World Literatures in English世界英文文學與電影中的

South-East

Asia

South Asia

Africa

The

Caribbean

移民

Fall, 2017 Kate Liu

Outline

Post/Colonialism? Let’s start with three

pictures & a chart. . .

What are “World Literatures in English”?

Main Concerns:

– (de-)colonization;

– Migration: civil war & diaspora;

– identity Stories of Growth

Difficulties and Relevance

2 examples

References

Post/Colonialism: Basic

Definition

Colonialism ?

– One people’s forceful control and

exploitation of another people, deprivation

of their land, culture and identity, using

military, financial and cultural power.

Decolonization as historical

phenomena after WW II (Crash Course0:57~)

Post – (1) “after, against & beyond” or

(2) “after & because of”

Q: What do you think about

these three images?

• Are they to do with

Colonialism, Postcolonialism or

Decolonization?

• If so, how?

Chiang Kai-shek

(中正紀念堂〉，《台北謠言》

阮義忠先生

攝 (1988)

慈湖雕塑公園 ; since 2000 (see explanation here)

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall or

台灣民主紀念館 (2008)

聯合報記者曾吉松／攝影 http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NATS3/4162779.shtml

Check this page

雙重殖民的悲哀與抵抗台灣大地文教基金會

Taiwanese Soldiers

in and after WWII

Wars No. of Taiwanese Soldiers

太平洋戰爭台籍日本兵

Pacific War (for Japan)

207,083

國共內戰台灣兵（國民黨軍）

Chinese Civil War (KMT)

約15,000

國共內戰台灣兵（共產黨軍）

Chinese Civil War (Communist)

約3,000

古寧頭大戰台灣兵

Battle of Guningtou

不詳

韓戰台灣兵

Korean War

不詳

八二三砲戰台灣充員兵

823 Artillery Bombardment

將近40,000

Numbers of Taiwanese Soldiers

in Different Wars

source

Yes and no.

Yes, because they mark three important

changes in the usages of a sign of political

(colonial?) authority and a group of people’s

sense of identity.

No, because

– KMT is not from a “foreign” country, while Japan is.

– De-colonization is either impossible—or an ongoing

process, and Taiwan’s democratization is not yet

well-developed.

Are we/you still “colonized”?

How is studying English literature connected

with colonization?

Ref. 20150825

有話好說：日本曾經是祖國？台灣未對日抗戰？17:30

Controversies around the 70th

Anniversary of End of WW II

When and Why was “China”

involved in WW II? (1937/7/7 or

1939/6?)

On which side?

– Former President Lee – on the

Japanese side

– Former Vice President Lien – ?

-- KMT took over

Taiwan or restore

Taiwan?

-- Japan ruled over

Taiwan or colonized

Taiwan?

English literature and Colonial

Education

1. Colonial Education/Civilization = done thru’

missionary, medicine and literature, etc.

2. The purpose of colonial education: Macaulay:

"We must at present do our best to form a

class who may be interpreters between us

and the millions whom we govern; a class of

persons, Indian in blood and colour, but

English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and

in intellect." (source)

3. In India: first the Bible, and then English

literature, were promoted by the East India

Company.

Examples of

Colonialism &

Partition of

India 39:00

Relevance to US:English literature and Colonial Education

-- “Studying English literature was seen as a way of

'civilising' the native population. By 1835, this tactic was

made law by the English Education Act, which officially

required Indians to study in English and to study English

literature. ” (Eaglestone 11)

-- In Taiwan: translation of American Modernist

literature in the 60’s. (reference:美援文化傳播下的現代主義文學)

(or neo-colonialism) is inevitable, but

we can be self-aware and selective in receiving its influences.

One way to do it is to broaden our perspective and avoid

US/Japan/Korea fever by understanding more cultures than

just the dominant ones.

Basic Concepts in a postcolonial

vein:

English ≠ British

American ≠ US

English (King’s English, Queen’s

English) englishes

Q: What are World

Literatures in English?

Two kinds of

misunderstanding --

a. English literature and

b. World literature

Definitions (see course

intro.)

Colonial World 1914: The Areas Covered?

