • • • Works Cited • • • • 154 Agnihotri G. N. (1984) Indian Life and Problems in the Novels of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan, Meerut: Shalabh Book House Agrawal, K. A. (2007) ‘Raja Rao– As a Great Sadhak’ in Agrawal Krishna Avatar (eds.) Post-Colonial Indian English Literature Jaipur: Book Enclave Ambedkar B. R. (1948) The Untouchables: Who were They and Why They Become Untouchables? New Delhi: Amrit Book Company Benedict, Anderson (1991) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the • • • Origin and Spread of Nationalism London and New York: Verso Chatterjee, Parth (1986) Nationalist Thoughts and Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse, Delhi: Oxford University Press Jain, Jasbir (2006) “Narratology and the Narrative of the Village” in Jasbir Jain (eds.) Narrative of the Village: Centre of the Periphery Jaipur: Rawat Publication Jha Rama (1983) Gandhian Thought and Indo-Anglian Novelists Delhi: Chanakya Publications Gandhi M. K. (1966) The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Vol xxi, Delhi: Government of India Naik, M. K. (1973) Raja Rao Twayne’s World Authors Series, New Delhi Nehru J. N. (1946) The Discovery of India New York: The John Day Company Rao, Raja (2001) Kanthapura New Delhi: Orient, first published in 1938 Rao, K. R. (1980) The Fiction of Raja Rao Aurangabad: Parimal Prakashan Rao, A. Sudhakar (1999) Sociocultural Aspects of Life in the Selected Novels of Raja Rao New Delhi: Atlantic Publisher and Distributors Raizada Harish (1980) ‘Point of View, Myth and Symbolism in Raja Rao’s Novels’ in Sharma K. K. (eds.) Perspectives on Raja Rao Ghaziabad: Vimal Prakashan Renan, Ernest (1990) “ What is a Nation?” trans, M, Thorn, in H. K. Bhabha, (ed.) Nation and Narration London: Routledge Srivastava, R. K. (1988) ‘Raja Rao’s Kanthapura: A Village Revitalized’ in R. K. Dhawan (eds.) Commonwealth Fiction Vol. I New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Sartreanism in Feminism and Postcolonialism --Shaheen Saba Jamial Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Abstract: Jean- Paul Sartre has been acclaimed widely for ‘existentialism’ which was later widely picked up by writers like Beckett which had multiple approaches but the textual locus of which has always been literary; but today it has been replaced by structuralism and post- structuralism. Today Sartrean philosophy appears to be relegated to some form of back-datedness. But Sartre’s contribution to the developing ideas about feminism, gender studies and post-colonial studies cannot be overlooked. Sartre’s seminal work Being and Nothingness (1943) besides going on to show that an individual’s existence precedes essence also strongly went on to be one of the strongest propagators of human freedom against all sorts of determinisms. This has been crucial in the formulation of many current theories and ideas. Sartre’s early works are ‘asocial’, more concerned about the ontic and the existential, more about the phenomenological, grounded in being of/ in/ with; however a number of latter works do not take refuge in ontic mysticism but takes the concrete man in his objective and ‘social’ realities. This paper seeks to show this influence with a few examples and how even today when we may not be directly speaking about Sartre but the theories that we discuss today do have a Sartreanism beneath them because we can only understand him on the basis of what has/have come after him. Crucial to this would be a brief understanding about the concept of the other. Sartre in his play Huis Clos (No Exit) states ‘Hell is others’, Fredrich Nietzsche in The Gay Science phrased it ‘You are always a different person’, Lacan went on to articulate the other with the symbolic order of language (“I think where I am not”), Simone de Beauvoir articulated the allocative implications of the other in The Second Sex andLevinastriedto show it by giving us his ‘ethics of hospitality’. Whatever be their views, the primary question that emerges is that how this ‘other’ comes into existence and what does freedom have to do with it?Sartre’s conception of ‘freedom’has been widely misunderstood. Literally freedom means the state of not being under control and being able to do whatever one wills which gives happiness and confidence to an individual. For Sartre, freedom is inherent in human consciousness, and specifically in the faculty of imagination: ‘imagination is the whole of consciousness in so far as it realizes its freedom’. It is the power that consciousness has of negating what is conscious, that constitutes human freedom. But this freedom of consciousness is far removed from the freedom of action and hence we have the formulation of the other. Sartre’s radical thesis in The Transcendence of the Ego states ‘the ego is 155 neither formally nor materially in consciousness: it is outside…a being of the world, like the ego of another’ (p.31, periphrasis and italics mine) Both feminism and postcolonialism thrive on the notion of the other, freedom, ranging from rights to ‘can the subaltern speak’ ? . Hence we always have the binaries of the self/ other, colonizer/ colonized, master/ slave, black/ white, oppressor/ oppressed operative as categories of analysis. Interestingly Hegel’s brief notes on “Lordship and Bondage” are built on the assumption that human beings acquire identity of self- consciousness only through the recognition of others (Hegel 1910, vol. 1, pp. 175-88). In his postulation of the ‘master- slave relationship’, Hegel asserts that the master and slave are throughout engaged in a struggle- untodeath which continues till the slave preferring life to freedom gives in and after this struggle the slave’s existence becomes that of the other. Sartre went on to write about the slave in his reworking of Hegel’s summary text: ‘I am possessed by the Other; the Other’s looks fashions my body in its nakedness, causes it to be born, sculptures it, produces it as it is, sees it as I shall never see it. The other holds a secretthe secret of what I am, (Sartre 1969; cited in Gendzier 1973, p. 31). This ‘I am’ is what feminism and post-colonialism went on to PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded foreground. It became a carrier of their long suppressed wills and actions and it is not surprising that in order to become that ‘I am’ they again have to struggle because of the internalization of the fact that they can only see themselves by otherizing themselves. This is what colonialism of any form does be it in feminism where the fair sex as they call it is colonized by patriarchy or the postcolonial subject who is still struggling still to come to terms with itself. And this sets them to return back and recover themselves, their ‘I am’. The slave figure in Sartre’s Being and Nothingness makes the revivalistic and self- affirmative statement: ‘I lay claim to this being which I am: that is, I wish to recover it, or, more exactly, I am the project of the recovery of my being’( p.364). Frantz Fanon was correct when in The Wretched of the Earth (1961) he argued that the initial step of the colonized people to reinstall their subalternness and identity could be possible by reclaiming their past. Here Satre’s work Colonialism and Neocolonialism needs to be discussed because besides being a critique of the French policies in Algeria in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it triggered future postulations on colonialism, post- colonialism, politics and literature. Seminal in this text is the preface to Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth where he shows the shock that the master/ ruler receives: ‘What? Can they talk on their own? Look what we have made of them though’ (p.136). This is their reaction to the subaltern’s opening of their mouth. In Algeria and Angola where Europeans were being massacared on sight Sartre states; ‘colonial violence does not only aim to keep these enslaved people at a respectful distance but it also seeks to dehumanize them’ (p. 142). This was an important strategy of colonialism. And hence Sartre further states that: ‘We knew this truth, I think, but we have forgotten it. No gentleness can efface the marks of violence; it is violence alone that can destroy them…Once it 156 starts it is merciless’ (p. 148). He makes a remarkable statement in the end: ‘Will we recover? Yes. Violence like Achilles’ spear, can heal the wounds that it has made’ (p. 154), and this shows the extent to which Sartre was enthusiastic about rebellion for recovery and he has been accused of propagating violence for achieving this. He challenges vehemently and orders: ‘Europeans, open this book, and enter into it…Have courage to read it, because it will make you ashamed, and shame, as Marx said is a revolutionary sentiment’(p.141). Rebellion or revolution in Sartrean context is in itself like an authentic existential leap because one has to negate one’s being before plunging into such acts, a foregone state of being sacrificial is at the core of acting as Brati in Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of 1084 or as the Pioneers in Whitman’s clarion call, a will to nihilate the hitherto stausquoistic, unhappy and inert [probably not even unhappy but non-committal and indifferent ] nauseating givenness with a radical engagement—a threshold to alterity. Significantly, the revolutionary or the martyr makes the economy of sacrifice an ecology of gift, unto himself and others. Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask returns to both Hegel and Sartre when he tries to show the condition of the colonized slave as a symptom of ‘imitativeness’. Seen in Hegelian context as mentioned earlier also the slave must turn away from the master or rather internalize his inferiority. But for Fanon whenever the black slave confronts the white master, s/he is overtaken by envy and desire/ will instead of passive resistance. The slave, Fanon writes, ‘wants to be like the master. Therefore he is less independent than the Hegelian slave. In Hegel the slave turns away from the master and turns towards the object. Here the slave turns towards the master and abandons the object’ (Fanon 1967, p.221). Placed in Sartrean context the colonized subject aspiring to a ‘white mask’ is one of inauthencity and ‘bad faith’. Robert J. C PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Young in his preface to Sartre’s Colonialism and Neocolonialism remarks: ‘Through Fanon, postcolonial theory thus draws on the very domain of Marxist theory that the whole theoretical drive of French Marxism since the 1960’s was concerned to refute: Sartrean existentialism… and his theoretically incompatible alliance of Marxism and subjectivity, of human praxis as the source of meaning and political action’ (p. 20). Sartre while speaking of negritude claimed that the essence of blackness that they pursued was not conceived of as a priori entity in existence but as the product of life- choices because in existence one is condemned to choose and hence Africanism, negritude, like anti- colonialism, were the products of situational engagements. Negritude, wrote Sartre in “Black Orpheus(appeared in1948 as the preface to SenghorsAnthology of new Negro and Malagasy poetry)”, is ‘an act more than …a disposition’. “The Look” a section in Being- for- Others in Being and Nothingness proves to be crucial in understanding the concept of ‘gaze’ which Sartre calls as ‘being- seen- by- another’. It was taken up by Laura Maulvey when she develops the concept of the ‘male gaze’ or the peeping Tom. The mere possible presence of another person causes/reduces one to the positon of an object where one tries to see itself and its world as the other conceives of it/ views it. Hence the act of seeing/ viewing becomes the governing principle or the crux of being. Why would the black desire for the white mask?, precisely because the black skin wants to hide its gaze from the white—a glossing over of the differentiality of perspective through a surrender to the scopic regime of ‘indiffrence’, and also to re-present himself as an almost ipseity, dangerously oblivious of the alterity that would place him in a fallen secondariness in that ocular field—Toni Morrison’s Pecola’s fetish with WORKS CITED bluest eyes, or Aziz finally cleaning his paanclad teeth in Forster’s imperial erotica. The white represents power and knowledge. Here the question of will/ desire also comes in because the other wants to appropriate itself with the superior by a gesture of imitativeness which is potentially dangerous but one fails to notice it. What Sartre went on to show are very true and crude facts of our reality today, for instance if we look at our country itself or the other developing third world nations which are proud of being independent and having a democracy actually thrive on a simulacra. Sartre very critically remarked: ‘Politics is abstract. What’s the use of voting if you are dying of hunger?’ ( Colonialism is a system, Les Temps Modernes, March- April 1956. Speech made at a rally for peace in Algeria. p. 31) Or when we speak of neocolonialism today the situation is still the same just that it does not appear very obvious to us. Sartre tried to show vehemently what colonialism does to human rights and rights is one of the major common preoccupation of feminism and postcolonialism and aim to achieve success in their doings. Why else would one retalitate?. However for Sartre the authenticity is more important than successful agency, the metaphysics of authenticity eclipsing the concrete priority of the physics of successful friction, politics, and progressive activism. His launching of nothingness as a state of mind in which one can become anything, in reference to our desire and situation also seems very escapist in refernce to the actual politics where every possibility of nothingness is a hierarchic bi-product of exploitation of one sector by another in the social practice. But overall he did try in the later parts of his life to deviate from such preoccupations and do something for the real physical being in the real world. This is what has inspired theoreticians and thinkers till date. Caws, Peter. Sartre. London, Boston and Henley: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979. 157 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Christina Howells Ed, Sartre. London and Sartre, Jean- Paul. The Transcendence of the New York: Longman, 1995. Ego: An Existentialist Theory of Consciousness. Fourny, Jean- Francois & Charles D. Minahan Ed, Situating Sartre In Twentieth Century Thought andCulture. U.S.A: Macmillian, 1997. Sartre, Jean- Paul. Being and Nothingness, Hill and Wang [paperback edition]: 1991 tr. Hazel. E. Barnes. New Sartre, Jean- Paul. Colonialism and Neocolonialism. London and New York: Routledge, 2001(1st English translation) York: Philosophical Library, 1956. 158 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded The Glass Palace: A Post Colonial Text - Miss Bhojane Gita Maroitrao People’s College, Nanded (Ph.D Research Student) Inspite Amitav Ghosh belongs to post-colonial era and he presents that element in his all work, but he takes his reader back in colonial period in his ‘ The Glass Palace’. The Glass palace is a novel of three generations that starts from Mandalay. It is about geographical entities, space, distance and time. There are many characters and many stories merged together. It is a saga of many families, their lives and their connection with each other. The Glass palace is a story of an Indian orphan Rajkumar who is transported to Burma by accident. Rajkumar, the boy who is eleven years old, is remarkable for his exploring sprit, keen perception and his ability to take calculated risks. He works in tea stall of matronly lady Ma Cho. He loves exaggerating his age just of feel like an adult. He is established as bold and remarkable. Once he lands in Mandalay, his life long search for places and people begins. He is taken in by the city. He is a complete destitute in an alien city with no acquaintances. Finally he goes to Ma Cho for job and he receives rebuke and scolding at the beginning. But then he knew that it wasn’t aimed directly at him soon. He develops his sense of belonging at the new places. As he views the fort of Mandalay the crystal shining glass palace, he knows that orphans like him cann’t go there and yetNo matter what Ma Cho said, he decided, He would cross the moat before he left Mandalay; he would find a way in. (Ghosh, 2000:7) The glass palace is symbol of power as well as fragility of imperialism. The people in the glass palace do not have the liberty to throw stones at others. The colonized people are always 159 imprisoned in The glass palace and they have lost the capacity to throw stones at the colonial master.It is a dhaba where Raj Kumar meets the man in Ma Cho’s life, Saya John. Saya John comes Closest to what Raj Kumar could have called a father. But this doesn’t come in a day. Raj Kumar matures fast.. Life teaches him its own lessons. At his heart, he is always certain about his success in life. When the British throw down the king of Burma, Raj Kumar is told that British wish to control Burmese territory for wood. And from this point start his shaping of his future plans. He senses wealth in teak. When the city is rampaged by the British, it is the Indian soldiers who come on orders of their colonial masters. Suddenly Indians becomes the target of mob frenzy. Raj Kumar is also attacked. He is saved by Saya John. He gets job at Says’s Company with his integrity and personality. When the place of King Thebaw is evacuated, every one rushes into it loot as much as they can. Raj Kumar also goes in. He gets there his future wife Dolly. She is an orphan like Raj Kumar. She is a miad who looks after the princesses. Raj Kumar uses his free will in building his business. He decided to take a loan from Saya and establish his separate timber yard. Saya is full of doubts, and then Rajkumar gives a few tips to SayaIf I’m ever going to make this business grow I’ll have to take a few risks. (Ibid: 130) Having much risk he grows and grows very well he becomes a successful and respected businessman. Then he goes in search of Dolly who is living with the king Thebaw and Queen who are in exile in India. Usually no one form Burma is allowed to meet the deposed king or staff lest such a meeting may not create problems of revolt at Burma. Uma, the collector’s wife and good friend PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded of Dolly arranges the meeting between Dolly and Raj Kumar. They married at Ratnagiri. He gets two sons Neel and Dinu. When Dinu becomes victim of slight polio in one leg, Dolly spends her day and night in Dinu’s care. She cuts herself off from the world including her elder son, Neel and husband. During this period Raj goes into physical relationship with one of the workers forcibly and Ilongo his illegitimate son is the result of this extramarital mating. Rajkumar’s life story is a story of the struggle for survival in the colonial turmoil. As a colonized subject from Bengal, he becomes a colonizer in Burma transporting indentured labourers form South India to other parts of the colonial world. He has even sexually exploited a women worker on his plantations. Saya John who is a fine example of the breed of hybridity. His clothes are western. He speaks English, Hindustani and Burmese. His face looked like that of Chinese. Saya himself makes fun of his mixed identityThe soldiers there were mainly Indians and they asked me this very question: how is it that you, who look Chinese and carry a Christian name, can speak our language? When I told and say, you are dhobi ka kutta… a washerman’s dog.. no ghar ka na Ghat ka.. You don’t belong anywhere, either by the water or on land, and I’d say, yes, that is exactly what I am. He laughed with an infectious hilarity, and Rajkumar joined in. (Ibid: 10) This is the fun both of them. Rajkumar is a much a washerman’s dog as Saya John. Saya John throws light on the Indian soldiers constituting the British army. When he was working as an orderly in a hospital in Singapore, Saya John came across several wounded Indian soldiers who were in their twenties. It was the money that drew them to this profession. They earned a few annas a day, not much more than a dockyard coolie. It always amazed him- 160 Chinese peasants would never do this allow themselves to be used to fight other people’s war with so little profit for themselves. (Ibid: 29-30) Amitav Ghosh refers to the phrase “banality of evil” in the context of soldiers fighting for their British masters form neither enmity nor anger, but in submission to orders from superiors, without protest and without conscious. The process of colonization and the state of the colonized are very relevant thought components of this novel. The very word used