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Hu Yukun: Feminist Thought in Post-colonial Studies

Hu Yukun Label: Feminism in Post-colonial Studies

Abstract: Feminist postcolonial studies originated in the early 1980s, and then gained an important position in western academic circles. In the post-colonial study, the social status of feminists, especially their subjectivity in foreign life, has created their unique theoretical vision. In other words, postcolonial feminists try to seek a cross-cultural space and discourse to publicize the theory, practice and subjectivity of women in the third world. Therefore, feminist postcolonial research is not only devoted to questioning and challenging the mainstream postcolonial theory and feminist theory in Europe and America, but also to building its own interpretation and discourse system. This paper aims to sort out the main content, theoretical trend and influence of post-colonial feminism research.

[Keywords:] feminist post-colonial studies

Post-colonial studies began in the western academic circles in the late 1970s, and feminist post-colonial studies rose immediately. Under the banner of post-colonial feminism, women scholars from the third world now live in the first world, especially Indian women scholars. Therefore, postcolonial feminist theorists are often regarded as colored feminists or third world feminists. But more accurately, they should be called "immigrants" colored women/third world women, which is different from colored women born and raised in the United States and third world women living in the third world. The representative figures of this school are jayatri? Gayatri spivak, Chandra? Anne Mohanty? Anne mcclintock, Trean? Cui Minghe, Jacqui? Yaki Alexander, etc. Obviously, post-colonial feminists, third world feminists and colored feminists are overlapping "feminist communities". They have many similarities in their positions, viewpoints and methods, but there are also distinct differences. In fact, post-colonial feminists themselves often use these categories interchangeably, but most of them position themselves as third world feminists.

This special social position, especially their diaspora subjectivity, shaped their unique theoretical vision. Specifically, they are looking for cross-cultural discourse and space to publicize the theory, practice and subjectivity of women in the third world. In essence, feminist postcolonial research faces two theoretical challenges: criticism and construction. In other words, feminists active in the post-colonial field are not only committed to challenging the lack of mainstream post-colonial theories and feminist theories in Europe and America, but also to creating their own perspectives, theoretical paradigms and analytical methods. In recent ten years, its academic achievements have emerged one after another, which not only greatly enriched and promoted the mainstream postcolonial theory and western feminist scholarship, but also opened up a new cross-cultural academic space. This school has exerted great influence on many subjects in western and third world academic circles. Feeling the positive response of domestic academic circles to postcolonial studies and the indifference to feminist postcolonial voices [1], this paper attempts to preliminarily sort out the main contents, development trends and influences of postcolonial feminist studies.

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Dissatisfied with the neglect of women and gender issues in the third world in mainstream postcolonial studies, some colored feminists initially devoted themselves to postcolonial theory, especially Edward? Orientalism, the classic of Said's postcolonial theory, rewrites the issue of women and gender. In their view, postcolonial research is a rather masculine field, full of male-centered views and prejudices, ignoring the gender differences in responding to colonial experiences. Like Sarah? Sarah Mills once pointed out that postcolonial theory "is almost devoted to the pursuit of masculinity, and rarely touches on the various subjective positions of British and indigenous women." . Therefore, many feminist theorists not only oppose that postcolonial theory is a male theme, but also challenge the assumption that colonial subjectivity can only be described by simply analyzing male subjectivity. [2]

Post-colonial feminists not only turned their academic focus to female subjects, but also revealed the cross-interaction of gender, class, race and gender in the colonial process. In the book Leather of the Empire: Race, Gender and Sexual Existence in Colonial Struggle, mcclintock pointedly pointed out that "imperialism cannot be understood without understanding the power theory of gender" and that "gender motivation is essential to consolidate and maintain the cause of the empire from the beginning". She also repeatedly stressed that in order to understand colonialism and post-colonialism, people must first admit that race, gender and class are not separate and independent areas of experience. On the contrary, these categories exist and are maintained through interrelation, although they sometimes appear in contradictory and conflicting ways. [3]