Source: Atlas of colonialism

Mapping World Literatures in English

Colonial Influences

South-East Asia?

South of China, east of India, west of New

Guinea and north of Australia (Wikipedia)

Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos,

Cambodia, North and South Vietnam,

Malaya (Malaysia & Singapore), the

Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of the

Philippines.

Influences of India, China, France,

Holland and the UK (earlier: Portugal and

Spain)

ASEAN, formed in 1967

World Literatures in English:

Major Concerns

1. (De-)Colonization

2. Civil War, Migration,

Diaspora

3. Identity + Language, Nation,

Racial & Gender Stories of

Growth

Major Concerns (1)

Colonization

What is it?

Colonization= one

nation/people’s exploitation,

control and possession of

another nation/people on the

levels of culture, politics and

economy.

e.g. Triangle Trade; Slavery and

Racism

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Physical and Cultural

Colonization

Slavery & Racism

World Literatures in English

(Left) a boat for the Middle Passage;

Image source: Identity and Difference

323

Example:

(slavery)

Mansfield Park

History of European Colonization

in Brief –Beginning

From exploration to trade and invasion/settlement.

Columbus’s ‘discovery’ – 1492(Before him, some Vikings.) – One in three of the indigenous

population of Hispaniola were dead within two years of Columbus’s arrival; in 30 years they had all been wiped out. (causes: disease [small pox], torture, imprisonment and mass suicide, Walder25)

(image source)

The Effects of Smallpox Decimated The

Americas When The Europeans Helped

Spread the Disease in the 16th Century, As

Depicted In This, The Florentine Codex

Q: Colonization:

Physical and

Cultural Colonization

Slavery & Racism

World Literatures in English

(Right and Left) evidence for scientific

racism; recent example The Bell

Curve (1994) Image source: (right) Identity and

Difference 308 (left) “scientific racism”

Major Concerns (1):

Effects of Colonization

Unequal Power Relations

– caused by and/or related to the

two above

– between different cultures, men

and women, the colonizer and

the colonized, the haves and

have-nots, etc..

Stereotyping or Objectifying the

Other influencing children

World Literatures in English

Example (skipped):

--The English Patient

-- Sheltering Sky,

-- Out of Africa,

-- Heart of Darkness

Major Concerns (1): Effects of Colonization –

Ref. Stereotyping the natives

We were wanderers on prehistoric earth, on an earth

that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. We could

have fancied ourselves the first of men taking

possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued

at the cost of profound anguish and excessive toil. But

suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would

be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a

burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands

clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes

rolling, under the droop of heavy and motionless

foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of

a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric

man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us –

who could tell? (Heart of Darkness –to be cont’d)

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Effects of Colonization --

Ref. Stereotyping the natives

We were cut off from the comprehension of

our surroundings; we glided past like

phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled,

as sane men would be before an

enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We

could not understand because we were too

far and could not remember, because we

were travelling in the night of first ages, of

these ages that are gone, leaving hardly a

sign – and no memories. (Heart of

Darkness 68 – 9)

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Implicit

Colonization

Dominance of English people (e.g. A Passage to India –The Bridge Party that

creates a gap)

Narrow definitions of English and Eng. Literature– white man’s burden (assimilationism)

(e.g. My Fair Lady—English Language)

“The Empire Writes back” --with englishes, parodies, distinct or a mixture of cultures.

World Literatures in English

Jamila

Lyiscott: 3

ways to speak

English

Major Concerns (2): Civil War,

Migration and Diaspora (離散族群)

Civil Wars– Post-Emancipation (between poor

whites and ex-slaves)

– Post- WW-II-Independence

Movements because of unfair racial distribution of power

government corruption

neo-colonial intervention (Russia vs. US)

religious conflicts and fundamentalism

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (2): Civil War,

Migration and Diaspora (離散族群)

Five kinds of Diaspora:– Victim(e.g. Jews, Africans,

Armenians),

– Labour (e.g. Indian, Chinese),

– Trade (e.g. Chinese and Lebanese),

– Imperial (e.g. the British),

– Cultural diasporas—most of our

literary writers & some of our relatives

and friends.

