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Summary (Pt. 1) - IMOW: Postcolonial Theory

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Summary (Pt. 1) - IMOW: Postcolonial Theory

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During our Week 4 Discussion, I talked about the ties between Colonialism and Imperialism; how Colonialism—also known as colonization—is the physical act of one group or country assuming control over another group or country, and how Imperialism is the mental or emotional sustenance of the practice of Colonialism (McDaniel, 2022, 0:44). I also described how Imperialism is often accomplished by eradicating the existing, indigenous culture and replacing it with the colonizers’ values and traditions, until the original culture is no longer dominant enough to give rise to push-back (McDaniel, 2022, 1:00).

It's this interpretation of Colonialism that informs my definition of Postcolonialism and, thereby, my understanding of postcolonial theory. By virtue of the prefix post-, which means “after,” Postcolonialism is the study of the political, linguistic, and cultural erasure of indigenous groups that were interned, subjugated, and assimilated through colonization. The theoretical aspect concerns how much of the media of the time was written with bias that heavily favors the colonizers' points of view, and the ways in which that bias has altered our perception of the era.

TL;DR: Postcolonial Theory is the critical review of media that is "written by the victors" of colonization, and how the
colonizers' perspective furthered the political, linguistic, and cultural erasure of the indigenous groups they conquered.

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Author and speaker Chimamanda N. Adichie (2009) beautifully summarizes my understanding of postcolonial theory in her TED Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story." Below is my favorite excerpt from the speech:

"It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. There is a word, an Igbo word, that I think about whenever I think about the power structures of the world, and it is 'nkali.' It's a noun that loosely translates to 'to be greater than another.' Like our economic and political worlds, stories too are defined by the principle of nkali: How they are told, who tells them, when they're told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person." (9:25-10:10)

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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I think that postcolonial theory (PCT) is an incredibly important analytical practice for any media consumer, generally. Whether it's reading a novel or a news article, listening to a song, or watching a movie... PCT encourages us to identify and understand the context in which the media was created, and then to rationalize how that context likely influenced the end result and made its message more subjective.

For example, Ashcroft (2013) notes that "from the late 1970s, the term [postcolonialism] has been used by literary critics to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization" (p. 203). The fact that PCT first emerged as a school of thought near the end of the counterculture movement of the 1960s is no surprise; it was a time when women's rights, the rights of people of color (POCs), the end of racial segregation and white supremacy, and anti-authoritarianism were at the forefront of peoples' minds. Critics during this period were looking back at 16th century European media—rife with issues of colonization, imperialism, class and racial segregation, the othering and oppression/suppression of POCs and indigenous persons—and finding parallels with their current point in history.

The difference between the 1500s and the mid-1900s, however, was that the disenfranchised people of the modern era maintained a voice in the media of the time; they got to share their perspectives and negative experiences under oppressive circumstances. The indigenous people who were colonized by Europeans were silenced through violence, enslavement, or assimilation, and their cultures, languages, and ways of life were erased from the narrative. What remained were the biased accounts of colonizers, who shared their perspectives and positive experiences during and after oppressing others.

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Summary (Pt. 3) - PCT in the Modern World

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Summary (Pt. 3) - PCT in the Modern World

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Since the counterculture movement of the 1960s, dissenting voices across the world have put forth case after case that "postcolonialism" is a misnomer, a wrong or inaccurate description. The first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, posited that colonialism and imperialism still exist, but have merely shifted their practices away from the traditional physically-invade-and-conquer tactics to something more modern and insidious, "new instruments of indirect control such as international monetary bodies, through the power of multinational corporations and cartels which artificially fixed prices in world markets, and through a variety of other educational and cultural non-governmental organizations" (Ashcroft, 2013, p. 178).

Professor Young (2022) touches on this concept in the Postcolonial Themes Cheat Sheet, when she describes how "some forms of imperialism are more or less the result of uneven cultural influence" (p. 9) rather than a brute force assertion of power. For example, the introduction of western fast food chains like McDonalds into eastern societies like India, where cows are considered sacred and beef/pork products are not consumed. Although the local McDonalds menu has been adjusted to include only chicken, fish, and vegetarian options, the culture of western fast food has deeply influenced how traditional street food is now marketed, packaged, and served in India.