At the same time, post-colonial feminists began to examine the mainstream feminist theories in the West. In fact, since the early 1980s, colored women in the United States and other places, as well as women in the third world, have begun to criticize the European and American feminist discourses for their homogeneity of women's experience and insensitivity to class, race, religion, gender existence and other women's differences. Like Cherie? Cheryl Johnson-Odim believes that many third world feminists are committed to exploring how to broaden the definition of feminism. They regard the elimination of gender discrimination as the main way to end women's oppression, and link it with the struggle of third world women against class oppression, racial discrimination, sexual oppression, economic exploitation and even imperialism. To this end, some third world feminists even completely refused to use the word "feminism". Like Alice? Alice Walker invented a new word "feminism" to replace it. Johnson-Odim pointedly pointed out, "If feminists really care about eliminating the oppression of women, first and third world feminists must recognize a broad foundation. This foundation should at least admit that racial discrimination and economic exploitation are the main forces that oppress most women in the world. It must also admit that although gender is a potential connector, from the situation around the world, some women themselves have participated in the oppression of other women. Therefore, feminists must respect different cultures and recognize that women everywhere are fully capable of making their own voices. " [4]

Since 1990s, more and more third world feminists have interpreted many differences between women from their respective disciplines, such as race/national background, social class status, sexual orientation and national boundaries. Like kamala? Kamala Viswalan summed up this development trend of feminist anthropology in her book Feminist Ethnography Fiction. She reveals that feminist anthropology has assumed and maintained the dichotomy of self/others (referring to men) or us/them since its birth, but women in the third world began to question this hypothesis by introducing racial discrimination, class discrimination and discrimination against homosexuality. In other words, they began to attack a broad concept of "we" in the American women's movement. She particularly emphasized that in the current post-colonial world, it is also necessary to pay more attention to the relationship between women among colonists and women among colonized people. [5]

Similarly, in view of the narrow definition of gender in western women's studies, Jacqui? Alexander and Chandra? In the book Feminist Pedigree, Colonial Heritage and Democratic Future, co-edited by Mohanty, the theoretical contributions of colored people and third world feminists are highlighted in great color, and their experiences, history and self-reflection are placed at the center of the book. This collection of essays deeply analyzes the mutual oppression of race, class, gender and sexual orientation in the non-western world and the domination and exploitation of global capitalism in order to provide a "comparable, interrelated and historically rooted feminist concept." Therefore, they try to reveal the relationship between the power of white women and their theoretical objects and analytical tools in women's research projects. [6]

As many feminists have realized, the participation of third world women in defining feminism helps to bring the analytical categories such as class and race into the definition of feminism. Post-colonial feminists are undoubtedly a powerful force to reverse the deviation between western feminist theory and practice. After that, white feminists themselves began to reflect on their writing and representation of women in the third world, from focusing only on English women in the white middle class to women in different countries and cultural backgrounds. With the prevalence of "difference politics", the internal heterogeneity of feminism is even regarded as its greatest advantage and the key to survival. At the same time, the concern about the heterogeneity of feminism has also led to the identity crisis of feminists, especially the reflection on some key terms in feminist analysis, including the concepts of "women" and "gender". [7] In other words, western feminists began to reflect on who they were referring to when talking about the singular and plural "women", who they were speaking for and what they said.

In the academic context of various "postmodernism" in contemporary western academic circles, some postcolonial feminists not only criticized European and American feminism that participated in the construction of modernity intentionally or unintentionally in the form of colonial discourse and first world hegemony, but also questioned postmodernism and post-structuralism discourse. For example, Alexander and Mohanty discussed the influence of postmodern theory on theorizing the experience, consciousness and social identity of colored women in the book mentioned above. Indepe？ Indypal Greva and Carrey? The book Decentralized heterography, co-edited by Caren Kaplan, also runs through the chapters of post-modernity and outlines various practices of transnational feminism. [8] Some post-colonial feminists even began to clean up the colonial color of women's works in post-modern discourse.

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In addition to criticism, postcolonial feminists also participated in the writing of postcolonial theories. Feminist postcolonial studies cover a variety of historical and practical issues, including the gender characteristics of colonialism, gender dynamics under the background of imperialism, the interaction of gender, race and class under the colonial/postcolonial background, the relationship between feminism and postcolonialism, the initiative of marginalized women, women's bodies and national discourse, etc. As the school was born in the era of increasing globalization and transnational, its works inevitably focused on many urgent problems and their cultural consequences caused by neocolonialism, decolonization and global immigration in the post-colonial and post-cold war era, thus constructing a set of anti-hegemonic feminist reading and writing activities. In my opinion, their theoretical contributions are mainly reflected in the following interrelated aspects.