for Rajkumar- Kaala- is objectionable to our generation, which is decolonized at least in the political sense of the world. In this novel, there is the actual process of aggression, capture ad colonization. How the Burmese people are robbed of all grace with guns and artillery. The British are only giving commands. The soldiers who are invading Burma are Indians. Instead of fighting their common enemy- the British- the Burmese and the Indians are fighting among themselves. Another point that those who wait on Queen Supayalat are supposed to do so on all their fours i.e. both hands and legs on floor. When an English midwife comes, she refuses to crawl. Supayalat fails to make her crawl; “she was an English women”. To Arjun ‘modern’ and ‘western’ are synonymous. He is boasting of his connection with westerners. In his mind he has accepted that the western style is better and therefore desirable Dinu is also fascinated for the British. When Arjun is conversed with Dinu he repliesTo you the modern world is just something you read about. What you know of it you get from books and newspapers. We’re the ones who actually alive with westerns… (Ibid: 279) Dinu understands that it was through their association with European that Arjun and his fellow- officers saw themselves as PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded pioneers. Mental colonization is even worse. Arjun says“We understand the west better than any of you civilians. We know how the minds of westerns work only when every Indian is like us will the country become truly modern”. (Ibid: 279-280) Saya John doesn’t see the English as usurpers for him, they are superior. From them, he has learnt the art of using everything for his own benefit. Rajkumar being convinced that without the British the Burmese economy would collapse. Many stances can be given where the author has shown the cruelty of colonization and its impact on the lives and mind of the colonized Decolonization is not easy, perhaps it is not even possible. As Arjun saysWe rebelled against an Empire that has shaped everything in our lives; colored every-thing in the world as we know it. It is a huge, indelible stain, which has tainted all of us. We can’t destroy it without destroying ourselves. (Ibid: 518) One can easily find the theme of an orphan hood. Rajkumar, Dolly, Saya John, all the maids of Queen Supayalat are orphans. The novel begins in a web of journey, chance, uncertainty and orphan hood. These are related. The roadside food stall (dhaba) is well-recognized symbol of journey. The roadside food stall is also a place of current news, cheap food and temporary connections. It is a novel about many places, war and displacement, exile and rootlessness. It also depicts human helplessness in such a scenario. All human being try to adjust, compromise live and above everything else to form relationship. This forming of new bonds mixing of races and castes is something that doesn’t stop. The collector at one point of the novel is intrigued when 161 he comes to know of the pregnancy of Supayalat’s first daughter. He is disgusted. He is at a loss. His sense of class and decency is deeply violated – Was this love them: this coupling in the darkness a princess of Burma and a marathi coachman; this heedless mingling of sweat? (Ibid: 152) Apart from Characters, there are various ideas in this novels. There are relevant ideas on the process of civilization, wars and their futility, the concept of boundaries, colonization, journey. Hybridity, rootlessness, childhood and process of growing etc. one can find loneliness in this novel. Rajkumar is lonely at the beginning of the novel and at the end of the novel. Uma, who is a widow, leads her life lonely and depression. Her husband, collector Dey, doesn’t have a peaceful married life. When Uma leaves him, he feels lonely and commits suicide. In The Glass Palace, ‘Galas Palace’ functions as a metaphor, Glass is brittle and implies transparency. Palace is the symbol of power. Glass Palace is an illusion that is created around power. References: 1. 2. 3. 4. Bose, Brinda, Amitav Ghosh-Critical Perspectives. Pencraft Intenational. Delhi,2005 Ghosh, Amitav. The Glass Palace. Harper Collins Publisher. New Delhi,2000. Khair, Tabish. Amitav Ghosh- A Critical Companion. Permanent Black. Delhi, 2003. Tiwari, Shubha. Amitav Ghosh-A Critical Study. Atlantic Publisher. New Delhi,2003. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: As a Postcolonial Feminist. , --Dr. Deepak Kumar Singh D.A.V.P.G.College, Lucknow(U.P). Spivak was born Gayatri Chakravorty, in Calcutta, India, 24 February 1942, to a middle class family. She did her undergraduate in English at the University of Calcutta (1959), graduating with first class honors. She borrowed money to go to the US in the early 1960's to do graduate work at Cornell. She received her MA in English from Cornell and taught at the University of Iowa while working on her Ph.D. Her dissertation was on Yeats (published as Myself Must I Remake: The Life and Poetry of W.B. Yeats [1974)]) and was directed by Paul de Man. During this time she married and divorced an American, Talbot Spivak. Her translator's introduction to Derrida's Of Grammatology has been variously described as "setting a new standard for self-reflexivity in prefaces" and "absolutely unreadable, its only virtue being that it makes Derrida that much more enjoyable." Her subsequent work consists in post-structuralist literary criticism, deconstructivist readings of Marxism, Feminism and Postcolonialism (including work with the Subaltern Studies group and a critical reading of American cultural studies in Outside in the Teaching Machine [1993]), and translations of the Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi. She is currently an Avalon Foundation professor at Columbia. Her reputation was first made for her translation and preface to Derrida's Of Grammatology (1976) and she has since applied deconstructive strategies to various theoretical engagements and textual analyses: from Feminism, Marxism, and Literary Criticism to, most recently, Postcolonialism. Spivak is widely cited in a 162 range of disciplines. Her work is nearly evenly split between dense theoretical writing peppered with flashes of compelling insight and published interviews in which she wrestles with many of the same issues in a more personable and immediate manner. What Edward Said calls a "contrapuntal" reading strategy is recommended as her ideas are continually evolving and resist, in true deconstructive fashion, a straight textual analysis. She has said that she prefers the teaching environment where ideas are continually in motion and development. Her recent work, A Critique of Postcolonial Reason, published in 1999, explores how major works of European metaphysics (e.g., Kant, Hegel) not only tend to exclude the subaltern from their discussions, but actively prevent nonEuropeans from occupying positions as fully human subjects. Spivak coined the term "strategic essentialism," which refers to a sort of temporary solidarity for the purpose of social action. For example, the attitude that women's groups have many different agendas makes it difficult for feminists to work for common causes. "Strategic essentialism" is about the need to accept temporarily an "essentialist" position in order to be able to act. Spivak's writing has been described by some as opaque. It has also been suggested that her work puts style ahead of substance. In her defense, it has been argued that this sort of criticism reveals an unwillingness to substantively engage with her texts. Marxist literary critic Terry Eagleton, who has called her writing "inaccessible," noted nevertheless that "there PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded can thus be few more important critics of our age than the likes of Spivak.... She has probably done more long-term political good, in pioneering feminist and postcolonial studies within global academia than almost any of her theoretical colleagues." Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak calls herself a "Marxist-feministdeconstructivisit",1 a combination that makes her critical of the west's predominant discourse in the 1970s and 80s. Her concern is with the imperialistic, neo-capitalist market strategies used by the West to control, manipulate and exploit the Third world population. Women are exploited and suppressed in a double bondage in the colonial and patriarchal systems. Spivak relates the diverse aspects of the Third World population to analyses the causes and features of the conditions of exploitation. This paper attempts to analyze and state in a simplified manner some of her ideas, for Spivak's dense, multi-referential language becomes a deterrent to many interested scholars. She had made important contributions to the current debate of Postcolonial theory, in taking a stance against imperialistic trends of Western discourse and against the issues related to the feminist struggle in the Third World. Spivak uses her location as an immigrant Third World academic to problematise the Postcolonial situation, and to understand continued Western domination. She uses her experience as a woman, an Asian and an immigrant in the West to build on the Postcolonial feminist deconstructive analysis. In her role of a woman, of an Asian and of an immigrant in the first world, Spivak found the experience of marginality to be a common factor.2 Inclusion in the mainstream, closeness to the centre was possible, on given conditions.3 However whenever the margin considered 163 itself close to the centre, the lines somehow shifted and marginality once again appeared. As a woman-academic, she could belong to the dominant male academic centre and she would be treated as "better than other woman", but this would lead to alienation from the other woman. Looking upon her repeated experiences of marginality, Spivak tries to draw certain conclusions, and points out ways of dealing with these conditions. She would like to make her marginality a location, from which she can examine and deconstruct the hegemonic system of the West. In her essay “Explanation and Culture: Marginalia,”4 Spivak begins with her experience of marginality. Her insistence upon questioning and examining the terms of discussion, rather than to indulge in using those terms for a discussion, she found herself being consistently ignored.5 She was later offered token inclusion, and she realized that “the putative centre welcomes selective inhabitants of the margin in order better to exclude the margin.”6As a deconstructivist she wanted to "reverse and displace such hierarchies as cognitiveaesthetic" and to discover the expressed grounds of these assumptions. For, she begins with the suspicion that “what is at the centre often hides a repression.”7 She wanted to overturn and explore the commonly held assumptions of the liberal humanist discourse. Terms like "culture" and "explanation" need to be deconstructed to realize the hidden politics in the discourse. Jacques Derrida's approach to the liberal humanist tradition has helped Spivak in realizing how the old words would not resemble themselves anymore when one uses the new "tricks of re-reading" she learnt from Derrida. He "touches the texture language" and changes their meanings. The trick she says is “to recognize that every textual production, in the production of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded every explanation, there is the itinerary of a constantly thwarted desire to make the text explain.”8 An attempt towards explanation reveals, Spivak writes, "a symptom, a desire to have a self and a world", for this presupposes an explainable world and the explaining self. The world is assumed to be containable within our explanation, resolving the differences. So that, in "explaining" the Other/world, “we exclude the possibility of the radically heterogeneous.”9 Humanities in the US academia have become a source of constructing explanation of Asia, East, the Other, the Postcolonial world. The constructed knowledge is a means of containing these diverse worlds into the systems. Spivak criticizes the construction of knowledge in USA, the Western world and the use of technology in the dissemination of this product. Within the Universities, Spivak holds the gradual decline of humanities and social sciences to be the outcome of the capitalist control over most social, cultural, institutions, including education. High level technology has strengthened neo-capitalism, which controls production and dissemination of knowledge. The humanities have been entrusted with the role of producing the society's culture, but Spivak points out that the humanities are required to produce the culture that will describe and make neocapitalism acceptable to the masses in the First and the Third worlds. There is no neutrally created knowledge, Universalist and morally guided. The production of knowledge has a sharp and clear political purpose, aiming to justify, popularize and "explain" the culture of consumerism, high fashion and advancing technology.10 164 The politicized construction of knowledge is responsible for power equation. Edward Said has argued that the construction of orientalism was primarily directed by the west's colonial expansion during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Spivak and other Postcolonial critics maintain that the construction of knowledge in the metropolitan centers and the Western Universities produce a specific type of culture. Spivak finds that this culture then prescribes, defines and writes the scholars. By using interruptive perspectives of race, gender and nation in critiquing the First world's academic projects Spivak, Homi Bhabha and the other postcolonial critics argue for a rethinking of the concepts such as life, selfhood, culture and national identity. The "official explanations" become aligned with power and continually impose the status of the "Other" on those in the margin. These explanations, Spivak says, follow the requirements of the power “emphasizing continuity or discontinuity with past explanations, depending on a seemingly judicious choice permitted by the play of this power.” 11 In producing these officially sanctioned explanations (of culture) “we reproduce", she writes, “structures of possibility of knowledge whose effect is that very structure.” 12 We (the Third world scholars who study the knowledge produced by the First world academy) are a part of the records we keep and “... we are written into the texts of technology. These effects upon us of the close adherence to the knowledge produced elsewhere emphasize the "complicity" and the "surrender" to the controlling power of neo-capitalism.”13 She states very emphatically that no individual writes these texts with full control over the situation, but is rather an instrument in continuing the patterns desired by those in power. The view PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded of a free individual thinker that liberal humanism had upheld – a "sovereign subject" is a grand illusion. Spivak, a deconstructionist, rejects the idea of a subject with a stable final awareness of selfhood, and deconstructs the terms and ideas that make this assumption. The crisis in the humanities is seen the world over: in the first world they are on a decline as they are being pushed by economic requirements from the society to become cost-effective, efficient. These pressures push the departments in universities to adopt courses that will bring financial security. The humanities are being "trashed" as they are being pushed into writing explanation literary aesthetic courses - using the practices that go on with the belief in the civilizing effects of literature, philosophy and other subjects. Looking at these pressures upon the humanities, Spivak makes a larger statement about the purposes and functioning of "Theory(ies)". The grand narrative of overall synthesizing theory that comes up after every few years, in the West, is produced by a certain class and economic group. The purpose of Theory become self reproductive, for “the stability of a technocracy” depends upon this continued reproducing of the grand theory - running through diverse cultural social institutions.14 The grand theory checks any questioning diversity or true multivocality. The main elements of Theory are "blind" to the "will to power through knowledge". It constantly tries to resolve contradictions, differences and regional diversity of interest, identity and goals. Literary theories and criticism are also seen by Spivak as being subsumed within the grand narrative of capitalism. The theories of metaphor, modernism and postmodernism continue to function on the assumptions about the superiority of a particular class, group and race over the rest. 165 These self-centered practices that have had continuity since romantic poetry privilege the Western concepts of its superiority over the rest of the world. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's writing is a commentary on the first world's practice of imposing its political power over the Third world through indirect strategies. It’s highly sophisticated system of production and dissemination of knowledge has strengthened its power through education, mass media and market forces. Spivak takes up these ideas again in her essay “Marginality in the Teaching Machine” and she discusses how the selection of a few texts valorizes those as important sources of values and ideas. The selection leads to their importance in the canon. These texts create the mind set that perpetuates some specific ideological approaches. Next to the selection is the impact of the teaching method. In both the essays "Explanation and culture: Marginalia" and "Marginality in the Teaching Machine", Spivak discusses the need to evolve a confrontational methodology for Third world teachers. This is the method "that continually opens up texts” - the language, metaphor, form - and deconstructs the repressed meanings. The critic must be on the lookout for heterogeneity, rather than for final, grand truths. The teaching method of a Postcolonial teacher/ critic should be confrontational, opening out the implied assumptions of dominant discourse and should question them. Spivak refers to this strategy repeatedly in the different essays, and she takes on a position of questioning major concepts, movements and ideas. She writes, “What I look for rather is a confrontational teaching in the humanities that would question the students”15 received disciplinary ideology (model of legitimate cultural explanations) even as it pushed into PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded indefiniteness the most powerful ideology of the teaching of the humanities: the unquestioned explicating power of the theorizing mind and class, the need for intelligibility and the role of law. Spivak examines the sudden popularity of postmodernism in the US literary circles, foregrounding Latin American narrative style of "magic realism", of terms like "Third world". She asserts that name giving is a source of Power too. The name given to the ex-colonies as "Third world" in the USA reflects a clear dislocation of Britain's past of a great imperial power. It also creates the historical, present orientation in which the first world, mainly the U.S., is ruling the world. A Similar strategy makes Latin American literary style suddenly most important. Latin America's closeness to the U.S. reflects their political and literary importance. Spivak notes that the Third world scholars accept the literary preferences from the U.S. even though this technique may not reflect their cultural specificities. Pablo Neruda, Garcia Marquez have used this style to reflect their own cultural complexities. This style does not, Spivak says, “narrativise decolonization”16 yet it is adopted in the countries, as a mark of being up to date in literary fashion. Spivak also argues that the West uses Postmodernism to counter the important issues being raised by Postcolonial writing. Many of the techniques that were part of the colonial world are, she says, taken over by the colonizer, appropriated and then given back to these countries, as if of Western origin. When the colonized people try to create their own systems of thought the West reclaims most of the important concepts. The languages and concepts, such as “nationalism, constitutionality, citizenship, democracy, culturalism” are 166 claimed to have “written elsewhere.”17 These concepts, when used in the Postcolonial society become "catechresis", as their meaning changes in the new contexts. Spivak suggests that these catechresis may be used strategically, as a stock to begin with, to examine the West's philosophical Universalist concepts, to "peer, however blindly, into the constantly shifting and tangling