Lecture Code: PS_L.10 ENGL 559: Postcolonial Studies UNIT 2: Multi-Disciplinarity “Nation and Nationalisms” by John Mcleod Min Pun, PhD, Associate Professor Dept of English, PN Campus Pokhara 19 November 2018

Introduction The rise of nations is one of the important features in independence movements around world, especially in the postcolonial world. The concept of nation and movements for nationalism gave colonized peoples to fight against the colonial rule. Similarly, the concept of nation and nationalisms were political movements that occurred in the colonized worlds (in European settler colonies such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Third World countries such as India and Nigeria).

The Idea of the Nation Simply defined, a nation is a large group of people who share common history, culture, language, living in a particular geographical area. According to Timothy Brennan, the term ‘nation’ refers to both the modern nation-state that is related to a matter of polity and government, and the feeling for being living together in a community. In this sense, when we talk about the idea of nation and nationalisms, we come to know that the idea is about combining public and private matters that make us live together.

Contd… Similarly, Benedict Anderson has given a new definition of the idea of nation and nationalisms that emerge since the 18th century from Europe. He claims that the idea of nation is “an imagined political community” that emerged due to the growth of printing press through the use of language. So nationalisms, the feelings for the nation, emerged with the development of printing press and the spread of the print language so that the people living in a particular territory could communicate each other, accepting themselves as the members of that particular nation (nation-state in modern term). Thus, the idea of nation and nationalisms emerged in the postcolonial era as an ‘anti-colonial nationalism’.

Settler Nationalisms Before we talk about the settler nationalisms, it is necessary to define the term ‘settler colonialism. The settler colonialism is a distinct type of colonialism that functions through the replacement of indigenous populations (Aboriginals) with an invasive settler society (white settlers) that, over time, develops a distinctive identity and sovereignty, which is called settler nationalisms. Australia, Canada and New Zealand are examples of white settler populations who shaped settler nationalisms.

Examples Blood, the boy was thinking. Blood was mysterious. For example, the Australian Aborigines were never imagined as part of the new Australian people due to the presence of British settlers in Australia who dominated the indigenous peoples. An example of white Australian setter writer Randolph Stow’s novel The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (1965) can be taken as settler nationalism: Blood, the boy was thinking. Blood was mysterious. ‘Have I got any nigger blood?’ he asked. ‘Of course not.’ his grandmother said, shocked. ‘Have I got any convict blood?’ ‘Certainly not,’ said his grandmother. ‘If I had convict blood and nigger blood,’ the boy said, thinking it out, “I’d be related to just about everyone in Australia.’

Third World Nationalisms Anti-colonial nationalist movements took place in the Third World nations such as Africa, Caribbean and South Asia. In Third World nations, the concepts of nation and nationalisms remained primary in the pursuit of independence from the colonial rule. Some examples are Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign of satyagraha in 1940s India and the fierce armed revolt as in the Mau Mau uprisings in the 1960s Kenya. Similarly, Frantz Fanon, in his The Wretched of the Earth (1961), supported the necessity of violent revolt to emancipate African territories from colonialism, creating a new form of national consciousness.

Contd… The Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) is another example of Third World nationalist novel. It is about the life of Okonkwo, an igbo man and local wrestling champion and introduces the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community. In this way, through literary and political movements in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia, there emerged the Third World nationalisms.

Metropolitan Critiques As the movements for independence from colonial rule reached the climax, the colonizing countries (metropolis, or parent state of the colony) critiqued the anti-colonial nationalist movements. In this chapter, the metropolitan critics such as Marxist thinkers, migrant and diasporic writers and multicultural critics gradually rejected the idea of nation and nationalisms. Similarly, the idea of nation, nationalisms and national cultures continue to fade in the context of globaliztion and transnationalism, creating the ambiguous ideas of nation and nationalisms.

Conclusion In conclusion, in this chapter, John McLeod discusses the idea of nation that rose after the second world war and became the main issue in postcolonial literature and criticism. Postcolonial theorists and writers attracted more towards anti-colonial (independent) movements that helped develop the idea of nation and nationalisms. So “the idea of nation and nationalisms” is one of the most significant political ideas of the postcolonial period that opened up the ‘vital cultural space’ in the postcolonial debate.

Associate Professor, Dept of English Tribhuvan University Min Pun, PhD Associate Professor, Dept of English Tribhuvan University Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara Email: minpun@pncampus.edu.np Website: www.minpun.com.np