First, third world women and the conceptualization of third world feminism.

Among the well-known post-colonial feminists, Mohanty is the first person to challenge the narrative of "third world women" in western colonial discourse, especially in western feminist discourse. In her view, the term "third world" can be defined from two aspects. One refers to geopolitical entities, including "third world nation-states such as Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa"; The second refers to blacks, Latinos, Asians and aborigines in the United States, Europe and Australia, some of whom have historical ties with the geographically defined Third World. [9] Although she admits that the term "third world" is not accurate in describing the economic, political, racial and cultural differences of third world countries, she still believes that compared with other similar terms such as "South/North" and "developed/underdeveloped", the term "third world" still has enlightening value in colonial heritage, contemporary neocolonial economy and geopolitical process.

Mohanty's article In the Eyes of Westerners (1984) is one of the most influential works of post-colonial feminism. This article puts forward the mission of "third world feminism" in the name of Kaizong: "Any discussion on the theoretical and political construction of third world feminism must focus on two tasks at the same time: criticizing hegemonic western feminism; Put forward independent feminist concerns and strategies with geographical, historical and cultural roots. " In this paper, she deconstructs the essential and homogeneous category of "third world women" constructed by western feminists. In her view, western feminists construct "women in the third world" as a monolithic whole with the purpose of theoretical colonization. But in real life, "third world women" are different, not monolithic. Under the situation that western academic institutions monopolize the production and dissemination of academic texts, this rigid image of "third world women" can better adapt to the cultural and economic reality of today's world, thus reflecting the economic and cultural colonization of "non-Western world". [ 10]

In addition to criticizing the tendency of Western feminist discourse to reproduce the homogeneity of third world women, Mohanty also compared the self-representation of Western women with their representation of "third world women". She further revealed that western feminists usually represent themselves as modern, educated, able to control their sexual activities and bodies, and able to make decisions freely, which reflects that women in the third world are ignorant, poor, uneducated, bound by tradition, family-oriented and have no decision-making power. She hit the nail on the head and pointed out that this is because if the third world is not created, there will be no privileged first world. Similarly, without "third world women", the self-expression of western women will also become a problem.

Women in the Third World and Feminist Politics (199 1) edited by Mohanty and others continues to take "women in the third world" as an analytical category. In their view, it is very beneficial to establish an imaginary community, so that women who are committed to the resistance struggle can establish alliances, cooperation and homosexual relations. It is the same struggle background rather than skin color and racial identity that promotes the effective alliance between "colored women" and "third world women" After [1 1], many third world feminists continued to deepen their exploration of this issue. Like sandoval? Sandoval Chera put forward a framework of "American Third World Feminism", which is completely different from the hegemonic feminism of Anglo-Saxon white middle-class women. [ 12]

Second, theorize the relationship among identity, social status and knowledge production.

In fact, western feminists have been discussing the relationship between social status and productive knowledge for a long time. Sandra. Sandra Harding and Donna? When Haravi innovatively put forward feminist epistemology, he respectively created the concepts of "feminist standpoint" and "situational knowledge" [13] to highlight the influence of social status of researchers on their knowledge production. Post-colonial feminists' outstanding contribution to this issue mainly lies in that they not only theorize their own situation in mainstream politics and social discourse, but also theorize their reality in the context of women's studies. They not only pay attention to the identity of third world women outside the West, but also pay attention to the mixed naturalized identity of third world women living in the West, thus establishing their self-reflection position and identity politics.

For example, in the book Feminist Pedigree, Colonial Legacy and Future Democracy, Alexander and Mohanty elaborated on how their experiences as "immigrant" colored women influenced their unique reading and writing activities. They described a series of "disjointed geography, politics and ideology" when they entered American academic circles. They claimed that it was in racist places such as white institutions including women's studies programs that they experienced racial discrimination, which made them realize that "we were not born colored women, but became colored women." These experiences have greatly enhanced their interpretation of social injustice and their prospects for social transformation. [14] Wes Warren took her personal experience as an example to describe how her dominant position was created by American identity politics. In particular, how does her personal identity as a South Asian American affect the place, way and content she chooses to study? Her conclusion is that gender, race, culture and identity are entangled in naturalized Americans, thus establishing the status of a feminist ethnographer. Similarly, Mary? John also described her multi-subject status as a third-world feminist anthropologist living in the first world: immigrants, anthropologists who feedback knowledge and indigenous information providers of anthropology. [ 15]

Third, reflect on subjectivity and initiative.