network of techniques of knowledge and strategies of power through the question of value."18 In questioning the West's continued hold over the Third world's labor market, Spivak makes use of the Marxist analysis of "value" and "desire", Capitalism's subtle manipulation of "desire" is, she argues, closely related to the wide spread consumerism and global marketing. The labor market of the poorer, Postcolonial markets is still controlled by the rich and advanced countries' industrial system. The economic system spreads over other cultural institutions, including education. Spivak refers to the pressures of the economic system on the universities where departments are being compelled into becoming more cost-effective, efficient and self-financing. Gender politics is as much under the networking of the market, for, Spivak finds that the labor market determines gender value, which is “coding of the value – differential.”19 She takes on the feminist struggles in the Third world in their specific culture and material contexts. Her criticism of the Western feminist schools is based on her perception of difference and heterogeneity. Spivak's feminist theory is informed with Postcolonial theoretical concerns. She applies deconstructive opening out of hegemonic images of the Third world Women as an important project of Postcolonial feminism. This strategy PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded lends weight to her sustained efforts to identify and criticize globalizing relations of Power / Knowledge. So, Spivak demands that the relationship between the critic and her research be more interactive; she must be willing to explore how divergent cultural contexts may reveal hitherto unseen problems in her approach. or, as she sardonically puts it, " [t]he academic feminist must learn to learn from then, to speak to them, to suspect that their access to the political and sexual scene is not merely to be corrected by our superior theory and enlightened compassion."20 It is interesting to see here how spivak complicates the idea of a "First world" feminist. As an Indian working in America skilled in European philosophy, and like the Sudanese woman using structural functionalism in Saudi Arabia, Spivak is entirely in complicity with "First world" feminism in her intellectual approach to "Third world" women. Spivak proceeds to provide a detailed example of the problems involved when a "First world" feminist attempts to deal sympathetically with "Third world" woman, by looking at the French feminist Julia Kristeva's work on Chinese women. Spivak argues that a "First world" feminist is often mistaken in considering that her gender authorizes her to speak for "Third world" women. She must "learn to stop feeling privileged as woman".21 In indulging in this erroneous privilege, Kristeva's attempts to offer a feminist account of woman in chinese culture fails to engage dynamically with the specifics of her subject-matter. Instead, she indulges in a "wishful use of history"22 where her own ethnocentric speculations into Chinese culture masquerade as historical fact. Chinese culture becomes appropriated in order to 167 serve Kristeva's particular feminist ends, and her priorities remain firmly self - centered. Ultimately, argues Spivak, Kristeva is less interested in Chinese women per se as she is concerned with how the exploration of a "Third world" culture allows her to raise questions about the "First world". In taking a voyeuristic detour through women is Chinese culture, Kristeva's terminus is in reality a self - centered critique of Western philosophy, Questions are raised such as "who then are we (not), how are we (not),”23 with the "we" relating exclusively to "First world" feminists. We might want to consider here the uncomfortable resemblances which Spivak exposes between Kristeva's work and the project of Orientalism. So, using a phrase at the end of Spivak's essay, we can describe the appropriation of "Third world" women to serve the self-centered ends of "First world" feminists as compelling example of "the inbuilt colonialism of First world feminism toward the Third."24 In attempting to discover what "they can do for them", Kristeva, the Sudanese woman and the Spivak stand accused of this charge. Feminists must learn to speak to women and not for women; they must be willing to learn the limits of their methodologies through an encounter with women in different contexts, rather than assimilate differences within a grander design. It is important to notice that Spivak's argument avoids the charge of ethnocentrism by refusing the logic that, for example; only Indian women can speak for other Indian women. Spivak has consistently advocated that critics must always look to the specifics of their own positions and recognize the political, cultural and institutional contexts in which they work. The space from we speak is always on the move, criss- crossed by the conflicting and shifting discourses of things like our social class, education, gender, sexuality and PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded ethnicity. It is very difficult to assume that the critic can ever speak "on behalf" of anybody, because the position of both the critic and their "object" is never securely fixed. In 1985 Gayatri Spivak threw a challenge to the race and class blindness of the Western academy, asking "can the subaltern speak? By ‘subaltern’ Spivak meant the oppressed subject, the members of Antonio Gramsci's “subaltern Classes,”25 of more generally those "of inferior rank", and her question followed on the work begun in the early 1980's by a collective of intellectuals now known as the Subaltern studies group. The stated objective of this group was “to promote a systematic South Asian Studies.” Further, they described their project as an attempt to study "the general attribute of subordination in South Asian society whether this is expressed in terms of class, caste, age, gender and office or in any other way." Fully alert to the complex ramifications arising from the composition of subordination, the Subaltern Studies group sketched out its wide-ranging concern both with the visible history, politics, economics and sociology of subalternity and with the occluded attitudes, ideologies and belief systems - in short, the culture informing that condition. In other words, " Subaltern studies" 26 defined itself as an attempt to allow the "people" finally to speak within the jealous pages of elitist historiography and, in so doing, to speak for, or to sound the muted voices of, the truly oppressed. Spivak's famous interrogation of the risks and rewards which haunt any academic pursuit of subalternity drew attention to the complicated relationship between the knowing investigator and the (un)knowing subject of subaltern histories. For how, as Spivak queried, "can we touch the 168 consciousness of the people, even as we investigate their politics? With what voiceconsciousness can the subaltern speak?”27 Through these questions Spivak places us squarely within the familiar and troublesome field of "representation" and 28 "representability". How can the historian / investigator avoid the inevitable risk of presenting herself as an authoritative representative of subaltern consciousness? Should the intellectual "abstain from representation?" which intellectual is equipped to represent which subaltern class? Is there an "unrepresentable subaltern class that can know and speak itself? And finally, who - if any - are "true" or "representative subalterns of history, especially within the frame of reference provided by the imperialist project? The complex notion of subalternity is pertinent to any academic enterprise which concerns itself with historically determined relationships of dominance and subordination. Utterly unanswerable, halfserious and half-parodic, the question "Can the Subaltern Speak?", circulates around the self-conscious scene of Postcolonial texts, theory, conferences and conversations. While some postcolonial critics use it to circumscribe their field of enquiry, others use it to license their investigations. And, above all, the ambivalent terrain or subaltern - speak has given rise to a host of competing and quarrelsome anti and Postcolonial subalternities. There is little agreement within Postcolonial studies about the worst victims of colonial oppression,29 or about the most significant anti-colonial insurgencies. Further, in "can the subaltern Speak", Spivak suggests that it is impossible for us to recover the voice of the "subaltern" or oppressed subject.30 Even a radical critic like Foucault, Spivak says, who so PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded thoroughly decentres the human subject, is prone to believing that oppressed subjects can speak for themselves, because he has no conception of the repressive power of colonialism, and especially of the way in which it historically intersected with patriarchy. Spivak turns to colonial debates on widow immolation in India to illustrate her point that the combined workings of colonialism and patriarchy in fact make it extremely difficult for the subaltern (in this case the Indian widow burnt on her husband's pyre) to articulate her point of view. Spivak reads this absence as emblematic of the difficulty of recovering the voice of the oppressed subject and proof that "there is no space from where the subaltern [sexed] subject can speak". She thus challenges a simple division between colonizer and colonized by inserting the "brown woman" as a category oppressed by both. Elite native men may have found a way to "speak" but, she suggests, for those further down the hierarchy, selfrepresentation was not a possibility.31 Spivak's point here is also to challenge the easy assumption that the Postcolonial historian can recover the standpoint of the subaltern. At the same time, she takes seriously the desire, on the part of postcolonial intellectuals, to highlight oppression and to provide the perspective of oppressed people. Spivak therefore suggests that such intellectuals adapt the Gramscian maxim - "pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will" - by combining a philosophical skepticism about recovering any subaltern agency with a political commitment to making visible the position of the marginalized. Thus it is the intellectual who must "represent" the subaltern: The subaltern cannot speak. There is no virtue in global laundry lists with "woman" as a pious item. Representation has not withered away. The female 169 intellectual as intellectual has a circumscribed task which she must not disown with a flourish.32 Benita Parry while writing "Problems in current Theories of colonial discourse," suggests 33 that Spivak in her own writings severely restricts (eliminates?) the space in which the colonized can be written back into history, even when "interventionist possibilities" are exploited through the deconstructive strategies devised by the postcolonial intellectual. Parry further adds that Spivak is theorizing the silence of the doubly oppressed subaltern woman,34 and Spivak's theorem on imperialism's epistemic violence extends to positing the native, male and female, as an historically- muted subject. The story of colonialism which she reconstructs is of an interactive process where the European agent in consolidating the imperialist sovereign self, induces the native to collude in its own subject(ed) formation as other and voiceless. Thus, while protesting at the obliteration of the native's subject position in the text of imperialism, Spivak in her project gives no speaking part to the colonized, effectively writing out the evidence of native agency recorded in India's 200 year struggle against British conquest and the Raj-discourses to which she scathingly refers as hegemonic nativist or reverse ethnocentric narrativization. Spivak's another essay, “Three women's texts and a critique of Imperialism,”35 offer another take on the "disappearance" of the "gendered subaltern" within liberal feminist discourses. Her arguments here open up a crucial area of disagreement between Postcolonial and Feminism. Rather than chronicle the liberal feminist appropriation of the "gendered subaltern", this essay queries the conspicuous absence of the "Third World" PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded woman within the literature which celebrates the emerging" female subject in Europe and Anglo-America.”36 Spivak argues that the high feminist norm has always been blinkered in its" isolationist admiration" for individual female achievement. A re-reading of women's history shows that the “historical moment of feminism in the west was itself defined "in terms of female access to individualism.”37 Yet nowhere does feminist scholarship stop to consider where the battle for female individualism was played out. Nor does it concern it with the numerous exclusions and sacrifices which might attend the triumphant achievements of a few female individuals. Spivak's essay is posed as an attempt to uncover the repressed or forgotten history of Euro-American feminism. Once again the margins reveal the mute figure of gendered subalterneity: “as the female individualist, not quite/not male, articulates her in shifting relationship to what is at stake, the ‘native female’ as such (within discourse, as a signifier) is excluded from a share in this emerging norm.”38 It should be clear from the ideas we have explored so far, that the category of "Third world" woman is an effect of discourse rather than an existent, identifiable reality. It does not approximate any stable, collective body. Similarly the singular "Third world" woman is an ideological construct wholly produced within "First world" intellectual debates, and not an individual subject. As we have considered, the concepts and methodological approaches used to bear witness to “Third world” experiences may be inappropriate to the task and result in generalization, falsification and conjectures. But this leaves a problem: how does one bear witness to the agency of those women throughout history who are today 170 inadequately represented as "Third world" woman? This is an issue which Spivak has explored in her most challenging and intellectually rich essays, “Can the Subaltern speak?”39 Spivak begins by turning first to the work of poststructuralist thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze who have challenged the notion that human individuals are "sovereign subjects" with autonomous agency over their consciousness. As poststructuralism would have it, human consciousness is constructed discursively. Our subjectivity is constituted by the shifting discourses of power which endlessly “speak through” us, situating us here and there in particular positions and relations. In these terms we are not the authors of ourselves. We do not construct our own identities but have them written for us; the subject cannot be "sovereign" over the construction of selfhood. Instead, the subject is "de-centered" in that its consciousness is always being constructed from positions outside of itself. It follows, then, that the individual is not the point of origin for consciousness, and human consciousness is not a transparent representation of the self but an effect of discourse. Spivak argues that, surprisingly for these figures, when Foucault and Deleuze talk about oppressed groups such as the working class they fall back into precisely these uncritical notions of the "sovereign subjects" by restoring to them a full "centered" consciousness - or to use her terms, they are guilty of “a clandestine restoration of subjective essentialism.”40 In addition, they also assume that the writing of intellectuals such as themselves can serve as a transparent medium through which the voices of the oppressed can be represented. The intellectual is cast as a reliable mediator PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded for the voices of the oppressed, a mouthpiece through which the oppressed can clearly speak. Spivak urges that critics must always beware of attempting to retrieve a "subaltern consciousness" from texts. These problems are further compounded by the issue of gender, because representations of subaltern insurgency tend to prioritize men. "As object of colonialist historiography and as subject of insurgency, the ideological construction of gender keeps the male dominant. If, in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot speak, the subaltern as female is even more deeply in shadow.41 This point raises the following questions: Can oppressed women's voices ever be recovered from the archive? Can the subaltern as female, confined in the shadows of colonial history and representation, ever be heard or speak? The answer, it seems, is no, so long as intellectuals go searching for an originary, sovereign and concrete female consciousness which can be discovered and readily represented with recourse to questionable assumptions concerning subjectivity. Rather than hunting for the "lost voices" of women in the historical archives in an act of retrieval, intellectuals should be aware that this kind of work will continue to keep the subaltern as female entirely muted. Ultimately, Spivak suggests, it is better to acknowledge that the subaltern as female exists as the unrepresentable in discourse, a shadowy figure on its margins. Any attempt to retrieve her voice will disfigure her speech. So, she concludes, intellectuals must instead critique those discourses which claim to rescues the "authentic" voices of the subaltern as female from their mute condition, and address their complicity in the production of subalterneity. Simply 171 inserting subaltern women into representation is a cosmetic exercise as long as the system of representation endorses discredited models of essential, centered subjectivity. As Spivak memorably concludes, “[t]here is no virtue in global laundry lists with ‘woman’ as a pious item.”42 There is no doubt that Spivak has a first rate mind and the type of mind that contemporary theory requires. The fact that she translated Derrida's Of Grammatology is itself an indication of her potential. She is sharp and possesses the rare virtue of being able to mould her requirements according to current needs. Though she claims to be more at home in the West and though she has at times disowned an Indian identity and calls India "an artificial construct"43 she keeps her position rather independent by making statements such as, “ I am absolutely plural.”44 Such a position keeps her absolutely free from the basic categories of oppositional theory. In fact, it may be easier to identify Spivak's position by the process of elimination; by saying what she is not. Even the deconstructive establishments find her uncomfortable.45 Although Spivak is a feminist but strangely she denounces kali “as a hegemonic female”46 and further she makes a specific use of deconstruction but says "I am not a deconstructivist,"47 she calls herself bicultural but adds “my biculturality is that I'm not at home in either of the places.”48 Further, she is not a book writer,49 and has written several books, she is not a fundamentalist,50 though her spirit is one which smacks of that. Spivak can keep changing positions by remaining on the margins of deconstruction, marxism and feminism and in so doing indulge in a kind of intellectual coquetry. It is possible for her to do this because she has made her way into PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded the inner shrine of Postcolonial theory. Spivak asserts that she is not an Althusserian in the strict sense and she is not a postmodernist either. She tries to protect her purity by repudiating essentialism - “I am not interested in remaining pure even as I remain an anti-essentialist.”51 Spivak describes herself rather self- consciously, through certain position she takes calling them "her some where else": One of my somewhere else is this kind of anti-sexism which is against a sort of purity of the deconstructive approach. Derrida himself is very careful to distinguish woman in some gentalist description from the figure of woman...there I Part Company. I think it important to be anti sexist. My second way has been not only to see how remaining within a Freudian discourse one can identify the production of philosophy of the findingof the lost objects but to find some place outside where the regulative psychobiographies construct women in another way.52 In terms of critical method, spivak consistently and scrupulously acknowledges the ambiguities of her own position as privileged western based critic of (neo-) colonialism, and draws attention quite explicitly to her ‘complicitous’ position in a "workplace engaged in the ideological production of neo-colonialism."57 Spivak also rejects the idea that there is an uncontaminated space