What about post-colonialism

The superficial secular stability often makes us immersed in our daily life and personal development, unable to extricate ourselves, no longer asking about the past of history and thinking about the core issues of society. Post-colonialism is to remind us where the paradigm of this existing world comes from and where the future of this world will go. Equality and freedom in this world need our insight. From Phenomena to Doctrine If you have traveled or lived in the western and non-western worlds, you will find an interesting phenomenon: in Europe or North America, there are always some gardens or museums that are proud of having non-western style characteristic buildings or collections. These buildings can be pagodas in China and Japanese style or sculptures in Borneo, but their shapes are often quite different from their nominal sources; Walking in the bustling blocks of three continents, modern buildings, shops, chain restaurants and fashionable men and women often give you the illusion of being in the west, just like being in new york or Berlin. This difference is not a simple coincidence, but a completely different attitude is hidden behind it: non-Western culture is often regarded as an ornament of western cities and life, while western forms and fashions are often the focus of non-Western imitation, pursuit or obsession. The source of this disagreement can be traced back to pre-colonization, capital expansion and the rise of the empire. Today, the various manipulations and influences of the western suzerain on non-western colonial countries from politics to culture still exist. Post-colonialism, which combines post-structuralism and post-modernism, came into being under this background. This ideological trend of cultural theory, which rose from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, attempts to analyze and explain the political pattern and cultural trend of the contemporary world through the dual system of western suzerain countries and non-western colonial countries and the time division between pre-colonial and post-colonial periods. Post-colonialism is often daunting because of its complex background and obscure theory. Although from a realistic point of view, the influence of post-colonialism can be seen everywhere, but the spread of its theory has been limited. Post-colonialism: A Very Simple Introduction, as a popular book for general readers of humanistic knowledge, provides a brand-new perspective for the popularization of academic theory. Different from the previous works, which started with historical tracing, terminology interpretation and theoretical elaboration, Post-colonialism: A Very Simple Introduction chose to start with montage-style collage of scenes, and guided readers to understand the background and significance of post-colonialism from a perceptual perspective by presenting facts and phenomena and refining ideas, so as to have a more direct and popular understanding of post-colonialism. A large number of cases and experiences with cross-cultural background, supplemented by quotations from post-colonial classics, are not so much promoting the doctrine of post-colonialism, but rather leading readers to appreciate the multi-culture of the world, exposing all kinds of inequalities left over by imperialist colonialism, and then arousing readers' humanistic concern for the post-colonial situation in the three continents after independence. As a concise reader, Post-colonialism: A Very Simple Introduction has successfully completed the task of introducing post-colonialism to the general readers. However, for readers who are interested in exploring this theory in depth, novel and lively theme selection and case collocation can not meet the more rational and theoretical needs. For this reason, the whole book has no clear context and structure, more like repeated variations of key concepts and keywords, or impressionist painting, with light and shadow fading away, but there is no strict logical main line. Because of this, it is necessary for us to extract the views of this colorful little book and discuss it on this basis. The other: the transformation of perspective and identity. At the beginning, the author tries to arouse readers (mostly white readers) to think about the real situation of aborigines living outside the West or under the non-Western cultural background through the differences between two kinds of white situations (one or only white people). As a result, the concepts of subject and the other are expanded: when discussing the politics, economy, culture and national individuals of non-western countries, the subject is often replaced by the passive situation observed by western observers. Because of this, the dialogue between civilizations has lost its equality from the beginning, which is also the basic argument of non-western dialogue and friction in the pre-colonial period: the original residents of non-western countries are described by anthropological theory as inferior, naive and weak nations, unable to manage themselves, and need western management "like a father" to safeguard their own interests. When expounding this historical viewpoint, the author commented on self-management: 1) Although the West thinks that non-West lacks the ability of self-management, the society of primitive residents has worked well for thousands of years; 2) Now the concept of "management" has been replaced by "development". It can be seen that while advocating fatherly love, the west has not given up the control and decision-making of fatherly love. Even after non-western countries declared their independence, compared with western developed countries, they still put forward the view of "development". Therefore, the West is more eager to be a non-Western spokesman symbolizing patriarchy than willing to be a loving father. Even now, this intention and ambition still exist. From this historical (or even present) point of view, it is not difficult for the West to understand the examination of non-West. As described by the author, when westerners observe the non-western world, what they observe is not so much the real situation there as the real feelings or opinions of non-western peoples, but their own mirror images and their own assumptions. Therefore, "wanderer" can be romantic and the most fruitful form of cultural identity; Arab women wearing veils can be as peaceful as the Virgin Mary, humble and thin. Western observers are not so much recording the non-western world as creating "new" non-western art inspired by the materials of the non-western world. On the other hand, the differences between politics and social ideology and aesthetic taste will lead to another kind of prejudice against non-Western observation in the West, that is, purposeful and selective screening. This portrait of an Arab woman shot by 19 10 German photography company in Egypt, besides the naturalness of her blood and face, the naturalness and nativity of her dress and expression are questionable. In addition, the all-white background erases all the localized environments, and the vivid characters are extracted to make dry statues, which is why people have the association of the Virgin Mary (because only the Virgin Mary is a highly refined image that doesn't care about the background and reality). This phenomenon can be seen everywhere. From the fact that "everyone asks me whether China people eat dog meat or the meat of their own pet dogs", we can see where the western countries focus on introducing China's food culture. In order to win the