Post-Colonialism ENG4U

Colonialism? 15th century – present day? France, Netherlands, England, etc. Forcefully establishing “colonies” for resource profits and trade Subjugating local populations

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations?

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations? Violence

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations? Violence (torture, genocide, imprisonment, forced labour, slavery)

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations? Violence (torture, genocide, imprisonment, forced labour, slavery) Costly, problematic

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations? “Mental slavery” – For centuries, western literature and art has justified (explicitly or implicitly) racism, control, inferiority and slavery of “The Native”

What is the most effective way to “control” local populations? “Mental slavery” – For centuries, western literature and art has justified (explicitly or implicitly) racism, control, inferiority and slavery of “The Native” any colonized population

Colonial Literature and Art

“White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling (1899) Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.

Creating the “Other” Edward Said coined the term Orientalism “Anthropological studies rested on the assumption that non-European peoples were backwards, primitive, quaint, sometimes even “noble”, but always different from the products of Western civilization” (Loomba 48) - Colonialism / Postcolonialism by Anita Loomba

Post-Colonial Criticism Focuses on a critical reading of Colonial literature, to analyze how literature and art (in colonial times, and still today) propagate White/European superiority, and dehumanize traditionally “Native” populations (non-white). Explicitly and Implicitly Accidentally and Intentionally …2…

Post-Colonial Literature 2. Is a body of literature/art written by colonized cultures. Common themes: Search for individual and national identity. Resistance against European influence. Struggle for economic and social independence.

Post Colonial Art & Poetry The Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes) – 1920s & 30s Used art to prove their humanity and demand equality Helped inspire and pave the way for the civil rights movement in the 1950s

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) innovative artists of the past century themes: from personal identity and power to entrenched racism and inequality

Re-Claiming the ‘Self’ Basquiat challenges Western histories by creating images that honour black men as kings and saints. With his signature recurring motif — the crown — the artist recognizes the majesty of his heroes: groundbreaking athletes, musicians and writers.

Self-Portrait, 1983 “Jean-Michel Basquiat’s self-portrait reflects on the ways in which black male subjectivities have been constructed historically. Basquiat’s likeness is that of an alien creature whose only discernible features are its white slits for eyes and its jagged, tentacle-like hair. The piece has urgency; it seems rushed and incomplete. It responds to Basquiat’s own construction by the predominately white art market of the 1980s as a lone ‘alien’ black art star. The self-portrait’s unfinished status has relevance in our current hyper-racialized climate. It is a doppelgänger for every young black man mirrored in Basquiat’s unfinished story.” – Julie Crooks, Rebanks Fellow, Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum

Jean-Michel Basquiat The Death of Michael Stewart, 1983

Contemporary Post-Colonial analysis Watch the following music videos through a post-colonial lens. What observations can you make? Write them down in point form. No Light, No Light

“Myths of the Native” & Post-Colonial Literature 1. Read essay 2. Read the except from “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid 3. Answer the Questions provided