outside the modes and objects of analysis, to which the Postcolonial critic has access by virtue of "lived experience" or cultural origin. A recurrent motif of spivak's work, consequently, is "negotiation" with, rather than simple rejection of, Western cultural institutions, texts, values and theoretical practices.58 Spivak's work derives in considerable measure from the multiplicity of the "negotiations" she conducts at a methodological level and her refusal to espouse any one critical school or cultural/political master-narrative at the expense of others. Spivak says that she is a very eclectic person and uses what comes to hand. And that she is not a fundamentalist.53 She is a feminist concerned about women in a particular way. She spells it out as an interest “in working out the heterogeneous production of sexed subjects. It is also ... in terms of recognizing international division of labor.”54 She is largely interested in female subject constitution, which she describes as "distinguishing between and among woman and so on." 55 This kind of discourse comes, she tells us "when you speak of the constitution of the urban subproletariat or the Para-peripheral women, or tribality, aboriginality, etc., either a very hard classicist Marxist or, fundamentalist kind of talk or a sort of celebration of the other."56 Gyatri Spivak in her essay "History"59 suggests that the effort to present Europe as an Other involves careful disciplinary preparation in the matter of the other, as well as political impatience with the matter of Europe. We (Third world) were not yet such a group. She further adds that the task of discussing the representation of Europe by other cultures should require a preparation broad and deep enough to check superficial enthusiasm and condemnation. Therefore a critique of imperialism is necessary to expose "how Europe had consolidated itself as sovereign subject by defining its colonies as " Others", even as it constituted them, for purposes of administration and the expansion of markets, into programmed near-images of that very sovereign self."60 Further, the above critique would also restore sovereignty for the lost self of the colonies so that Europe could, 172 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded once and for all, be put in the place of the other that it always was. Spivak also suggests that great works of literature cannot easily flourish in the fracture or discontinuity that is covered over by an alien legal system masquerading as law as such, an alien ideology established as the only truth, and a set of human sciences busy establishing the "native" as selfconsolidating other ("epistemic violence).61 She says that for the early part of the nineteenth century in India, the literary critic must turn to the archives of imperial governance to supplement the consolidation of what will come to be recognized as "nationalist" literature. Spivak in her essay "Literature"62 suggests that we must remind ourselves that it should not be possible, in principle, to read nineteenth-century British literature without remembering that imperialism, understood as England's social mission, was a crucial part of the cultural representation of England to the English. The role of literature in the production of cultural representation should not be ignored. Today, says she, a section of so-called Postcolonialist feminism insists upon these facts with certain narcissism. Spivak is able to set a new field - one that defies a clear solution, but a new theoretical direction indeed, into academic discussion and is therefore the typical stuff of which contemporary western thought is made. She exposes the irony that whereas theorists make the Third world woman the object of their experiments, we never get to know what she has to say about herself. She has drawn attention to widow - immolation or "Sati". We talk about the tradition of "Sati" but not about the individual who immolates herself.63 She is praised because she upholds a tradition. We get to know her 173 as a type but not as an individual personality. Women are the sites rather than the subjects of debates - and this is an important aspect of postcolonial theory. References: 1 Colin MacCabe "Foreword", in G. C. Spivak In Other Worlds : Essays in Cultural Politics (London and New York : Routledge, 1988), p. ix. 2 Santosh Gupta, "Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak : Problematising / Speaking the Margine" ,(ed.) Contesting Postcolonialisms, Jasbir Jain andVeena Singh (Jaipur : Rawat Publications, 2000), p. 69. 3 Ibid., p. 69. 4 G.C. Spivak, " Explanation and Culture : Marginalia", In Other Worlds : Essays in Cultural Politics (New York and London : Routledge, 1987), pp. 103-117. 5 Ibid., p. 104. 6 Ibid., p. 107. 7 Ibid., p. 104. 8 Ibid., p. 105. 9 Ibid., p.105. 10 Ibid., p. 107. 11 Ibid., p. 108. 12 Ibid., p. 108. 13 Ibid., p. 108. 14 Ibid., p. 113. 15 G. C. Spivak, "Explanation and Culture : Marginalia," In Other Worlds : Essays in Culture Politics (New York and London : Routledge, 1987), p. 116. 16 G. C. Spivak, "Marginality in the Teaching Machine," Outside in the Teahcing Machine (New York and London : Rouledge, 1993), p. 57. 17 Santosh Gupta, "Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak : Problematising / Speaking the Margine,"(ed.) Contesting Postcolonialisms, Jasbir Jain and Veena Singh (Jaipur : Rawat Publications, 2000), p. 74. 18 Ibid., p. 61. 19 Ibid., p.63. 20 G.C.Spivac, “French Feminism in an International Frame,” In Other Worlds: Essays in cultural Politics (New York and London: Routledge,1987), p.135. 21 Ibid., p. 136. 22 Ibid., p. 138. 23 Ibid., p. 137. 24 Ibid., p. 153. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 25 Leela Gandhi, "After Colonialism," Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction, (New Delhi: O.U.P., 1998), p. 1. 26 Ibid., P. 2 27 G. C. Spivak, "Can the Subaltern Speak?” in C. Nelson and L. Grossberg, (ed.) Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (Basingstoke : Macmillan Education, 1988), p. 285. 28 Leela Gandhi, “After Colonialism," Postcolonial Theory : A Critical Introduction (New Delhi : O.U.P., 1998), p. 2. 29 Ibid., p. 2. 30 Ania Loomba, "Challenging Colonialism,” Colonialism / Post colonialism (London and New York : Routledge, 1999), p. 233. 31 Ibid., p. 234. 32 G. C. Spivak, “Can the subaltern Speak ? ", in C. Nelson and L.Grossberg (ed.) Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, 1988), p. 308. 33 Benita Parry, "Problems in Current Theories of Colonial Discourse," Oxford Literary Review (Vol. 9, Nos. 1 & 2, 1987), pp. 27-58. 34 Ibid., p. 35. 35 G. C. Spivak, "Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism," Critical Inquiry (Vol. 12, No.1, Autumn 1985), pp. 243-261. 36 Ibid., p. 243. 37 Ibid., p. 246. 38 Ibid., p. 244-45. 39 G. C. Spivak, “Can the Subaltern Speak ?" in C. Nelson and L. Grossberg (ed.) Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (Basingstoke : Macmillan Education, 1988), pp. 271-313. 40 Ibid., p. 190. 41 Ibid., pp. 289-90. 42 Ibid., p. 308. 43 Sarah Harasym, (ed.) The Post-Colonial Critic : Interviews, Strategies, Dialogues (New York and London : Routledge, 1990), p. 39. 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 174 57 G.C. Spivak, " Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography," In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics , p. 210. 58 Bart Moore-Gilbert, "Gayatri Spivak: The Deconstructive Twist", Postcolonial Theory : Contexts, Practices, Politics , (London and New York: Verso, 1997), p. 78. 59 G.C. Spivak, "History," A Critique of Postcolonial Reason (Calcutta :Seagull Books, 1999), pp. 198-311. 60 Ibid., p. 199. 61 Ibid., p. 205. 62 G. C. Spivak, "Literature,” A Critique of Postcolonial Reason (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1999), p. 113. 63 Leela Gandhi, "Postcolonialism and Feminism," Postcolonial Theory : A Critical Introduction (New Delhi : O.U.P., 1998), p. 90. Ibid., p. 38. Ibid., p. 6. Ibid., p. 40. Ibid., p. 45. Ibid., p. 83. Ibid., p. 40. Ibid., p. 55. Ibid., p. 17. Ibid., p.14. Ibid., p. 55. Ibid., p. 10. Ibid., pp. 12-13. Ibid., pp. 10-11. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Post Colonial Writer: Diaspora Discourse - Rajesh S. Gore Toshniwal College, Sengaon Abstract: The present paper throws its glimpse over Mistry’s ‘Such a Long Journey’ as a Diaspora Discourse. Rohinton Mistry is well-known immigrant writer whose literary creation makes clear our concept of literature of the Indian Diaspora. Asian Indian who now lives in and writes from Canada, Mistry is a writer of the Indian Diaspora. His writing is informed by this experience of double identity or displacement. Mistry’s Novel, ‘Such a Long Journey’ as a Diaspora discourse. He is living in Canada but writing about the social, political and cultural situation in India in the year of 1960s & 1970s. The physical distance from his motherland gives Mistry a better position to review it. As an Indian who now lives in and writes from Canada, Rohinton Mistry is a writer of the Indian Diaspora. Mistry has a double identity. Who is living in Canada but writing abut India’s situation in 1960s & 1970s. The bonding of culture, religion, literature and language is especially strong in Diaspora situation. Mistry first novel, Such a Long Journey, returns to Bombay and the Parsis world. Even more than the short stories, this novel is Diaspora discourse. Here Mistry has Very overtly attempted to deconstruct and repossess his past. He was born in 1952 and left India in 1975 for Canada- so the India evokes is that of 1960s & 1970s, more specifically Bombay of that era that he has created in this novel. Another significant aspect of this discourse is the leitmotif of ‘Journeying’ which is also central to most Diaspora writing. In ‘Such a Long Journey’ the Parsis world gradually moves out of its self imposed isolation and interact at the highest levels of finance and politics with the post colonial Indian world. The catalyst which brings about this contact is the “Fictional” characters of Major Jimmy Bilimoria’s. This is a composite character fashioned out of the real-life state Bank cashier Sohrab Nagarwala and Parsi agent from RAW (Arm of the Indian Secret Service), who was close to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India. The story line is centrally concerned with the events that had overtaken Nagarwala. He was the manipulated in the Rs. 60 Lakhs scam that had rocked the Indira Gandhi Government in 1970. He claimed that he had received a call from the Prime Minister instruction him to hand over that large sum of money to a messenger. This was never accepted by the Prime Minister’s office and Nagarwala charged with 175 embezzlement and arrested. He died in rather mysterious circumstances before he could be brought to trial. The missing sum of money was also connected with the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. It is against this backdrop that Gustad Noble and his family live out their lives in the city of Bombay. From the vantage point of the 1990s, Mistry has reviewed Bombay of the 1960s & 1970s. These were decades that witnessed the slow erosion of the idealism which had marked the beginning of the end of the Nehruian dream of secular India. The Chinese attack of 1962 was seen as a betrayal by Nehru. He never recovered from the shock of seeing his vision for Asian socialism and regional co-operation crumble. The end of the Nehruian utopia also marked the beginning of sordid powerpoliticking, corruption at the highest levels, Nepotism and cynical endeavoring of the electorate. In Bombay, it marked the end of the Island-city’s famed religious tolerance. When large parts of Northern and Eastern Indian were convulsed by Hindu-Muslim riots in 1947. Bombay had remained an oasis of calm and sanity. This, whoever changed in the 1960s with the rise of extreme right wing political parties like Shiv Sena. The Sena raised the bogey of the other – the religious other, the Muslim, the linguistic other, especially Tamil, separators and the regional other, those who come from other parts of India. Mistry like many political analysts and Naxalite places the blame for this at Indira Gandhi door-“How much bloodshed, how much rioting she caused. And today we have that bloody Shivsena, wanting to make the rest of us into second class citizens.” Don’t forget, she started it all by supporting the racist buggers. The language of this denunciation of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Mrs. Gandhi’s politics is indigenized in the tradition of postcolonial discourse. Mistry’s texts are splendid celebration of the Parsi idiom and faithfully capture its rhythms. In the midst of this city slowly succumbing of the triple graded monster of religious, linguistic and regional chauvinism, stands the Khodadad building, the Parsi residential complex where the main protagonists of the novel live. Significantly enough, the building is protected from the outside world by high black wall. The wall is an important symbol in the text. It is actually a closer of symbols at the beginning of the narrative it represents both protection and reduction. It shuts the outside world, thus providing security. Out side the protection wall lies the squalor of India- “The flies, the mosquitoes, the horrible stink, with bloody shameless people pissing, squatting along side the wall late at night it became like a whole state public latrine”. As the novel progresses Gustad Noble turns the offensively stinking wall into “the wall of all religions”. He gets a pavements artist to point on it gods and prophets of all the major Indian religions. Over the next few days, the wall filled up with gods, prophets and saints. When Gustad checked the air each morning and evening, he found it free of malodor. “Mosquitoes and flies were no longer quite the nuisance the used to be “However, in the cynical increasingly intolerant city, Gustad wall is doomed. The municipal Corporation pulls it down to widen the road and the gods come tumbling down, however, the artist takes this destruction quite philosophically. To Gustad’s question about where he would go. 176 He replies: In a world where roadside latrines become temples and Shrines become dust and rain, dries it matter where?” Thus artist’s moods are typical of the Hindu ethos which does not place much of with in external symbols of divinity. The destruction of Babri mosque in December 1992 was a politicallyengineered event rather than an expression of the spontaneous religious belief and outrages that are made out be. The destruction of Gustad’s wall is turned into a positive happening because it prompts from to Lake Town the blackout papers he had posted on his window and ventilators at the time of the Chinese attack in 1962. He stood upon the chair and pulled at the paper covering the ventilators. As the first shutter away, a frightened moth flew out and circled the room. This letting in of the light can be seen as a metaphor for the letting in of Indian reality into Cocooned isolation of the Parsi world. Mistry is living in Canada but writing about Indian culture, socio-political scenario, religion and Indian ethos in this way he has role double identity as a Diaspora writer. References: Mistry, Rohinton Such a Long Journey, 1995. Faber and Faber Ltd. London. Dodiya, Jaydipsinh - Critical Perspectives on the Novels of Rohinton Mistry, Prestige Books, New Delhi. _________, The Fiction of Rohinton Mistry. Prestige Books: New Delhi. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Reflection of women in Dalit Memoir Upara --Jadhav Pradip V. M.S.S Art’s College Tirthpuri, Jalna. The Indian women were considered a commodity to be possessed by men without their existence. Indian castes ,religions ,scriptures which made the life of women unbearable and miserable .It is ridiculous that women in Indian were worshiped as goddesses but at the same time they were subject to the bonds of slavery and operation. In the case of Dalits, the situation of women is even bitterer. The Indian established social system exploited them as untouchable and lower caste. They were oppressed on the basis of distinction in castes, religions and gender also. As a woman and belongs to lower category, she is faced double slavery by Dalit males and Hindu savarna. Women are viewed as secondary and oppressed in Hindu patriarchal society. She is treated as a trivial object and ignorable part of the society. As if she is born to tolerate the exploitations and sufferings. Dalit women toiled and worked hard day and night. She carried double responsibility in her domestic life. She was happy in an adverse situation with her husband in her ignorance. She is not disappointed with her worst situation because she is imbibed the idea of supremacy of traditional belief. In this regard Pushpa Bhave puts “Dalit women also were under the spell of Hindu rituals, blind faiths due to ignorance and inferiority complex.” (Lalita Dhara:11) If the responsible person in the family is addict of wine or he is idle while she stands responsibly to run her family. Dalit women are exploited in her domestic life by Dalit male at the same time she is oftenly seduced and raped by upper caste Hindu people. In the Indian established society, she has been treated brutally. It is a disgrace on the part of 177 humanity.Prof. Rage in his study of Dalit women says “Dalit women are more likely to face the collective and public threat of rape, sexual assault and physical violence at the work place and in public.(Rage: 95) Thus Dalit women is to struggle every moment of her life. This pitiable condition of Dalit women is vividly observed in Dalit memoirs. Reflection of Dalit women in Upara can be a major discussion as a part of feminist study. The narrator Laxman Mane demonstrates the struggle of women in kaikadi community with their realistic account from their birth to death. Women in Upara are exploited not only because of her sex but also on the basis of her class, race and castes. There are many accounts of incidents where women are tortured in their domestic life. Women of kaikadi community are double slaved by male Dalits and Hindus. She has no freedom as a part of kaikadi community and under the control of Indian patriarchal society. The women of kaikadi community in Upara have no equal status. Upara is a Dalit memoir presents the social picture of wandering kaikadi community. The narrator provides us an account of suffering and agonies of his own and his family. Besides, it is a representative picture of kaikadi community in Maharashtra. The presentation of women in Upara is to be examined as a deprived class on the basis of religion caste and gender also. The Narrator demonstrated the pitiable and helpless condition of women of kaikadi community from their birth to death. There are many notable incidents where kaikadi women are tortured and subjected on various ground in their way of life. The oppressed and deprived PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded women are mentioned such as Narrator’s mother (Anwari), Nani ,Paru, Gajara, Wife of Pingla Joshi, Sharda, Sari, sari of Holar community and narrators aunt Pari. These women are strictly follower of their traditional norms and cultures. They are completely influenced by the rigid conservative thoughts. The blame is not to be given them because they are not given education .Yet, they are not allowed to go out of their home. Pingla Joshi takes an objection when her wife came late. The wife says, “I spends all my life with this man reach bone of my body has been worn out his service. And seeing him in there condition. I could not possible let him die. I went out to fetch the medicine prescribed by this brother of mine .And look at him suspecting me for no reason whatever.”