With the concept of neocolonialism—as presented by President Nkrumah and Professor Young—in mind, we can clearly see how PCT is relevant in the modern age. Colonizers have been replaced with "global superpowers" whose domination is, as Ashcroft (2013) describes, "not by force, or even necessarily by active persuasion, but by a more subtle and inclusive power over the economy, and over state apparatuses such as education and the media, by which the ruling class' interest is presented as the common interest and thus comes to be taken for granted" (p. 134).

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Now, more than ever, it is incredibly important for up-and-coming generations of consumers to participate in PCT, as well as general critical analysis, when it comes to the media we review.

Colonialism is not dead; rather, it has just evolved into a more globalized form that pervades every aspect of our highly interconnected, technological society. In order to ensure that future cultures are not erased from the narrative—or homogenized into a certain way of living, thinking, or being—we must:

1. Know the context of the information we consume, or at least be willing to seek it out;

2. Rationalize how that context is used to create bias that favors colonizers/global superpowers;

3. Be conscious of the way that bias alters the messages that we receive via media;

4. Identify the ways in which the context politically, linguistically, and culturally erases the disenfranchised groups that colonizers/global superpowers have conquered or infiltrated;

5. Search for and listen to the perspectives and experiences of the disenfranchised, to restore balance to the narrative and promote a fuller understanding of the context.

To do anything other than the above leaves ourselves, and future generations, vulnerable to the same "single story" that has pervaded Western civilization for literally thousands of years. To that end, I want to conclude this summary with Adichie's (2009) final words from her TED Talk (beginning at 18:05):

"When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise."

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Horizon Zero Dawn is an action-oriented roleplaying game by Dutch developers Guerrilla Games. As described by the developers (2017), the story “takes place in the 31st century, in a post-apocalyptic world where colossal machines dominate the land. Human civilization has regressed to tribal societies who survive in the atmospheric ruins of their ancestors—all while the machines become increasingly powerful.” You play as Aloy, a young woman who was cast out from the Nora tribe in her infancy for being “motherless,” and guide her on a journey toward uncovering the origins of her birth, as well as her place within the Nora, the world at large, and the looming technological battle that threatens all of humanity.

The story of Horizon Zero Dawn touches on several of the themes noted in Young’s (2022) Postcolonial Themes Sheet, most specifically:

Identity - Identity is one of the most pervading thematic elements of the game. The characters you meet are each codified by their tribal affiliation, traditions, and culture; their position within the tribe and within society at large; as well as their more personal attributes such as morality, ethics, and intelligence. However, it is Aloy’s search for her origins—who her mother was, where her mother came from and/or went, why she abandoned Aloy as a baby, and what role Aloy’s mother played in the history of the known world—is a driving force that leads the main character on a journey of self-discovery and self-identification that eventually brings her a sense of peace.

Class - As an outcast, Aloy is subject to many classist restrictions. Outcasts are forced into the wilderness with no supplies and expected to make their own way or die trying,  and they may not speak to or interact with—nor receive any assistance from—tribe members even in instances of life-threatening peril. Furthermore, they are not permitted to speak with other outcasts. As such, this presents numerous opportunities for particularly vicious tribe members to exploit the rules and behave in a hostile or violent manner toward outcasts, since the latter cannot complain about their treatment or seek tribal justice for any transgressions against them.

Oppression - The Nora’s foremost human adversaries are the Carja, a large and technologically advanced tribe who attempted to "spread civilization to the Savage East" where the Nora are based. Over many years, the Carja have attempted to intern, subjugate, and enslave the Nora, although the latter have continuously fought back, using guerrilla tactics to evade total domination. Still, the fear of the Carja and their use of technology is engrained in Nora society, and is itself a form of oppression that prevents the tribe from advancing past more than a hunter-gatherer nation.

Additionally, the mechanical creatures that roam the land—as well as play a central role in moving the plot forward—represent the oppressive nature of technological advancement. Through increasingly powerful machinery, fleshy humans are tasked with developing ways of keeping the playing field level, which often requires the use of the self-same technology that these creatures are made from. This leaves the Nora in a state of oppression and vulnerability against the mechanical creatures, as their tribal customs forbid the use of machinery.

Hybridity - Aloy herself is representative of hybridity within the socio-political structure of Horizon Zero Dawn. Although she is a primitive hunter-gatherer, she is also progressively adept with technologically and shows a willingness to learn more about the mechanical world that is taboo to her tribe. In this way, Aloy straddles a line of acceptability and rejectability, causing friction in her interactions with the Nora (for her technological use) as well as with NPCs of other nations (for her primitive skills and upbringing), and ensuring that she will never be fully accepted or understood by either.