World Literatures in English

Source: Global

Diaspora: An

Introduction ix

Major Concerns (3):

Identity --Who am “I”?

1. National, Cultural/Racial, & Gender Identities-- are all influenced and challenged by colonization, civil wars and (multiple) migration

– e.g. multiculturalism & double identity

– e.g. “What is Worth Knowing”

– “van Gogh’s ear”--meaning? (1) the signs of Indian culture;

(2) the “Western” signs of displacement

(3) the relatively innocent knowledge of science and climate

(4) colonial influences

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (3):

Identity --Who am “I”?

2. Asserting one’s Identity thru’

– Language, Literature as well as Different Ways of Living and Acting.

– e.g. Caliban ““You taught me language, and my profit on 't /Is I know how to curse.”

– e.g. “Situation” (Ka. Naa. Subramanyam)

Note: allusions Max Mueller Bhavan -- All the institutes in India, is known as Max Mueller Bhavan – in honourof Max Müller (1823-1900), a scholar of comparative religion and co-founder of modern Indian studies. （author of Sacred Books of the East）

World Literatures in English

Situation

By Ka. Naa.

Subramanyam

-- Upanishads印度哲學書-- The Dance in India

By Faubion Bowers

1953

“Sailing to

Byzantium” (below)

Review: Course Title: (1) World

Literatures in English

(see syllabus)

English ≠ UKAmerican ≠ USForeign Film ≠ Hollywood FilmForeigners ≠ Americans englishes ≠ King’s English

Postcolonial Literature: Main

Concerns?

1. Cultural Colonization and its

Impact on Race, Gender and Class

Relations

2. Civil War, Diaspora and Global

Migration

3. Identity --& its definitions thru’

Nation, Race, Gender, Class,

Language & Social Action

World Literatures in English: Possible Difficulties & Relevance

Difficulties1. Language

2. Culture and History

3. Some “Postcolonial” Styles

RelevanceChinese Diaspora and Taiwan’s

experience of multiple colonization

Course Title: (2)

Stories of Growth

1. Children:

vulnerable and receptive to influences of

their environment

like an innocent mirror posed to society

2. Experience of growth(genre:

“bildungsroman”)

“turning points,” rite of passage (first day of

school, most embarrassing

moment/lessons, wedding)

with thoughts and needs we can relate to.

Points of Access:

Sameness &

Difference

Building a

context to connect

Example 1: The Peace Tree

Festival of lights: Diwali (in

Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism),

Hanukkah (Judaism) and

Christmas

Ramadan (齋月)

Peace Tree – a child’s way of

wishing for peace in the world

But can the world’s conflicts be

solved thru’ celebrating different

festivals together?

Concept Map (1)

Issues of Post/Colonialis

m

Colonization

Slavery

Middle Passage

Racism

Cultural

Stereotyping

Orientalism

Global Marketing

Exoticism

Scientific Physical,

Neo-Colonialism

De-Coloniazation &

Migration

Civil War

Child Soldiers & Refugees

Diaspora

Identity

Race/Nation

Folk Culture

Witch craft & Voodoo

Racial conflict Hybridity

Gender/Class Language

Stories of

Growth

Concept Map Produced with C-Map

Compare and Contrast

What to compare? For instance, choose one of the themes

– Main themes: colonialism, civil war, race/gender/sex/class

relations, childhood experience of family, education, folk

belief, and migration.

– and compare the characters’ similarities and differences in

their experience, responses, interpersonal relations, as well as

the text’s symbolic treatments of them.

--the focus can be on the characters, or a scene, or the texts’

language & skills.

How to compare: (1) parallel arrangement of two texts, point by point,

text by text;

(2) Bring in two texts in your introd and then narrow it down to one of

them, referring back to the non-selected text in the conclusion.

References

Eaglestone, Robert. Doing English : A

Guide for Literature Students. London ;

New York Routledge, 2002.

Walder, Dennis. Post-Colonial

Literatures in English: History,

Language, Theory. Blackwell P, 1998.

Cohen, Robin. Global Diaspora: An

Introduction. Seattle: U of

Washington P, 1997.