(Upara: 87) Mother of Narrator is a representative woman of kaikadi community .She is one of the important characters among the other women. She is presented bold, hard worker submissive, devotional and deprived one .Many time she played protective role for the narrator. She says, “Lakshya take the donkeys out until it is time to go to school when I see the other children on their way to school .I will send Sami to look after the donkey so that you can go to school. Don’t run away from school or else father will beat you to death”. (Upara : 22)The mother is given secondary position in taking any decision .Even she is abused in a very rustic language. The father of narrator calls her, “You bitch of a wife! You don’t him to be a beggar? I will certainly send him to school and make him a teacher or an officer. Who are you to poke your filthy nose into my affair, woman? (Upara : 22) The mother is believed in traditions, customs and social norms. She never hoped her son should be educated or learn without marriage. She is a woman of kaikadi community not to believe in inter caste marriage .She is submissive women and lived in the patron of 178 husband. She is victimized under the observation of patriarchal society. Parumami is a beautiful woman raped by the villagers. In the result her husband divorced her. She is a pitiable and helpless woman neglected all kinds of happiness. To be beautiful in kaikadi community is worse on them. This can be observed with Paru character. The submissive nature of the women can be observed in the words of narrator’s mother. She says that the women of kaikadi community should not have bath or make up. Because she things that they are not able to live as such. When Paru is raped She said, “A beggarly women should always behave like a lady. She must not behave like a nauth girl from the tanasha in makeup. Otherwise, she will meet the same fate as Paru”. (Upara: 85)This suggestion is to all the women in kaikadi community. It means they have to be restricted in the name of poor and lower castes. It may be the worst if they live like modern women. The next important women character is Shashi , a wife of narrator . She Stands firmly with narrator as a wife in every path of life. She involves in kaikadi community without any hesitation. Her real love with the narrator is cleared in her following statement, “If we are to die, we’ll die together. Whatever happens…. I have prepared myself to live on the pavement”. ( Upara: 174) Shashi’s fearless and bold personality is appeared after her marriage with narrator. Both Shashi and narrator came to Satara after their marriage .They are caught in the bustand and investigated by the police. While Shashi boldly replied: “ I am his wife.” (Upara: 182) Shashi is a dominant woman character possessed scientific view. He didn’t like caste discrimination. Somewhere she said, “I thought that we Marathas alone were insanely proud of our ninety six generation of Maratha lineage, but what I witnessed just now appears to be even worse. (Upara: 186) This statement of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Shashi reveals the attitude towards caste system. It means that she could have not expected cast difference in lower category. But unfortunately, she has to listen the discussion of narrator’s mother and father on caste. Shashi is blamed and insulted by the narrator’s father and mother. Because they mean the cause of disturbance in their life is Shashi. Mother shouted at Shashi when they came to Satara, “You cursed Woman! You broke our house into two, you treated us in an inhuman way and on the top of that you are preparing tea for us? We won’t drink anything coming from your cursed hands!”(Upara:184) Narrator’s Parumami was a beautiful and good looking woman. Whenever she bathed young men would hang around her. It is humiliation of the beautiful women in kaikadi community. Even these beautiful women are not given freedom to comb her tresses properly. Once the husband of parumami, noticed that his wife was combing her hair. He dropped her to the ground and sat on her chest snatching the mirror from her hand, he began hitting her face with it. Parumami is raped brutally by the young men. Her painful condition is observed in her own language; “It was terribly painful .The wolves didn’t leave me… my body has become a rotten log of wood now!” When mother reported the matter of rape on Paru to Maruti mama and father, they have not shown any kind of sympathy towards her. Instead, they blamed her, “This bitch was not going to be faithful to me. She has sacrificed her honor and she is crying now.(Upara :84) Here once again the pitiable and helpless condition of Para hurts us. The next deprived woman character is Pingla Joshi’s wife. She behaved very boldly and sacrificed for her husband. One day Pingla Joshi was suffering from high temperature. His wife came late after getting father’s prescribed some herbal plant which had to get from the hill. Then Pingla Joshi suspects her and abuses her, “Bloody where! You brazen bitch! I’ll get your 179 mother screwed by a donkey.” He continued his attack on her “you old bitch! It is all over between the two of us… out! Get out! I cannot stand the sight of you! Have gone crazy in your old age.” (Upara :86) They are no more treated as human being. But the wife of Pingla Joshi is not disturbed. Even she boldly says “I shall look after these four children as best I can.”It means the women have potential to struggle in her domestic life. She is self sufficient. But the patriarchal Indian system made her victims. The moral advice of the mother of Narrator to the wife of Pingla Joshi is worth noting. The miserable life of kaikadi woman is observed in the words of mother she says, “A women must return home before sunset, if not she is suspected of misconduct. I spent all my life this man. Each bone of my body has been worn out in his service. (Upara:87) Gajara is another woman of kaikadi community. She became the victims of the rigid rule of the community due to her adulteress. Her seven children are begotten from seven fathers. She is portrayed beautiful and heighted one. She is banished due to her adulteress by the community. The narrator entered in Gajaras house with one of her sons to get a drink of water, at this moment Narrators mother express anger in following words: “son of a bitch! you drink water in this filthy house ? Have you mortgaged your sense of propriety or what.” (Upara:101) Yet, mother warned narrator never cross the threshold of Gajara’s door and see the face that big whore. The seven children of Gajara have all been excommunicated. People of community do not even eat with them. All the kaikadi houses stood together where Gajaras house stood apart. Poor Gajaras was not going to survive the attack of her son. At last, one of the elder brothers caught her by their and dragged her out of the house. The wrong was only with her that she commits adultery. So she was banished by the community. The women in PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded kaikadi community are mortgaged for the need of money. This is one of the crucial things observed with deprived Kaikadi women. Punnapa have mortgaged his wife to Dharmea last four years. He had promised to return the amount to Dharma in four years. Now Punnapa was ready to return the money but the fellow Dharmna is not willing to return punnapa’s wife. This discussion between Punnapa and Dharma declares that women is considered as a commercial object or mere thing. The woman mortgaged here reveals her submissive nature under the patriarchal tradition of the kaikadi community. “Your honour I submit before you that I am better than a meek animal.” (Upara:57) The statemen defines submissive and victimized women in the background of kaikadi community. Sharda is another deprived jumped on a rope, left tones with her locks. Many tempted young fellow impressed on the skill of Sharda and attacked on her and fulfilled their sexual hunger. Later on she is thrown away. In the result she is died in her painful agonies. Pari and Sari are the wife of Pingla Joshi. They were selling the pots of silver and fulfilling their needs. Each kaikadi women are hard worker. There are some minor women character like Bagli Phaltankarin who demands Sari as bride groom for her son Vasant and managed to marry them. Tani Wadarin helped Laxman when he ran at phaltan. She advised him properly. Sari is belongs to Holar society lived in Satara. She had eight to nine children. Her husband was addict of drinking wine. Her husband suspected her. She boldly behaves with her husband. Pari is a minor character, a wife of Jayshing who is second uncle of narrator. She helped the family of Narrator while wandering from one place to 180 another. Every woman in this memoir is possessed responsibity in their domestic life. Every woman in the memoir is dominated in the name of caste, religion and gender. The reflected Dalit women in the present memoir are a typical deprived and subjugated in the kaikadi community. Yet, they are exploited physically also by the so called established Hindu people. The women have not got any kind of sympathy by Dalit male and Savarnas. She is completely slaved under the rigid norms of the patriarchal society. The women in upara are an untouchable in untouchable. She is not taken care of her health to look beautiful. The women are fearful of their physical exploitation. They are victims of physical exploitation time to time in Hindu community. The Entire memoir is a typical account of Dalit woman who is marginalized in Indian patriarchic society. Reference: 1) Mane, Laxman. Upara :An outsider translated by A.K.Kamat (New Delhi sahitya Akademi: 1997) 2) Rage, s.Cast and Gender: The violence Aqainst women In India ,P.Jopland (ed.) (New Delhi: Gyan publication, 1994) 3) Dhara, lalita, Bharat Ratna Dr.Babasheb Ambedkar and womens question. Published by Dr.Ambedkar College of com. and eco. ( Mumbai:2010 ) 4) Dr.Agrawal Beena and Dr.Neeta. Contextualizing Dalit consciousness In Indian English literature (Yking Book: 2010) 5) Dr. Mulate, Vasudev. Dalitachi Aatmkathne: Sanklpna v Swarup (Aurangbad ; Swarup Prakashan, 2003 ) PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 181 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded POST COLONIAL THEORY Things Fall Apart as a Post Colonial Novel Jayanti Dattatraya Shinge Student, MA (Eng) III Sem J S S College, Dharwad Abstract:Postcolonial literature, is a body of literary writings that reacts to the discourse of colonization. Post-colonial literature often involves writings that deal with issues of de-colonization or the political and cultural independence of people formerly subjugated to colonial rule. It is also a literary critique to texts that carry racist or colonial undertones. Postcolonial literature, finally in its most recent form, also attempts to critique the contemporary postcolonial discourse that has been shaped over recent times. It attempts to assimilate this very emergence of postcolonialism and its literary expression itself. Postcolonial literary critics re-examine classical literature with a particular focus on the social "discourse" that shaped it.Edward Said in his popular work Orientalism analyzes the writings of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire and Lautréamont, exploring how they were influenced, and how they helped to shape a societal fantasy of European racial superiority. Postcolonial fiction writers might interact with the traditional colonial discourse by attempting to modify or subvert it. An example of this is Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), which was written as a pseudo-prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Here, a familiar story is re-told from the perspective of an oppressed minor character. Protagonists in post-colonial writings are often found to be struggling with questions of identity, experiencing the conflict of living between the old, native world and the invasive forces of hegemony from new, dominant cultures.In Wide Sargasso Sea, the protagonist is shown to be re-named and exploited in several ways. The "anti-conquest narrative" recasts indigenous inhabitants of colonised countries as victims rather than foes of the colonisers. This depicts the colonised people in a more human light but risks absolving colonisers of responsibility for addressing the impacts of colonisation by assuming that native inhabitants were "doomed" to their fate. Léopold Senghor conceived the idea of négritude, Homi K Bhabha, Hampaté Bâ, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) made a significant mark in African literature. Ayi Kwei Armah in Two Thousand Seasons tried to establish an African perspective to their own history. In Britain, J. G. Farrell's novels Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip, written during the 1970s, are important texts dealing with the collapse of the British Empire. Chinua as a post-colonial writer "Achebe is aware that the acquisition of a speaking voice betrays his involvement with the process of destruction he records; that he can celebrate the value of Ibo culture only with he language tools acquired in the act of destroying it". Many critics agree on this point, that for Achebe, "To write is to reconcile oneself to a past foreclosed by the experience of colonialism; it is an archaeological gesture that seeks to recover the historicity of Igbo life and culture". Postcolonial writers are faced with the irony of using the tools of their destruction to recreate a foreclosed past, and also to reconcile themselves to it as well. "Achebe is aware that in gaining the voice to speak he reveals his involvement with the destruction which he records." Chinua Achebe's 1961 book is a narrative that follows the life of an Igbo tribe on the very cusp of the time when the wave of colonization washed over Africa. Set in Nigeria, the book follows the story of Okonkwo, the son of a ne'er do well, who is determined not to end up a failure like his father, but wants to follow tradition and rise in rank within the tribe. But just as the title predicts, Okonkwo's plans for a perfect life go astray. Change is inevitable, and even the best laid plans go astray. In the turbulent time setting, Okonkwo is doomed to lose the traditions he cherishes as his society slowly falls apart. 182 Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world... (From Yeats’ “The Second Coming" .) Achebe and the 20th century Igbo society "Achebe recalls that his parents looked down upon the "heathens" in their community who did not espouse Christianity, but he eventually came to wonder if "it isn't they who should have been looking down on us for our apostasy"…which mirrors the hybrid experience of the twentieth-century Igbo society as a whole…" Achebe is able to so completely record and create Igbo society because he has faced the general problems on a personal level. He has felt and lived in the questions colonialism brings up, and is able to use them to his advantage in recreating an unbiased past. "Achebe's advantage is that he is able to use with economy and confidence rituals and conventions each of which symbolizes the society his is describing." "…Things Fall apart is indeed a classic study of crosscultural misunderstanding and the consequences to the rest of humanity, when a belligerent culture or civilization, out of sheer arrogance and ethnocentrism, takes it upon itself to invade another culture, another civilization." One of the things pointed out is that PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Umofia had no kings or chiefs but had a highly democratic and efficient government. This is something the invaders did not see; Western sensibilities insist that each nation needs a leader, at least one person to take charge and prevent anarchy. The courts used the white man's justice: either a flogging or hanging: both senselessly brutal in Umofian eyes. The main reason for the culture clash is lack of social interaction and understanding between the cultures. And the misunderstanding did not end at the end of the novel; the colonizers are the ones who recorded the history, so, as the saying goes, "…Until the lions produce their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify only the hunter". African history is unique; "History has not treated the whole world the same way, and we would be foolish not to realize how we are in a peculiar situation as Africans. Our history has not been the history of England." The cultural misunderstanding led to a false history, with characters written from the hopes and fears of a people whose uniformed accounts are prevalent even today. "Achebe has made it clear that his principle purpose in the book was to give African readers a realistic depiction of their precolonial past, free of the distortions and stereotypes imposed in European accounts." Okonkwo and the end of tradition So how is Okonkwo related to the end of traditional Umofian society? Booker sees Okonkwo as a visual representation of the standards of success in Ibo life. He is prosperous, he is one of the egwugwu, no one compared him to his shiftless father; he has everything he wants at first. But things start to change when Ikemefuma was killed. Up until that point, following the traditions of his society has only improved Okonkwo's situation. When the choice comes to kill Ikemefuma, the shortcomings in tradition start coming through. "…Okonkwo can be seen as testing the limits of his society's integrity and exposing its real failure to provide for humane and compassionate feelings." He adheres so strictly to the rules that his example points out to others the flaws in the system. If the system was complete, then Okonkwo's stubborn, inflexible observation of the rules would not have led to his downfall. Wright also claims that Okonkwo's death was inevitable because through his inflexibility he was the clog in the wheel of progress. "If things fall apart is first a story of the disintegration of a traditional African society, it is also the personal tragedy of a single individual , whose life falls apart in the midst of that same process." But does Okonkwo fall because he represents the values of a culture that is disappearing, or because he deviates 183 from that society's' norms? Umofian society is very flexible; they compare their actions to those of their neighbors, always questioning and adapting. But Okonkwo does not adapt at all. In fact, he is so adverse to changing that he cannot even accept it in anyone else. And as for his strict adherence to tradition, that is not quite true. Sure, he does follow the order to kill Ikemefuma-even when he is given a loophole to escape through, pointed out by Obierika-but he also disrupts the Week of Peace and Achebe writes that "…Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess". In that scene, he is following his own stubborn will, and not tradition. He kills Ikemefuma not because the system is flawed, but because he does not want to appear weak like his father. Okonkwo as a Historical Figure One of the requirements of "civilization" is that a nation must have a history. But Umofia seems to lack one. Gikanki suggest that the beginning of Things Fall Apart is an "imaginary response to the problems of genealogy and cultural identity that have haunted igbo culture…" The book sets up Okonkwo as surrogate founding father, with the story about throwing the Cat in a wrestling tournament, and other aspects of Okonkwo's history as the same as those of the Umofian nation. This is possible because he seems to draw his identity from the traditions and laws of Umofia. It is when he is separated from these values and sent to his mother's land that marks the end of his way of life. "In general terms, Okonkwo acquires his heroic and tragic status by becoming alienated from the very values he espouses and uses to engender himself." Okonkwo's tragic flaws Umofia is a nation that definitely treasures loquacity. In a setting like this, Okonkwo's stammer is a tragic flaw. It is not seen in the book much; never does Achebe quote a passage when Okonkwo sputters out his words. One of the reasons for this may be that Okonkwo uses aggression to replace his lack of speech. This flaw sets him apart from the traditions he embodies; he can participate, but he cannot find the joy of being verbose like his compatriots. Another tragic flaw is Okonkwo's stubborn inflexibility. "As Achebe presents this growing success, he insinuates the cause of future conflict: Okonkwo's inflexible will is bringing him success in a society remarkable for its flexibility." His rigidity leads to his participation in the death of Ikemefuma. This incident is seen by many as a turning point in novel, the beginning of the end. It "initiates a series of catastrophes which end with his PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded death". This action may have been legally correct, but it was morally wrong. From that point on, all of Okonkwo's decisions lead to disaster, even at the end when his decision to kill the messenger leads him to kill himself, something so abhorrent to his nation that they cannot bury him. Despite Okonkwo's best efforts, he is further separated from his nation until "…the embodiment of traditional law has become the outcast of the tribe". The culture clash "…Things Fall apart is indeed a classic study of crosscultural misunderstanding and the consequences to the rest of humanity, when a belligerent culture or civilization, out of sheer arrogance and ethnocentrism, takes it upon itself to invade another culture, another civilization." One of the things pointed out is that Umofia had no kings or chiefs but had a highly democratic and efficient government. This is something the invaders did not see; Western sensibilities insist that each nation needs a leader, at least one person to take charge and prevent anarchy. The courts used the white man's justice: either a flogging or hanging: both senselessly brutal in Umofian eyes. The main reason for the culture clash is lack of social interaction and understanding between the cultures. And the misunderstanding did not end at the end of the novel; the colonizers are the ones who recorded the history, so, as the saying goes, "…Until the lions produce their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify only the hunter". African history is unique; "History has not treated the whole world the same way, and we would be foolish not to realize how we are in a peculiar situation as Africans. Our history has not been the history of England." The cultural misunderstanding led to a false history, with characters written from the hopes and fears of a people whose uniformed accounts are prevalent even today. "Achebe has made it clear that his principle purpose in the book was to give African readers a realistic depiction of their precolonial past, free of the distortions and stereotypes imposed in European accounts." Postcolonial responses to the missionaries: Things Fall Apart Gerald Moore has stated in Seven African Writers that Achebe's goal in writing Things Fall Apart was to recapture ''the life of his tribe before the first touch of the white man sent it reeling from its delicate equilibrium''. This is central to an understanding of the novel. Right from the tribes' first encounter with the whites, the reader observes it being unchangeably altered. 