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Post-colonial Literature for Children – EDU32PLC Week 6 Lecture 10 Re-introductions: searching and defining © La Trobe University, David Beagley, 2005 Searching Relevant resources • Ultimately, YOU are the judge. Is the resource authoritative (the writer has an authority to speak) and valid (it deals with the issue at hand)? • Books - library catalogue – reference lists – course readings • Journal articles - refereed / unrefereed LibXplore • Web sites - gateways and Google References Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G. and Tiffin, H. (1989) Introduction. The Empire Writes Back, London: Routledge Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G. and Tiffin, H. (2000) Post-Colonial Studies: the key concepts, London: Routledge esp. entries on colonialism, Euro-centrism, imperialism, Orientalism Hunt, P. and Sands, K. (2000) The view from the centre: British Empire and post-Empire children’s literature. in Voices of the Other: children’s literature and the postcolonial context. Ed. Roderick McGillis. London: Garland Course readings - Topic Three: Representing other cultures in Post-colonial Australian Children’s Literature Revisit some terms, and meet some new ones • • • • • • • Colonialism / Imperialism Imperial centre / Colonial centre Orientalism Ethno-centrism – Euro-centrism Subaltern and Commonwealth literatures Cultural markers Multiculturalism - Assimilation - Apartheid Colonialism & Imperialism • Colonialism - the implanting of settlements of the colonising power on distant territory • Imperialism - the practice and attitudes of a dominant imperial centre ruling distant territory • The key difference is how the coloniser’s culture and society are transferred to the colony, and consequent attitudes of superiority. • Subjection or paternalism? Subordinate or child? Imperial centre / Colonial centre • Centre and its circle - the centre and the outside • Imperial centre - the dominance and implied superiority of the original society, from its “home” • Colonial centre - the dominance of the introduced society over the indigenous, in the colony Superiority is a binary definition - it requires an “Other” against which the superior is compared in order to be better than it. Orientalism & Ethno-centrism • Ethno-centrism - the defining of one culture as the normal, the natural, the universal, against which all others are defined and measured • Orientalism - the defining of the rest of the world as “not-European” which entitles Europe to describe it, interpret it, and dominate it. • Cf. 1st world/3rd world, Developed/Emerging, East/West, North/South, Democratic/dictatorial, Free world/Iron curtain, Defenders of freedom/Axis of Evil, Jihad/Crusaders Subaltern and Commonwealth literatures • Subaltern - “under the other”. Branches of a literature that have sprung after the original has been established. • Commonwealth - specifically the nations and cultures that have, at some time, been part of the British Empire/Commonwealth • Ongoing links - language, cultural elements, history • Differences - distinct voices, interpretation, alternatives Cultural markers How is one culture distinguished from another? • Language • Religious beliefs - morality and expressions of right and wrong • Social groups - family, kinship, castes/classes. Responsibilities to each other • History - how it has been shaped, and treated in relation to other cultures • Outward expressions of identity Multiculturalism • • • • Relating to several cultural groups Co-existing Inclusive - allows the equivalence of those several Breaks the binary pattern of superior/inferior invader/indigenous - imperial/provincial • Difficulties: how are contradictions resolved? Assimilation • The culture of one group is seen as the norm in a society • Other groups are allowed freedom for personal expression of their culture …but … • Are expected to adapt their cultural markers to the pattern allowed by that norm, if there is a contradiction Apartheid • Separate development of cultures in a society Apart + hood • Developed and formalised in South Africa 1948-91 • Expressed by separation - transport and social facilities, schooling, ownership and economics • In theory, to allow cultural integrity to be maintained and developed • In practice, the suppression of “other” groups to the advantage of a dominant