Post-colonial feminists pay special attention to the issue of initiative and develop new theoretical methods of initiative. For example, Weiss WestWarren puts the discussion of female subjectivity in a broader dominant narrative context, that is, Indian nationalism and western feminism in her research. She regards silence, that is, refusing to speak, as an initiative of women's resistance. Several articles in the book Feminist Pedigree, Colonial Legacy and Future Democracy theorize the initiative and subjectivity of marginalized and exploited women in the process of globalization and local daily survival practice. For example, the genealogy of black women's sexual existence describes the resistance of various black women groups in different historical periods when they participated in the construction of black women's sexual existence. In particular, the author analyzes the "silent politics", that is, black reformers advocate silence on sexual issues as a political strategy, while black individuals and collectives practice this silence.

Fourthly, describe the theory and practice of transnational feminism.

In view of all kinds of explicit and implicit neo-colonialism and colonization phenomena in the contemporary era of globalization, post-colonial feminists tend to use "transnational feminism" instead of "international feminism" to highlight the inequality between different nationalities, countries and cultures under the background of globalization. They believe that what international feminism calls "global sisterhood" is based on the marginalization of women of color and women of the third world. Under this concept, a universal patriarchy is considered to transcend time and space, making all women in a subordinate position, which actually obliterates the great differences between women in different cultures around the world. To this end, Grewal and Kaplan pointed out that "because the world today is composed of transnational economic ties and cultural asymmetry, it is absolutely necessary to put feminist practice in these structures." [ 16]

Feminist theorists and practitioners active in the first and third world usually launch transnational feminist cooperation projects. Some influential works are the products of this concerted effort. Taking the book Feminist Pedigree, Colonial Heritage and Future Democracy as an example, this collection of essays by five feminist activists and scholars from the Third World/KLOC-0 reflects on feminist theories and practices around the world under the transnational framework and globalization background. From the perspective of post-colonial theory, they analyzed the historical legacy of colonialism and how the global expansion of capitalism today affected the collective struggle of feminists against economic, social, political, gender and cultural domination.

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To sum up, the value of post-colonial feminist research is not only reflected in theory, but also in practice, thus demonstrating its distinctive political nature. First, when they enrich and develop feminism in the third world, they mainly focus on the organizations and activities of feminist societies around the world; Secondly, criticize "global sisterhood" and explore the feasibility of transnational feminism; More importantly, one of the core of their theorization lies in revealing a future picture of "feminist democracy". In their words, this is an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist decolonization cause. [ 17]

From the perspective of academic development, postcolonial feminism theory is an interdisciplinary research. This school involves many disciplines of humanities and social sciences, including literary theory, cultural studies, third world studies, international studies, political studies and women's studies. His theoretical discourse also absorbed many academic ideological resources of contemporary theoretical discourse, such as colonial discourse, post-modern theory, post-structure theory, psychoanalysis and deconstruction theory. For example, spivak is famous for discussing feminism, Marxism, North-South relations and subaltern issues with postcolonial discourses and complicated deconstruction methods. [ 18]

Post-colonial feminism also contributed to methodology and epistemology. For example, they questioned the European central discourse of western feminism about "women in the third world" and advocated the influence of social status on knowledge production and cognitive process. People like Ha Ming and Zhou have repeatedly stressed that their marginal situation provides them with some kind of epistemological privilege of knowledge production, which helps them to analyze the oppression and ruling mode in the world.

In a word, feminist postcolonial studies are more and more prominent in postcolonial studies and feminist studies, and the momentum is in the ascendant. After post-colonial feminists, many western white feminists began to look at "women in the third world" from a post-colonial perspective. Like Lisa. Lisa Rofel applied this viewpoint to the study of female workers in Hangzhou. [19] Although there are still many controversies about post-colonial feminism research inside and outside the circle, it is undeniable that this school struggling from the edge of mainstream discourse has become one of the frontiers of western academic circles, which not only rewrites the chapter that reproduces the distorted or absent knowledge, activities and subjectivity of third world women, but also creatively expands the theory and practice of transnational feminism, thus contributing to promoting and activating international exchanges and dialogues between women in the first and third world.