184 It is the coming of the missionaries which brings the disruption. After thousands of years of unviolated and untouched tribal existence, Okonkwo returns after just seven years of exile to find his village almost unrecognisable. Similarly, his fellow clan members seem unwilling to recognise him. Instead, ''the new religion and government and trading stores were very much in the people's eyes and minds ... they talked and thought about little else, and certainly not about Okonkwo's return''. The Europeans have been active in Nigeria for just seven years and already the pre-colonial Nigeria has been lost. This presents a clear picture of the sheer rapidity of the colonial project. It seems inevitable that much indigenous tradition and heritage will be swept away, resulting in feelings of profound cultural dislocation, and loss of identity. Yet despite these hardships, the reader cannot escape the feeling the Achebe is not as narrow-minded and bitter as he first appears. He clearly does not object to the discovery of and learning about new religions and cultures. He presents a strong argument in favour of discussion as a path towards understanding. In Things Fall Apart, the missionary Mr Brown and Akunna, one of the tribal elders, often spend long hours in discussion, and although ''Neither of them succeeded in converting the other ... they learnt more about their different beliefs''. This demonstrates a mutual relationship, in which both parties are equally eager to learn when approached on equal terms. It is not Achebe's intention to demonstrate any superiority an idealistic pre-colonial Nigerian existence might hold over life in Europe. What he seeks to achieve is an ''illumination of the complicated truth of African existence (and) a concrete insight into the reality of their existence''. As clearly demonstrated in Things Fall Apart, he is making neither excuses nor apologies for African existence. Similarly, he does not try to force Nigerian culture upon a European audience. This is exactly what he objects to in the colonial project - the forcing of European culture on an unwilling Nigerian clan. The missionaries simply walk into the midst of the tribe with their interpreters, and ''told them that they worship false gods, gods of wood and stone''. After thousands of years of worshipping unchanged deities, the white man virtually commands them to ''leave your wicked ways and false gods''. Upon first contact, the natives are instantly and ignorantly termed labelled ''false'' and ''wicked'', a poignant example of Manichean aesthetics at work. It is easy to understand how Achebe repeatedly views colonial relationships as ''Master and Slave'' relationships. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded In his rejection to this approach to missionary work, and the colonial project in general, Achebe not only makes them seem ''mad'' and a reason for much laughing and joking, but he also hints at darker and more sinister aspects to them. The missionaries were injected into Africa with the expressed desire to completely change all aspects of African life, and convert it into something much more Europhile. They ''pride themselves on their indifference to all the ceremonies which bind and express the life of the tribe''. By extension, they can be assumed to have entertained a great of indifference within the tribe also. Basically, these individuals were statistics of converted and unconverted natives. The missionaries were ruthless in pursuit of new converts. Domestic support for the missions depended in large measure upon the tangible success of their preaching, ''success'' being reflected in the numbers of conversions. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe even hints at their use of bribery and blackmail in their endeavours. He tells us, ''the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write''. The inference is clearly that the unconverted heathens were not given this opportunity. Yet bearing in mind the orality of Nigerian culture, the apparent pointlessness of learning to read and write is exposed. This is indicative of the move away from Nigerian pre-colonial orature, towards a more Eurocentric culture. In their desire for quick converts, the missionaries allowed into their ranks outcasts and ''afulefu, worthless, empty men''. In the ideology of the missions, this was portrayed as display of the truly egalitarian nature of European Christianity, so different to the harshness experienced in tribal living. Yet as Gerald Moore notes, there are more duplicitous aspects to this. He states that outcasts and seemingly worthless man were specifically targeted by the missionaries because they are a group which ''despises and gradually undermines the older ones. Thus a fatal weakness is introduced at the very heart of the clan, which is the unit of its customary life''. In his portrayal of Nwofia, Achebe also acknowledges the subversive side of the converts, men who have no real place in the tribe, and no loyalty to it. To further enhance the negative aspects of the missions, Achebe suggests that even the converts never really accept the religion they are being offered. The reader is led to believe that each convert has their own selfcentred alterior motives for going into the ''evil forest'' with the missionaries. Two examples of such behaviour are given. Nwofia is more attracted by the ''rollicking tunes of evangelism'' than by the doctrines of Christianity, and he doesn't really fit in within the tribe anyway. Nneka also has her own reasons for conversion. 185 Having had two sets of twins killed by the tribe already, and once more being pregnant, she goes to the missionaries, it seems, to save her unborn child. Not only that, but her family are relieved to separate themselves from such an obviously cursed woman. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe never accepts that Christianity has been fully recognised, even by the converts. The people of Umuofia find it difficult to arrive at a firm conclusion as to their opinion of the whites. To the end they remain ambiguous, for example, they like the wealth and new found value that white trade brings, a strong reminder of the missionaries' role to find a substitute for slaves. Yet they cannot reconcile themselves with white intrusion and indirect rule through a District Officer. Perhaps the reason for this ambiguity and uncertainty lies in the difficulty in finding a language or a voice for expressing and describing white intervention. Such was the clash of cultures involved in the colonisation of Nigeria that even the language had to alter to accommodate it. In many cases, this alteration brought about a silencing of native dialects, and a loss of indigenous voice. This is potently reflected towards the close of the novel with Achebe's assertion that ''even now they have not found the mouth with which to tell of their suffering'', an issue keenly raised in Spivak's essay ''Can the Subaltern Speak?''. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Re/Conceiving the Post/Colonial Ethos inNgugi’s Devil on the Cross --Mirza Sultan Baig Indira Gandhi Sr. College, Nanded. Abstract: Kenya, like several other countries has undergone turmoil and curse of colonization, shares these experiences commonly. Ngugi, having taken birth, in the crucial historical age of the nation, documented these experiences and political exercises in his writings. He observed his father working, to an African landlord, on his own land. Its root cause was involvement of one of his brothers in Mau-Mau uprising. This theme gets central position in many of his novels. Ngugi, being a writer, puts his belief about the position of the writer in a variety of places particularly in his Homecoming (1972). He believes that a writer plays a significant role in society. According to him a writer must be a more direct, didactic and polemical that he can be in the creative process where he is in the world of imagination. He says— Literature does not grow or does not develop in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by social, political and economic forces in a particular society.1 For him, novels become a creative manifestation of this exploitation of beliefs. In other words, the writings of Ngugi is ‘an attempt to understand himself and his situation in society and history’.2 He pays consistent attention to his basic themes. He identifies three phases of the encounter with European imperialism— ‘slavery’, ‘colonialism’ and ‘neo-colonialism’. It is through Church, Culture and Politics, Ngugi pinpoints these basic themes of human reactions to the social and political circumstances which dictate the lives of men and shape their history. Ngugi makes use of historical and political elements to make a better future. Karl Marx and Frantz Fanon occupy a dominating place in Ngugi’s philosophy. Karl Marx’s political and economic philosophy suits to his conviction about post independent Kenyan development. It is Fanon who put the Marxist theory in African context. Ngugi is impressed for his expression. 186 Fanon’s philosophy is expressed in his master piece The Wretched of the Earth and Black Skins, White Masks. This first book deals with his philosophy of revolution, a philosophy which is derived from his experiences of Algerian struggle and his experiences as a psychiatrist. He finds violence and revolt as the solution of getting oneself free from oppression. He considers the poor peasants the instrument of revolution. For him, these poor peasants are ‘the wretched of the earth’. Here Fanon slightly differs from Marx who stressed urban proletariat to be the instrument of revolution. There is psychological and political base for Fanon. His second book Black Skin, White Masks explores the socio-economic causes of mental stress within the context of armed revolution. He attributed ‘the myth of colour as the main source of racist oppression, he began to see not a psychological aberration but a political phenomenon’.3 In his novels Ngugi presented peasantry as an uncorrupted class which has nothing to lose. Fanon’s theories have been challenged by several critics and labeled as incomplete and unanswered. Ngugi tries to give answer to these questions through his novels. The historical and political theories have been combined in this chapter as they are interdependent. Devil on the Cross is a move towards a socialist revolution in the post independent Kenya, where peasantry is the centre of exploitation. Devil on the Cross (1982) is a significant novel in many respects. Firstly, it is the continuation of Petals of Blood. If Petals of PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Blood represents ‘new Kenya’ then Devil on the Cross can be said as its transformation into a modern state in which materiality is valued. Secondly, the novel is not written in English but in Ngugi’s mother tongue ‘Kikuyu’, while he was in cell 16, at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 1978. It was the result of his decision— Kenyan writers have no alternative but to return to the roots, return to the sources of their being in the rhythms of life and speech and languages of the Kenyan masses if they are to rise to the great challenge of recreating, in their poems, plays and novels, the epic grandeur of that history…Instead of being suppressed and being sent to maximum security prisons and detention camps, they’d be accorded all the encouragement to write a literature that will be the pride of Kenya and the envy of the world.4 Ngugi was denied the supply of pen and paper to write his novel. So, he found out the solution in form of toilet paper and put down his next fictional creation i.e. Devil on the Cross. He says— One could get two or three sheets or paper. But a whole pile for a novel? I resorted to toilet paper. Whenever I have said this people have laughed or looked at me with questions in their eyes. But there was no mystery to writing on toilet paper. Toilet paper was very coarse. But what was bad for the body was good for the pen.5 Thirdly, the format of this novel is very different from the format of the Petals of Blood, which was a detective story. Petals of Blood is a new experiment of the novelist in which the whole story is told in an oral narrative, the story is narrated by a Gicaandi player. Fourthly, the novel is an epic of post-independent Kenya in which ‘nothing is free’. Ngugi points out the 187 two divisions of Kenyan society on the basis of its economic standards. Ngugi freely uses the political jargon to criticize and show dislocation of politics in contemporary Kenya. The two classes are the newly emerged black capitalists and the age old class, depending of peasants and workers. The last significant aspect of the novel is the creation of female characters as the protagonist of the novel. He made Jacinta Wariinga—a common girl, turned into womanhood; the principal character and the male characters play minor roles. In fact the character of Jacinta Wariinga is the outcome of Ngugi’s attempt to portray image of positive African woman, which was started with the character of Mwihaki, Nyambura, Mumbi and Wanja. It is here with the creation of Wariinga, Ngugi seems in his bloom and success. Originally, entitled in Gikuyu as “Caitaani Mutharabaini” translated in English as Devil on the Cross was received into the age old tradition of story-telling around the fireside; ‘and the tradition of group reception of art than enhances the aesthetic pleasure and provokes interpretation, comments and discussions.’6 It was published in a hard time of Ngugi’s life. For his play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) was banned under the charge of blasphemy. So it was a challenge for the publisher to distribute it and most of the publishers were expected to print and publish for the English loving society. It came as a great success quite unexpectedly for both the writer and the publisher. There are a number of characters in the novel who can be said to represent a number of characters from his former novel Petals of Blood. These characters represent the two sections of society. They newly emergent bourgeois class and peasantry on the other hand which also played dominant role in Petals of Blood. Regarding the resemblance of the PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded characters and themes Harish Narang comments— …Jacinta Wariinga is a mother avatar of Wanja Kaii while Wangari like Nyankinyua in the earlier novel provides a link with the freedom struggle. Muturi like Karega, the Rich Old Man, Mwireri and Robin Mwaura like Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo and Nderi wa Riera in Petals of Blood represent the forces pitted against the people of Kenya. The theme too is the same: complete and most inhuman exploitation of the Kenyan masses by a nexus of the ruling comprador bourgeoisie and the criminal thugs in alliance with their ‘global allies’.7 Apart from it, “The Journey” is also common theme in the novel. The present novel is a series of narration of the various characters. It begins with a dilemma of the Gicaandi Player—to tell or not to tell: Certain people in Ilmorog, our Ilmorog, told me that this story was too disgraceful, too shameful, that it should be concerned in the depths of everlasting darkness…8 Simultaneously the novelist tells the readers how the Gicaandi Player’s dilemma is resolved as— Wariinga’s mother came to me when the dawn was breaking and in tears she beseeched me: Gicaandi Player, tell the story of the child I loved so dearly. Cast light upon all that happened, so that each may pass judgment only when he knows the whole truth. Gicaandi Player, REVEAL ALL THAT IS HIDDEN.9 The novel right from the beginning throws light on the class struggle between the poor and the rich, “the haves” and “the have nots” in Marxist terms. The novel begins with the story of Wariinga, a woman fired from her job for not submitting to her employer, Boss Kihara. In this respect, Wariinga represents the most urban women in Kenya who share the same saga of 188 exploitation. Ngugi sharply portrays the bourgeois mentality— She enters another office. She finds there another Mr. Boss. The smiles are the same, the question are the same, the rendezvous is the same—and the target is still Kareendi’s thighs. The modern Love Bar and Lodgings has become the main employment bureau for girls and women’s thighs are the table on which contracts are signed.10 Wariinga has to face a series of misfortunes, maltreatments and exploitation at the hands of some irresponsible men in the society. At school, she was made pregnant and deceived by the Old Rich Man of Ngorika. She attempted a failed attempt of suicide on railway track but saved from timely intervention of Munti. After having her baby, she completes secretarial studies. Her saga is through her narration when she narrates her tale of suffering to her undergraduate friend John Kimwana. He walks out on her accusing her of being Boss Kihara’s mistress, who was the owner of Champion Construction Company. Within a couple of days she comes on road. Her landlord asks her for increase in rent to which she opposes and finally her luggage was thrown out of her one-room apartment by the three Devil’s Angels—the hired thugs of landlord. Even she was threatened to issue ‘a single way ticket to God’s kingdom or Satan’s, one way ticket to Heaven or Hell’.11 Wariinga had been a victim right from her girl hood. The Old Rich Man sacked her after abusing her physically. Then her rejection to be a ‘sugar girl’ of Boss Kihara, indulge her into a series of exploitation. She decides to leave Nairobi, the soulless and corrupt city and return to Ilmorog where her parents and daughter, Wambui were living. She goes to Matatu stop to go to Ilmorog, she sees a vision ‘in which the white colonialist Devil is crucified by the masses PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded (apparently, a reference to political independence) only to be resuscitated by the local comprador’.12 By this vision of Devil’s crucifixion, she feels dizzy and was about to collapse but suddenly saved by the stranger whose assumed name is Kareendi. Before going, he hands over an invitation card, saying— If you would like to know more about the conditions that breed modern Kareendi’s and Waigokos, go to the feast advertised on the card. When you go to Ilmorog The Devil’s Feast! Come and see for yourself— A Devil-sponsored Competition. To choose seven Experts in Theft and Robbery Plenty of Prizes! Try your Luck. Competition to choose Seven Cleverest Thieves and Robbers in Ilmorog. Prizes Galore! Hell’s Angels Band in Attendance! Signed: Satan The King of Hell C/o Thieves’ and Robbers’ Den Ilmorog Gold Heights.13 The journey begins in Robin Mwaura’s bus to Matatu Wariinga is accompanied by Gatuira, Muturi, Mukiraai and Wangari, the three men and a woman respectively. The motif of journey plays an important role as played in Petals of Blood. The narration is turned to person to person in the bus journeying to Ilmorog, the travelers sharing their personal experiences with each other. Before the journey starts, Mwaura discovers that the old woman, Wangari has no money to buy his ticket, he threatens her to put down her immediately in the jungle: I don’t want any wrangling between us. This vehicle does not run on