Colonialism has an undeniable and persistent presence in contemporary society. We can see it reflected in the wealth gap between France and the Indochina region, or the UK and Antigua. Postcolonialism is an umbrella term used to envelop theories and practices which seek to explore and decrease the debris of colonialism in modern nations, and much of this tends to the political, cultural, and economic legacies of colonialism.
It is worth noting that in postcolonialist theory, the “West” isn’t a term that refers to a geographical region of the planet, but rather the group of countries that have not been colonized in the past. Likewise, the “East” is a term used to describe civilizations that have been colonized, regardless of their location. It can be argued that this is a faulty generalization as it is not representative of the true history of colonialism, but since it has become popularized in postcolonialist theory, we will continue to use it for the sake of consistency within this article.
Postcolonial theory has a long and illustrious history, but the publishing of Edward Said’s “Orientalism” in 1978 was when the idea of postcolonialism became popularized. Within it, Said made a case such that “ideas, cultures, and histories cannot be understood... without their configuration of power also being studied.” This is reflected in the notion of cultural hegemony — when a certain group within a society has more power, whether it be political or economic, they will also likely have an inequitable amount of power in framing the culture in which they and the more disadvantaged groups live in. Therefore, as a consequence of decades (even centuries, in some cases) of colonialist rule, the West has had a significantly larger level of power in dictating global culture. Essentially, the West stripped the East of its ability to represent or define itself — instead, the West defined the East. We still feel the repercussions of this in modern society; for instance, why is it that beauty conventions are so vastly shaped by Western standards of beauty? Why is the uncomfortable fetishization based on exoticism and the notion of cultural mystery still largely present? Why are streets in Singapore named after prominent English figures? It is often the small details we overlook that contribute to cultural erasure, a product of colonialism.
Not only did the West define the East, the West defined it such that the East was useful for the West’s own goals. Due to the uncomfortable disequilibrium in power dynamics, the sovereign Western consciousness and centrality remained unchallenged for the brunt of their occupation. This led to the East being represented as people who were less illogical, less intelligent, primitive, driven by appetite and animalistic urges, and more. On the other hand, the West is represented as logical, sophisticated, cultured, and in short, what is “normal.” This sense of normality was fundamentally an imposition from the West, as what is normal for their own society was taken and applied across different cultures, and any deviance from this supposed “norm” was considered uncivilized. In her 1988 speech, Gayatri Spivak asserted that by defining the East, the West constituted it as “Other.” This term is borrowed from Simone de Beauvoir’s Second Sex, describing the methodical estrangement that men impose on women because of imbalanced power dynamics, but in this case, it is highly applicable. To be Other is to be separated from a group in power, and to be inferiorized as a product of it because one is not the “norm.”
Since we view everything through an international lens, and internationalism is largely a product of Westernism, we are instantly subscribing to a narrative where Western views play the protagonist - we are effectively reinforcing the centrality of the West. When we have conversations surrounding global issues, we are once again falling prey to the idea that what is Western is what is normal. For instance, when we analyze cultural texts, we sometimes subconsciously “other” the characters within it, and this otherness promotes a lack of resonance or empathy.
Peter Barry aimed to build awareness on postcolonial analysis of modern society, and he established that there are four characteristics of a postcolonialistic viewpoint. For reference, his criteria apply to texts written by the West depicting the East as other. Firstly, we must be aware that the culture being documented is being represented as exotic or immoral - this largely pertains to Spivak’s idea of otherhood. Secondly, we must be aware of the role of language in supporting this narrative and power dynamic. When countries were colonized, they were forced to take on their colonizers’ language in most instances. Learning a language is a feat that takes years of time, immersion, and study - Eastern civilizations were forced to learn a new language in a shortened time-frame in order to communicate or work for their colonizers. Adding to this urgency, there was also no formal education provided for them unless they were still schooling. This often lead to a lack of fluency, which isn’t inherently bad, as we must remember that it was a foreign tongue imposed upon them. However, the West chose to mock and view the East as inferior because of their inability to speak the language forced on them fluently.
Thirdly, we must identify when identity is being represented as unstable or hybrid. Homi Bhabha asserted that because of the high degree of integration that was forced upon those who were colonized, culture became something mixed or fluid. This has a great impact on individual identity and communal identity. Finally, we must examine every cross-cultural interaction methodically. What we must consider is how creative processes can be echoes of colonial power dynamics. For instance, when a non-Western piece of culture is adapted into a Hollywood movie, who has agency in that creative process?
These are the questions we must continue to ask ourselves, as we can often subscribe to a colonialistic narrative of society. Often, it is difficult to establish what is a product of colonialism, as it is so deeply integrated into the foundations of our society - we are raised to turn a blind eye towards it. By constantly questioning what is established as the norm, and picking apart the underlying factors that comprise of our beliefs and stances, we can work towards a society in which the legacy of colonialism is reduced.
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