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Horizon: Zero Dawn Official Aloy's Journey Trailer

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Throwback photos to pow-wows long before my time, featuring my paternal grandparents, uncles, and dad.

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Admittedly, I struggled to choose a topic for this reflection section. I've talked a lot about "otherness" throughout the course of the semester, and I do have personal experiences with which I can relate to that theme. However, when it comes down to postcolonial theory and the concerns I have with how PCT is necessary in the world today... I think it's more apt to talk about "identity," because I feel that the question of identity is truly at the heart of colonialist/imperialist issues and is a consistent theme in literature of the time.

Based on my appearance (pale skin, soft angles, small features, wavy hair), most people would not assume that I am Native American. My paternal grandparents both lived on the Muskogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma during their youths before leaving the tribe and immersing themselves more fully into a traditional American life. My grandfather joined the Navy. My grandmother started a women's bowling association. They had three sons and they traveled all around the country, living on naval bases, internalizing the American historical culture of domination, supremacy, and authority. Despite all this, my grandparents never lost their roots in our Muskogee culture. They made sure their sons knew the language, the songs, the dances; that they could sew their regalia and remembered how to put it on properly. They ensured their names were registered and linked to the Dawes Roll, and that they could find their way home to a land that was quartered off for them by the U.S. government and immediately forgotten about.

I lost both of my paternal grandparents to cancer before I was 15 years old. As a child, I wasn't interested in our Muskogee culture beyond how cool and authentic my Pocahontas costume was that one Halloween. And as a pre-teen, I was too busy being absorbed into White Pop Culture: N*SYNC vs. BSB; Harry Potter; alternative rock music; a goth phase. I never learned the language, the songs, the dances. I barely know how to sew a button onto a blouse, let alone make a beaded hairpiece for my regalia, and I definitely have no idea how to put it on correctly. I have never been to Oklahoma, nor to the Reservation, although the Nation did offer me a full ride scholarship a long time ago.

None of those things weighed on me too much until I was close to adulthood, when I began to solidify my identity and the type of person I wanted to be. Around that time, I came into possession of some of my grandmother's things through a Shakespearean comedy of errors—where our nearly identical storage boxes got swapped in a great clean out and sent in different directions. (I hope the Reservation liked all those binders of old fanfiction!)—and I found documentation that before their passing, my grandparents had registered my brother and I as Muskogee citizens linked to the Dawes Roll.

It hit me like a sack of bricks. There was a whole part of my identity that I knew nothing about; a part that I let erode away under what I thought was "more important" simply because it was more prevalent in my homogenized American society. Somehow, my grandparents had foreseen that I might come back to that part of me someday, curious and ready to learn more, and they made sure that I could find my way home.

Today, I'm still learning about my Muskogee heritage. My uncles are now no longer with us, and disuse and grief led my dad to give up the language, the songs, the dances; the last link to that part of my identity... doesn't want to be associated with it anymore. So, I'm uncovering bits and pieces of myself in between all of life's other responsibilities. It makes me sympathize with those literary critics and scholars who are going through colonialist and imperialist literature and looking for any sign of their long-lost cultures, of the things that were stamped out by oppression, by an inflated sense of importance, by an overarching prevalence. It makes me sad to think of all the broken links that might never be restored.

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District 9 is a science fiction film by South African writer and director Neill Blomkamp. Presented as “found footage” of interviews, news reels, and shots from bodycams and surveillance cameras, the movie depicts an alternate history in which a population of insectoid aliens (later called “Prawns”) arrive on Earth in 1982 and are immediately taken into custody by the South African government and placed into an internment camp known as District 9. The central plot takes place three decades later, following a Prawn father and son who try to escape the slum-like camp, its violent paramilitary overseers, and the oppressive South African government, both hindered and aided by a bumbling bureaucrat named Wilkus.