urine. Nothing is free in Kenya. Kenya is not Tanzania or China…14 As soon as Mwaura is assumed of payment of fare by Mariina and two other passengers, the 189 journey begins. It is here, Ngugi hands over the threads of narration to the old woman Wangari. She narrates her tale of life. Coming from a peasant origin, she had participated actively in Mau-Mau struggle: she seems disillusioned and justifies the independence as— …these legs have carried many bullets and many guns to our fighters in forests… so that our children might eat until they were full, might wear clothes that kept out the cold, might sleep in beds free from bedbugs.. That our children should learn the art of producing wealth for our people…my small piece of land two acres had just been auctioned by the Kenya Economic Bank, as I had failed to pay back the loan…15 After being snatched away her land, Wangari finds a job in Nairobi but in failure. She was arrested for being a vagrant and not having the required papers for entering Nairobi: I Wangari a Kenya by birth… how can I be a vagrant in my own country? How can I be a foreigner? I denied both charges: to look for work is not a crime.16 Meanwhile all the members had already received the invitation of Devil’s Feast. She had been released by the police on the promise to show them where the robbers and thieves were hidden in Ilmorog. Wangaari’s story inspires Gatuira to tell his tale. He introduces himself as a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Music in the university, working in the field of Culture. Gatuira seems a conscious person of the state of nation, culture, and the circumstances. He makes others realize— …our culture has been dominated by the Western imperialist. Culture that is what we call in English CULTRUAL IMPERIALISM. CULTURAL IMPERIALISM IS MOTHER TO THE PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded SLAVERY OF THE MIND AND THE BODY.17 He expresses his inner desire and ambition to compose a music with the help of all types of national instruments. Gatuira tells his ventures particularly a story of a peasant to whom he had met—an old man—from Bahati in Nakuru-who had told him old stories of ogres and animals. It was the story of Nding’un who had sold his soul to Devil. It was the tale within a tale within a tale. Afterwards, he gives information that he is the only son of a rich businessman who wants to inherit everything and see him taking his charge in business but Gatuira had refused on the basis that he can’t take charge of his business as he is busy in his studies and research. Finally, he says that he has received the Devil’s Feast invitation which he got in his pigeonhole. He also intended to attend it. This was the same invitation which had been given to Wariinga by the stranger on bus station. She faints on the mention of Devil’s name. The journey begins after some time as Wariinga gets her consciousness. This time another passenger Muturi tells his story. In this way he becomes the narrator. He tells them that he is a worker—‘a carpenter, a mason, a plumber, a painter all that in Champion Construction Company. He is sacked from his job for demanding hike in wages. The employer brought armed policemen with guns and batons and iron shields and dismissed him. He also expresses his intention to visit Devil’s Feast. The travelers turns to Mwaura’s opinion on the situation in the country. His response reflects his typical bourgeoisie outlook. He says— Business is my temple, and money is my God. But if some other God exists that’s all right—show me where the money is and I’ll take you there.18 190 He is not the follower of any religion, sect or religious philosophy. He knows only one ideology i.e. bourgeoisie. He remarks— If I find myself among members of the Akurino sect, I become one of them …when I’m among Muslims, I embrace Islam. When I’m among pagans, I too become pagan.19 The last passenger to tell his story is Mukiraai who was in grey suit and dark glasses. He had not taken part in any action until now. Even he had not contributed in Wangaari’s fare. He says that he had studied at Makarere and Harvard and wants to seek a career in commerce. His thoughts reflect his thinking and proves him a believer in capitalist system. He says— It is your kind of talk that is ruining the country. That kind of talk has its roots in communism. It is calculated to sadden our hearts and make us restless. Such works can lead us black people in God and in Christianity. Kenya is a Christian country and that’s why we are so blessed.20 In the first part of the novel Ngugi has mentioned the two obvious classes in contemporary post independent Kenya. On one side, he presents the workers, the peasants and students, and on the other side he places the rich, exploiters, and their collaborators. The group of African elites or capitalist is the group of wealthy people upon whom the destiny of the nation depends. The group is represented by The Old Rich Man, Boss Kihara, Mwaura, thieves and robbers with the control over administration and government policies. Their attempts dislocated the politics of the nation. It created two valleys in one nation on the basis of economic condition. The political system which the peasants had dreamt of has failed to provide security and had become threat to their survival. Ngugi takes favour of the peasantry and workers and sharply satires the elite class who is mainly responsible for the dislocation of political PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded system and anarchy in Kenya. He supports the socialist system of administration. Dislocation of Politics is clearly shown by Ngugi in the second half of the novel which depicts the celebration—Devil’s Feast—which is the competition among the thieves and robbers to elect the greatest among them. The competition is held in a cave near Ilmorog and for this Feast, all the introduced passengers— Wariinga, Muturi, Guitiria, Mukiraai and Mwaura have come either to observe or to participate. It is to elect the heir of the white colonizer to loot and enjoy every possible material pleasure. To tell the story of his robbery each has to come on the stage and tell his story how he first came to steal and rob. Even they had to tell the skills and techniques used by them in their crime only to impress the competitors. Finally, their aim was to ‘show us how we can develop the partnership between us and foreigners so that we can hasten our ascent into the heaven of foreign commodities and other delight.’21 Ngugi makes his satire more sharp with the bold confession and demonstration of participants after participants who tell the stories of their affluence—number of houses, cars, wives and mistresses and then their stories of expertise at theft and robbery and finally their suggestion. The Devil’s Feast is inaugurated by the leader of fraternal delegates from International Organization of Theft and Robbery (IOTR). He advises the audiences, which reflects his brutality and stone heart. He says— I think there is no one who does not know that theft and robbery are the cornerstones of American and Western Civilization. Money is the heart that beat to keep the western world on the move. If you people want to build a great civilization like ours, then kneel down before the god of money. Ignore the beautiful faces of your children, of your parents, of your brothers and 191 sisters. Look only on the splendid face of money and you’ll never, never go wrong. It’s far better to drink the blood of your people and to eat their flesh than to retreat a step.22 His brutal speech creates an atmosphere to tell each of the participants about his plans and projects. It filled the atmosphere with competition to overcome each other and crown himself/herself as the king of thieves and robbers. One of them suggests bottling air and selling it to masses for breathing, whereas ‘another suggests building and marketing of folding nests for the poor to lay their heads into at night’.23 The Feast is disrupted with the arrival of Wangaari with police. The irony is at its peak when the police deny arresting those thieves, gathered at the cave, on the ground that it is purely a Party or Celebration of gentlemen. They arrest Wangari under the charge of accusing these respected businessmen. During this time Wariinga and Gituiria come closer to each other almost they’d fallen in love. They tell their stories in which their family background and their conditions are told. Gituiria tells Wariinga that— My father is a business tycoon. He owns several shops in Nakuru and lots of farms in the Rift Valley and countless other businesses to do with import and export…I am his only son. His aim was to send me to America to learn how to manage property and profit, business administration,…but as for me, I have never intended to follow in my father’s footsteps.24 He, at the same time, explains his intentions of doing something significant in the field of music. Wariinga also tells about her that she was born in 1953 when Kenya was under the rule of Britishers ‘under very oppressed laws that went by the name of Emergency Regulations… In 1954, Wariinga’s father was PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded arrested detained at Manyani. A year later her mother was also arrested and detained at Langata and Kamiti Prison’.25 According to her, the time which she spent at Nakuru Day Secondary School was the happiest time of her life. She was one of the brightest students of the school. Her intention was to be an engineer. Her uncle introduced her to a Rich Old Man from Ngorika who used to befriend her with a handsome pocket money and gifts. He seduced and made her pregnant and finally dumped. Out of shame and repentance, Wariinga tried to commit suicide several times but unsuccessful including throwing herself into a pool and running before train. She, finally, gave birth to a daughter—Wambui. She had started life with new determination and positive approach. To stand on her own feet, she had come to Nairobi in search of job from which she had been fired for not submitting to Boss Kihara’s physical advances. Ngugi has simultaneously shown the struggle between the two classes. Like Karega, Muturi is busy in ‘awakening the workers and the unemployed, urging them to follow him, so he could show them where all the thieves and robbers of people’s wealth had gathered to competition to see who had stolen most from the people’.26 Muturi successfully organizes the demonstration of a public rally outside the cave, against the bourgeois exploiters and capitalist system where theft and robbery was an open field. Soon their rally is disrupted and five workers are killed by the forces of bourgeoisie law and order. Muturi, the students leader is arrested for leading a violent rally. The second half of the novel describes the events after two years during which Wariinga had become an automatic engineer in Nairobi in a single room. Her personality is totally changed from her former actions. It is because of Ngugi’s mission to portray a positive African woman. His is the attempt to convert the age old traditional image of African woman 192 whose only work was limited to the boundaries of the house. Through Wariinga’s character Ngugi tries to liberate the African woman from the barriers of tradition. She is portrayed as— The Wariinga of today has rejected all that, reasoning that because her thighs are hers, her brains is hers, her hands are hers, and her body is hers, she must accord all her, faculties their proper role and proper time and place and not let any one part be the sole ruler of her life, as if it had devouted all the others.27 She had learnt the arts of martial arts like judo and karate. Meanwhile, her affair with Gatuira is going on and they were planning of marriage as her parents had already affirmed. They wanted, now the permission of Gatuiria’s parents for which they planned the journey to Ngorika with lot of hopes and expectations of their pleasant married life. It comes to Wariinga as a blow when she is introduced to the father of Gituiria who was no other than the ‘Old Rich Man’ who had deceived her by making pregnant and deserted. He was the father of Wariinga’s daughter Wambui. But this time Wariinga is a matured woman. She is bold and brave to meet the Old Rich Man who pleads her to leave his son alone: My home would fall apart. My property would be left without a manager. My life would break into seven pieces. Jacinta, Save me!...I would like you to leave Gatuiria…Be Mine. Remember you once belonged to me. I believe I am the man who changed you from a girl to a woman. And you are the mother of my child although I have never set eyes on it.28 This time Wariinga is not an innocent to be befooled as had been in childhood. She refuses all the proposals from him offering every comfort in life. She is not ready to be his ‘sugar girl’, obviously, a showpiece for pleasure. Her personality is developed in a conscious woman PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded fully aware of her circumstances. She shoots the Old Rich Man’ with a gun which was given to her by Gutiuria for her safety two years ago. Her plans of marriage come under shadows. She is not at all repent over her action but questions him— There kneels a jigger, a louse, a weevil, a flea, a bedbug. He is mistle toe, a parasite that lives on the trees of other people’s lives! 29 She goes out of the house without looking back. ‘But she knew with all her heart that the hardest struggles of her life’s journey lay ahead.30 She is ready to face the coming challenges. In other words, she declares a war against the ills of society where there is no chance of deception and reform. In this regard, Wariinga resembles Wanja who attacks Kimeria with a panga in her private room in Petals of Blood. She is not ready to duped twice and takes revenge on the person who shattered her dreams. Her character also resembles with Bessie Head’s Dikeledi of her story The Collector of Treasures. Devil on the Cross is a document representing the dislocation of politics best represented by the thieves and robbers who ‘proclaim openly their criminality and greed visà-vis the communal goods’.31 It presents the contrast between social classes, by certain characters in post-independence Kenyan society dominated by the bourgeoise class particularly by the thieves, robbers and Kihaahu wa Gatheeca, the elected chairman or Icicri County Council’s Housing Committee. He directed all his politics on corruption and financial blackmail. It is shown in his act of depositing the amount in his account: It happened that now and then the council would borrow money from the American-owned World Bank, or from European and Japanese Banks, to finance the construction of cheap houses for the poor. That was a source of real 193 fact. I can remember one time when the council demolished some shanties at Ruuwa-ini. The plan was to erect a thousand houses there instead. The money was loaned to the council by an Italian bank. The company that won the tender for building the houses was Italian. But, of course, it had first given me a small Bank-hander of about 2,000,000 shillings. I put the money in my account and knew that the campaign money had been repaid.32 The persons like him enjoy power and authority only to fulfill their desires. They break the trust of their follower/masses who think that everything will be easily provided to them for they are led, represented and ruled by their countrymen. Politically strong persons grab the political power to utilize their own needs, for which they use each time new tactics and techniques. Gatheeca, the leader of IOTR, The Old Rich Man, and Boss Kihara are representative of the tools of showing dislocated politics. Dislocation of Politics, violent atmosphere, corrupted leaders and absence of law and order make things worse. It is clear with the case of Wangaari who had been arrested for pointing out and accusing the so called ‘businessmen’. The novel not only describes the tension between the two classes but also absence of democracy where national wealth is robbed by the leaders. Health, education, employment, housing and transportation facilities and security to women and children are not provided in public reform. Devil on the Cross has been hailed as ‘a literary bombshell’ criticizing contemporary Kenyan society. Ngugi’s attempt to present a socialist state began with A Grain of Wheat, and Petals of Blood in which he showed the peasants and workers marginalized and left in deadly condition. The novels were a new socialist awakening in nature. It is here in Devil on the PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Cross, Ngugi lashes his satire over social and political issues. The characters are more aware of their conditions than his character in earlier novels. In her article “Socialist Consciousness in the Novels of Ngugi”, S. S. V. N. Sakuntala opines: …Ngugi firmly states that a revolutionary path is the only option left for the Kenyan masses to form a socialist society.33 Expressing his opinion about the theme and nature of the novel, Devinder Mohan says— The novel presents a literary form which captures the nature of revolution in humanistic context by differentiating the psychological, sociological and unverbalized motives in the working class against the materialistic acquisition.34 Simon Gikandi pays serious concentration to the motif of journey ‘to be a parody of John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress—the voyage towards salvation and self understanding.’35 He goes on tracing the significance and symbolic meaning of the characters. The six persons in the taxi represent a set of meaning and interest both opposed and united together. He says— Mwaura literally means one who makes off with other people’s things, a thief; Muturi is a blacksmith, a worker; Wangaari is a mother, named after one of the daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi…Wariinga means a woman in chains, while Gatuiria is the seeker of truth; Mwireri wa Mukiraai is one who thinks only of himself.36 Devinder Mohan goes on comparing the character of Wariinga with the legendry character in English literature like Hawthorne’s Hester Pryne, Thomas Hardy’s Sue Bridehead and Tess and in the modern novel, Isabella Archer who face challenges bravely and emerge conquerors. So far as Gatuiria, means the seeker of his truth comes to know of the loose character 194 of his father. He is disillusioned with the reality. Other characters also fit and work according to their name and meaning. Devil on the Cross reveals the plight of the peasants and worker in contemporary days in Kenya. Through Wariinga’s nightmare, Ngugi has justified the selection of the title of his novel. She dreams the devil was being crucified but there were the rich persons in black suits who released the devil from suffering and they did not let him die on the cross. Ngugi clearly shows that the devil belongs to the capitalist class who makes them to exploit common people. He has shown the increasing whitecoloured corruption growing like weed in the developing cities of Kenya like Ilmorog, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Kisumu. There are two symbols used to present the complete dislocation of politics. They are Matatu bus and the cave: respectively ‘The Matatu represents—‘the world of underprivileged where freedom of speech is not guaranteed. Thus, Matatu represents the lower class striving after freedom is seen in the characters of Wangaari, Maturi, Gatuiria, and Wariinga. The caves on the other hand, represents the devil’s domain represented exclusively by men of profit and women in leisure’.37 The possibility of peasant revolution which is expressed in the last two novels seek reality in Matigari. The hero, an underground messiah of the poor oppressed people give justice to the under estimated class with full of fury and violence for the opportunist elite class in Kenya. References: 1. Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Homecoming. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. p.xv. 2. Reinhard Sander and Ian Munro. Tolsoty in Africa. Ba Shiru, vol. 05, 1973. p.22 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 195 Killam, G. D. An Introduction to the Writings of Ngugi wa Thiong’o. London: Heinemann Edu. Books, 1980. p.13 Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary. London: Heinemann Edu. Books, 1981. p196 ----. Decolonizing the Mind. Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1981. p.74. Ibid. p.83. Narang, Harish. Politics as Fiction: The Novels of Ngugi. Delhi: Creative Books, 1995. ISBN- 81-86318-15-1. p.116 Ngugi wa Thiong’o.Devil on the Cross. London: Heinemnn Edu. Publishers, 1982. p.07 Opcit. Ngugi “Devil”. p.07 Ibid. p.19. Ibid. p. 07 Opcit. Chijioke Owasamba. p.102. Opcit. “Devil on the Cross”. p.28 Ibid. p. 37. Ibid. p.40. Ibid. p.41. Ibid. p.43. Ibid. p.56. Ibid. p.47. Ibid. p.87. Ibid. p.87. Ibid. p.89. Opcit. Narang, Harish. p.122. Opcit. “Devil on the Cross”.p.133. Ibid. p.138. Ibid. p.157. Ibid. p.218. Ibid. p.251. Ibid. p.254. Ibid. p.254. Djiby, Diaw. Elitism in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross and Petals of Blood. Published on (www.beep.ird.fr/collect/resource/) Opcit. “Devil on the Cross”. p.115-116. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. “African Literature Today” Ed. R. K. Dhawan. Delhi: Prestige Books, 1994. ISBN. 81-85218-83-8. p. 214 Devinder Mohan in “Commonwealth Fiction”. Ed. R. K. Dhawan. New Delhi: Classical, 1987. p.206. Gikandi, Simon. Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Cambridge: Cambridge Universiity Press, 2000. p.216. Ibid. p.216. Opcit. Chijioke, Uwasomba. p.104. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded Mahesh Dattani’s Where There’s a Will : Portrayal of Family in Postcolonial Indian Society --Deepmala Marotrao Patode S.S.S. Pawar college Purna.(M.S.) Postcolonial Literary Theory is an intellectual field which makes an enquiry into the conditions of the colonized people during and after colonialisation. According to Bijay Kumar Das,“Postcolonialism means something that has a concern only with the national culture after the depature of Imperial Power”. So, Myth and History, Language and Landscape, Culture and Tradition and self and other are the themes of postcolonial literature. In Where There’s a Will Mahesh Dattani presents disintegration of family and changing father-son relationship in postcolonial Indian society. It concentrates on husband-wife relationship through two generations underlinging the changes that have taken place as well as extra-marital relationship. Plays of Mahesh Dattani throw light on the realities of contemporary Indian Society. His plays focus on the changing values of the postcolonial India such as communal discord, politics and crime, growing homosexuality or the gender bias. In Where There’s a Will , Dattani concentrated on disintegration of family. The play is about marital discord, Dattani has described it as the exorcism of patriarchal code. It is about the chaos reigning in a family due to the emotional and temperamental incompatibility of the members. In Where There’s a Will Dattani presents the character of Hasmukh in relation to his wife, son and mistress. Hasmukh Mehta is one of the top businessman in the city.He is gritty, gusty,stubborn type of man. Hasmukh is not happy with his married life.He considers his marriage as ‘the greatest tragedy’ of his life. This is because, his wife,Sonal was incapable of understanding her husband and also cold in loverelationship with him. That’s why Hasmukh says: I soon found out what a good-fornothing she was. As -good -as mud. Ditto our sex-life. 196 To satisfy his sexual needs Hasmukh indulges himself in extra-marital relationship as he himself confesses…Twenty-five years of marriage and I haven’t enjoyed a sex with her. So what does a man do?... I needed a safer relationship. Something between a wife and a pick-up. Yes A Mistress. (CP 473) He chose Ms. Kiran Zaveri as his mistress. She is the business executive in his office. He increases her status by making her one of the Directors of the company. Thus, we find marital discord in the life of Hasmukh Mehta and Sonal resulting in extra-marital relationship with Ms. Kiran Zaveri. Everything was not right in Kiran Zaveri’s life.Her mother suffer from marital discord. Kiran’s father was a drunkard and used to come home every evening with a bottle of rum. He would abuse her mother and beat her. Same thing happens with her brothers. They have turned out like their fathers. They too come with bottle of rum and abuse and beat their wives. Kiran Zaveri, herself, married a drunkard who allows her relationship with Hasmukh only for the sake of money and a bottle of rum that he got every evening. Mahesh Dattani while examining the disintegration of family, further talks about changing father-son relationship in the contemporary society. It has been presented through Hasmukh Mehta the conventional father who thinks that a father knows what is good for his son , and Ajit, the son who believes in living his own life. Having been a good boy to his father all his life Hasmukh Mehta expects the same from his son Ajit. But Ajit is not ready to surrender his individualidty to satisfy his father. The conflict between the father and son is evident at the very beginning of the play as Ajit is talking to a friend on phone and telling him how he would modernize the whole plant if he were given only five lakh rupees. He said PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded that his father just won’t listen to him –“ I don’t think he ever listened to me in his entire life.” Hasmukh’s reaction to Ajit’s statement that after all he is his son reveals his whole attitude towards his son: What makes it worse is knowing that I actually prayed to get him. Oh God! I regret it all. Please let him just drop dead. No, No. What a terrible thing to say about one’s own son . I take it back. Dear God , don’t let him drop dead. Just turn him into a nice vegetable so he won’t be in my way. Eversince he entered my factory, he has been in my way. (C P 455) Hasmukh considers Ajit as an incapable and irresponsible young man who resists all his attempts to take him under his wings. Ajit on his part, considers his father to be head-strong person who is just not ready to consider any other opinion except his own. Hasmukh is unhappy with his son, Ajit, because, he would not follow in the footsteps of his father. As he saysHasmukh: …Yes I want you to be me! What’s wrong with being me? Ajit : And what becomes of me? The real me, I mean , If I am you, then where am I? (461) Thus, the father wants a typical submissive, hardworking and obedient son. He has no use of for a son who is imaginative individualistic and independent. The son on the other hand, is not ready to be merely a prototype of his father. He belives in living his own life and thinking his own thoughts.-‘ Why is it that everything I say or do has to be something that somebody has told me or taught me to do!’ In this way Mahesh Dattani has presented the relationship between Hasmukh and Ajit as the representative of the changed society. The Postcolonial Indian society has undergone some fundamental changes. In the first half of twentieth century Indian economy was predominantaly agrarian , which fostered the patriarchal code. In social and family life, codes were fixed and each succeeding generation was taught to follow them in a rigorous manner. With changing economic scene all this began to change. With the spread of education and 197 growth of employment opportunities in industry, commerce and service sectors, the youngsters are developing independent thinking where the guidance of the father and other elders of the family has but a limited role. The same thing happens with Ajit as he wants to follow his own ideas in business. AS Hasmukh is not happy with his wife and son, he is suspicious of his dughtet-in-law Preeti. According to him Preeti is “Pretty, charming, graceful and sly as a snake”. Preeti is a new women who wants freedom and money. She hates her mother-in-law. She is blunt and offensive in her manners. Hasmukh was not wrong in his opinion about her. She alters Hasmukh’s bloodpressure controlling tablets with her vitamin tablets. It doesn’t put control over Hasmukh’s bloodpressure and resulted in severe heart-attack bringing Hasmukh’s death. In this way Preeti, Hasmukh’s daughter-in-law, is responsible for his death. Hasmukh didn’t love the members of his family nor did he trust them. That is why he took a mistress and created a trust in her name to save his family from disintegrating. According to the will Kiran Zaveri, Marketing Executive turned one of Directors of the company, becomes the trustee of the Trust and comes to live with Hasmukh’s family. She got the authorities to disown the members of the family from the property if they fail to follow the will. Ms. Kiran Zaveri with her cunning conduct and behavior brings discipline and harmony in the family of Hasmukh Mehta. Thus, Hasmukh Mehta was not happy with his wife- Sonal, he had conflict with his son Ajit, he was suspicious about his daughter-inlaw Preeti. There was no emotional and temperamental compatibility among the member s of the family. In this way Mahesh Dattani has examined marital discord and father-son relationship in postcolonial Indian Society through Where There’s a Will. REFERENCES: 1) Das, Bijay Kumar.Critical Essays on Post-colonial Literature.New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers,2007. 2) Dattani Mahesh. Collected plays. New Delhi,2000. PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded A Study of Colonization in J. M. Coetze’s Foe -- Sham T. Jadhav Bhai Kishanrao Deshmukh College Chakur, Tq. Chakur Dist. Latur. [MS] Colonialism denotes the manner in which one culture appropriates the land, people and resources of another to further its imperialist ends. Colonialism has become a recurrent and widespread feature of human history. Modern European colonialism is different from earlier colonialisms. The colonialism is a particular historical manifestation of imperialism. Colonialism is the settlement of territory, the exploitation or development of resources, and the attempt to govern the indigenous inhabitants of occupied lands. The Postcolonialism or Postcolonial discourse is a current movement of thought or a theory that deals mainly with the effects of colonisation on the culture and thoughts of the colonised societies. Commonwealth literature is a veritable storehouse of different cultures and perspectives. African literature in English and other European languages has added a new dimension to the Commonwealth literature. Thus Commonwealth literature has reached a greater height in its search for universality and truth. The diversity of the Commonwealth literature is further enhanced by the contemporary African literature. This factor has posed a new challenge before the Commonwealth writers to redefine their perspective of unity which links them into a cohesive group. The spread of imperialism in Africa has created areas of political influence and domination which naturally produced a far-reaching influence in the growth of African literature. English, French and other European languages 198 became a part of African culture and literatures of the Western world provided models for the African writers. But the native sensibility retained its identity, though layers of foreign influences became a part of African literature. Soon the plight against the colonial powers gave rise to the dimensions of social commitment and protest movements in African literature. African literature of today successfully presents the conflicts and contradictions within the African society and also provides a glimpse of things in future. Coetzee’s first book Dusklands [1974] contains two linked novellas, one concerning the American involvement in Vietnam, the othe about an 18th century Boer seller. In the Heart of the Country [1977] was filmed in 1986 as Dust. This novel focuses on the meditations of a disturbed Afrikaner spinster. Waiting for the Barbarians [1980] is a powerful allegory of oppression which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. This was followed by the Booker Prize winning The Life and Times of Michael K [1983]. In it, a man takes his ailing mother back to her home in the country as South Africa is torn by Civil War. Then his famous work appeared Foe in 1986 another one White Writing [1988]. His Age of Iron [1990] is a compelling story of a woman dying from cancer and her relationship with a homeless alcoholic who camps outside her hosue. Doubling the Point [1992] is his another famous work. The Master of Petersburg [1994] is set in 1896 and this is the story of an exiled Russian PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded novelist who returns to St. Petersburg to collect the belongings of his dead stepson and becomes entangled in a web of intrigue and revolutionary subterfuge. Foe is a novel by J. M. Coetzee published in 1986. It is based on a reimagining of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel Robinson Crusoe with a woman, Susan Barton, cast away on the same island as Robinson Crusoe (here called Cruso) and Friday. It uses allegorical techniques and is considered by many critics as the archetypal post-modern novel, examining the creative process of storytelling, narrative, language, as well as issues of gender, race and colonialism. “Returning from Bahia, where she has been searching for a lost daughter, Susan Barton is put off the ship after a mutiny; she is accompanied only by the dead body of the captain, whose mistress she had been. She swims ashore and finds herself on the island with Cruso and Friday. Friday has been mutilated: he has no tongue. Who did this, where or how it happened, we are never told. After their rescue by a passing merchantman, Cruso dies aboard the ship and Susan and Friday are left to make their way in England. After she arrives in England, Susan drafts a memoir, “The Female Castaway,” and seeks out the author Foe to have her story told. Coetzee’s novel comprises four parts: beginning with Susan’s memoir, it continues with a series of letters addressed to Foe, letters that do not reach him because he is hiding, trying to evade his creditors. The novel proceeds to an account of Susan’s relationship with Foe and her struggle to retain control over the story and its meaning; it ends with a sequence spoken by an unnamed narrator (possibly standing for Coetzee himself) who revises the story as we know it and dissolves the narration in an 199 act of authorial renunciation.” [Coetzee, J. M. 1987.] The main focus of the novel is on the art of storytelling. Primarily it examines the issue of narrative “voice”, who is telling the story. Coetzee turns the story, characters, and subject positions of Defoe’s novel on their heads to disrupt notions of truth, trust, and story. The major question asked throughout is ‘Whose story is the right one?’ Is there ever one right story? Susan Barton begins as narrator of the novel. She battles the cunningly-named Foe for the survival of her original conception of herself as Cruso’s living successor, while Foe, becoming more authoritative than mere scribe of her exploits, posits such possibilities as her daughter’s reunion with Susan, and those details which actually appear in Robinson Crusoe. The focus shifts from what is in Susan’s mind, to what could be in Foe’s. Susan is transformed from an actual character to merely the muse that drives Foe to write his book. In the end, what we get is the story of how a story changes into its final form and how its failed possibilities are no less alive than its successful ones. The novel dives into the wreck of Daniel Defoe’s failed alternatives, examining the depths Robinson Crusoe did not cover. In the novel, Foe is a parody of the English novelist Daniel Defoe. The name Foe is ambivalent. It was Defoe’s real name before he gentrified it with the De- and it is a synonym of “enemy”. This word is specifically present in protestant religious texts where it stands for the enemy, the devil himself. In its historical use it was exploited by British colonists in order to define colonized peoples as “foes”, a lexical attempt to justify their actions over “uncivilized” countries. The text analyzes traditional canons of class, gender and race PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded in the processes of cultural acceptance and exclusion. Written from the “marginal” position of South Africa, it questions marginality itself in an attempt to break the silence of post-colonial voices. The author Coetzee places his novel against the traditional British “master literature” and examines the historical and discursive conditions under which South African authorship must operate. Based on a revision of Robinson Crusoe, one of the founding narratives and prototype of colonial storytelling, the novel develops a re-conception of the plot, of the act of creation of the book by his author Foe, and of the famous characters of Crusoe (in Foe, Cruso) and Friday with the help of a new woman protagonist. Throughout the novel, Friday’s silent and enigmatic presence gains in power until it overwhelms the narrator at the end: the silence of Friday “passes through the cabin, through the wreck; washing the cliffs and shores of the island, it runs northward and southward to the ends of the earth.” Friday’s silence wins in the end on all narrative voices. His only weapon against cultural prepotency is to remain silent, to turn his back to the European attempt to have his story told. This might be seen as his intention throughout the story: he wants to counter domination, he cannot be penetrated by others and so his story will not be told by them. This leads to the interpretation that this is his only possible rebellious act against European historical and cultural domination. In Foe, Coetzee introduces a fundamental change: the narrator is a woman. Robinson Crusoe lacked female characters: the only feminine element in the story was the island, which was to be dominated and tamed by men. Susan Barton’s narrative introduces the feminist self-affirmation, specifically by taking the 200 island conditions of Robinson Crusoe and overlaying them with the narrative of Defoe’s Roxana, whose hero’s real name is of course Susan. Susan is in a struggle to get her story told by the novelist Foe: she wants to protect her vision of the island but needs Foe to write the story down for her, thus providing it access to tradition and institution of letters. Another important difference with Defoe’s novel is in the character of Friday: in Robinson he was a handsome Carib youth with near-European features, yet in Foe he is an African; “He was black: a Negro with a head of fuzzy wool...flat face, the small dull eyes, the broad nose, the thick lips, the skin not black but dark grey, dry as if coated with dust.”[56] The pertinence of Friday to black history is not in question: the inaccessibility of his world to the European world is a consequence of colonialist oppression and racism. The mutilation in his mouth is emblematic of black-African cultural castration operated by the white invaders. An archetype is a generic, idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated. In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality, or behavior. This article is about personality archetypes, as described in literature analysis and the study of the psyche. The novel Foe ends with a surreal and cryptic scene in which an anonymous first-person narrator wanders around the submerged wreck of Cruso’s ship. This has finally become available for inspection. In this scene, all the characters of the novel make their appearance. These last pages turn a ‘simple’ postmodern interest in questions of textuality and intertextuality into a potent investigation of the issue of power, PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1 Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded envisaging for the subaltern Other the possibility of resistance. Coetzee’s novels expose the fact that identity which understood as a fundamental truth about the individual does not exist. Because identity is achieved in language. It is simply mediation, and just as the meaning of the literary text changes according to the reader. So the individual’s identity is determined by the context the person finds himself or herself in. In Coetzee’s work, this context becomes the intertext which lies at the heart both of our lives and of the work of art Coetzee’s most self-reflexive novels can and should be read as part of a larger discourse on humanity. Since human beings can escape neither their context nor their intertext, their identity is exposed as constructed by their surrounding reality and the preceding reality. This reality constitutes the history of humanity. Any idea of identity as a fixed meaning is 201 destroyed in Coetzee. In its place, we find an identity which is deconstructed piece by piece. As Coetzee suggests, truth about the individual may only be found by recognising that the sum of these different fragments, their interaction, the empty spaces between them and their everchanging condition is what composes identity. References: Coetzee, J. M. 1987. Foe. (1986), Harmondsworth, Penguin. [All the parenthetical references of the text are taken from the same publication.] : WEBLIOGRAPHY USED : http://www.google.com http://www.navhindtimes.com http://www.rediff.com http://www.yahoo.com PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1