District 9 also exemplifies several of the subjects from Young’s (2022) Postcolonial Themes Sheet. Most specifically:

Race - Race (or more accurately Speciesism) is the foremost thematic element in the plot of the film, and serves to highlight the binary divide between Humans and Prawns. The human population of Johannesburg despise the Prawns, believing them to be filthy, ignorant, and pest-like indigents that the government wastes money supporting,. The humans desperately wish to have the Prawns relocated to other areas where they will be less burdensome, but they do not necessarily wish that the Prawns would return to their mothership or home planet. Meanwhile, the Prawns view humans as their captors and enslavers, unnecessarily holding them hostage when the government has seized the Prawns only means of transportation back to their mothership and home planet. The Prawns also demonize the humans for treating them cruelly by limiting their resources and providing less than adequate accommodations for survival. These heightened feelings are a cinematic parallel to the real-life apartheid era in South Africa, where non-white Africans were denied basic human rights.

Class - Classism is another prevalent theme within the movie, best depicted through visual storytelling rather than outright dialogue. The film is flooded with imagery that alludes to the way in which Prawn are socio-politically classified as “less than” their human counterparts, and how they are subject to oppression based on that classification. Signage repeatedly advises that access or services is “for humans only,” or that “picking up non-humans is forbidden;” while the boundary lines of District 9, a tent-city that has evolved over time to include ramshackle housing made from trash and scrap metal, are stacked with barbed wire and other physical deterrents to prevent escape. In addition, armed guards continuously accost, injure, and even kill Prawns who venture too close to the barriers or who appear to be defensive in any way. All of these subconscious reinforcements of “otherness” lead to a continuous sense that the Prawns are not worthy of the same rights to adequate food, water, shelter, and protection as their human counterparts.

Oppression - Oppression is also a heavily utilized trope throughout the flick, particularly in regard to how the Prawns are treated by humans and the South African government. Although the Prawns have proven to be a non-hostile and pacifist in nature, their human counterparts loathe them and wish them ill. Likewise, the government manipulates public information about the Prawns to paint them in an unfavorable light as “invaders,” and to sew fear that letting the Prawns return home would result in a full scale invasion of Earth. The government, in turn, forcibly contains the Prawns with District 9 through the use of intimidation, resource rationing, and violence. The Prawns are not permitted to hold jobs or to earn wages, but members of their groups are routinely taken into custody by the government for questioning and testing, the latter of which rarely results in the Prawn’s return to District 9. When certain Prawns begin to speak out against the South African government and the lies they spread about the Prawns, they are jailed and tortured into silent compliance. These oppressive tactics serve primarily to dehumanize the Prawns in the eyes of the general population, and to reinforce that the Prawns actually deserve the oppressive conditions under which they live.

Hybridity - The theme of hybridity is largely used as a means of progressing the action sequences of the story, and revolves around the bumbling bureaucrat, Wilkus. While serving a government notice to one of the Prawns in District 9, Wilkus is accidentally exposed to a chemical agent of Prawn design which warps his DNA, quickly metamorphosing him from a human into an alien. It is through his gradual change that Wilkus comes to understand the full extent of the oppression, violence, and terror that is inflicted upon the Prawn within District 9. It also serves to highlight the ways in which his fellow humans—including his wife and daughter—are quick to refuse and abandon Wilkus upon learning that he has become something “other” or “less than” human. Likewise, the Prawn are distrusting of Wilkus due to his previous governmental ties. As such, he becomes an outsider to both the Humans and the Prawn, as neither side is able to fully accept him for the creature he has become.

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Adichie, C. N. (2009). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2013). Postcolonial studies: The key concepts (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Blomkamp, N. (Director). (2009). District 9 [Film]. QED International, WingNut Films, TriStar Pictures.

de Jonge, M. (Director). (2017). Horizon zero dawn (PlayStation 4 version) [Video Game]. Guerrilla Games.

McDaniel, C. (2022, May 23). The uv tint on my glasses is super annoying. Anyway, here are some thoughts about colonization! [FlipGrid post]. Canvas.

https://canvas.uiw.edu/courses/17726/modules/items/1655595

McDaniel, C. (2022, May 27). Otherness: A multi-faceted postcolonial lens [Unpublished Manuscript]. School of Applied Sciences & School of Professional Studies, University of the Incarnate Word.

McDaniel, C. (2022, June 8). Conspiracy Keanu: What if postcolonialism is actually still just colonialism? [Digital Image]. imgfilp. https://imgflip.com/i/6j28we

Young, T. (2022). Postcolonial themes cheat sheet [PDF]. Canvas.

https://canvas.uiw.edu/courses/17726/modules/items/1620244