market, the media groups under the control of capitalism must choose the most eye-catching places for publicity. For this reason, non-West has become a utopia of Western curiosity. Observing the west is not so much to understand and communicate, but rather to gain a psychological experience of self-satisfaction. I think, when every western audience is petting their dogs and cursing China people's shameless behavior of eating dogs, they don't care why the chickens, pigs and calves they eat at night meet with bad luck. They treat cats and dogs so generously, but they have never seen the meanness of their other side. This outrageous behavior of western subjects is not limited to observation, but even extends to interference in the sovereignty and territory of other countries and former colonies that have declared independence. In the second chapter "History and Power from Lower and Upper Levels" and "The Right of Bombing: Baghdad, June 65438+1October 2 1", Sadik, the senior representative of Baghdad Antiquities General Manager, gave a vivid example. From being photographed and monitored, to being forced to sign an agreement, agreeing that Britain controls diplomacy, and then controlling and monitoring after evacuation, it is undoubtedly not an accusation against western powers. However, complaints without influence can only be reduced to inability to complain or even groan in private conversations. The author quotes a sentence from Diary of Daily Life in Baghdad under Shelling, revealing the root of this inequality: the West won the world not by the superiority of ideas, values or religions, but by organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, but non-westerners will never forget it. The monologue of the Iraqi old man further concretized and popularized this ugly face: "They have everything, but we have nothing. We don't want anything from them, but they always want more from us. "This is determined by the exploitative nature of capitalism and imperialism. Capitalism needs to accumulate capital to realize its own operation. The history of colonization was also set off by the expansion of capitalism. Because of this, the gate of China was bombarded by powerful ships, and the self-sufficient system of small-scale peasant economy was forced to fall apart. China's self-management for thousands of years was replaced by the gentle "fatherly" cannon in the West. Rather than saying that western civilization changed the world, it is better to say that capitalism kidnapped the world. It is very necessary to put the change of perspective at the beginning of the book. Only by changing the perspective from overlooking to looking up can we have equal dialogue and thinking. For readers who are accustomed to the western center and any audience with superior class concept, the switching of perspectives determines whether they accept the follow-up discussion. As the author described later, post-colonialism is more closely related to the culture and knowledge of the subordinate class, and it is a high-level culture far from the social elite. Identity politics: the reformed people in the west deprived the non-western people of their right to speak and sovereignty, and the cultural invasion also injected irreconcilable contradictions into the bodies of the colonized non-western residents. There are also two kinds of non-white people in this world: one is non-white people's blood and culture, and the other is non-white people's blood and white nucleus. This split of identity has caused a mental fault. The first chapter of this book, Knowledge of Subordinate Classes, and the second chapter, History and Power from the Lower and Upper Classes, give many examples. Langston 6 1 Hughes, an American black writer, described completely different psychology and experiences before and after returning to his mainland in his book The Sea, which profoundly showed that there was no escape from this identity conflict: from the carnival of returning books to the sea to being ridiculed as a "white man" by African blacks, he was not reconciled by the identity conflict, but the contradiction was further escalated. Fanon described it as "the pain of being enclosed in the squeezed physical properties." In Book Burning Day, Sawyer loves the "hometown" described in the book brought by his white father, but his mother's hatred of the superior culture symbolized by these books puts him in a dilemma. When she screamed at her mother, "Now I hate you, too," it actually showed her disgust and confusion about her contradictory identity. The derogatory term "asshole" may express this embarrassment to some extent. This irreconcilable has become a nightmare for all second-generation colonists or immigrants. In China, the second generation of China immigrants to the United States are called American-born China people, symbolizing the values of yellow (China) skin and white (America). Differences in skin color make them face discrimination in the United States, while cultural differences make them equally difficult to understand in China. This contradiction cannot be changed by the parties themselves, so identity has become an important issue. This kind of identity conflict not only brings the pain in the cracks of mixed-race children, but also makes these "reformed" people become pioneers of spiritual awakening and resistance to oppression. Marcus 6 1 Garvey, George 6 1O6 1 Mark and Ke Qiao 6 1 Prince Valo-Juno 1924 took a group photo in new york in August, which restored the historical events symbolizing the transformation of revolutionary ideas between oppressed countries. Contradictions eventually resort to revolution. Instead of acknowledging the superiority of western culture (P7) and treating yourself as a different inferior "other", it is better to overthrow colonial rule and find the voice of self-subject. Thus, independence has become the first step for former colonial countries to seek the rationality and legitimacy of their own identity. When the country finally gains sovereignty, gets rid of colonial rule and enters the period of self-control and post-colonialism. Independence! However, independence is only the beginning in many aspects, a relatively small step from direct rule to indirect rule, and a change from colonial rule and jurisdiction to incomplete independence. Nationalist conservatism and feudalism emerged after independence, and the struggle in the post-colonial period changed from facing the former colonial suzerain, to facing the suzerain and domestic religious nationalism (especially the concepts of patriarchal society and hierarchical society) and the more diversified and complicated situation of transnational capital operation. The means of resisting violence has also been transformed into a non-violent mass movement, and the political discourse and struggle behind it have changed. Struggle and hybridity: Although the struggle between exploration and creation in the post-colonial period seems calm, the wrestling behind it is still fierce and turbulent. Faced with the superiority of colonial culture (western culture) left by the West, the primitive ethnic groups tried to express their voices in the cracks by producing a new post-colonial culture that neither originated from the West nor relied on tradition. As a symbolic example, the arrival of Algeria is specifically discussed by the author in Chapter 4 "Miscellaneous". This kind of pop music, which is regarded as rough, strong, rough, proud, confident and passionate at the same time, originated from the first generation population explosion after the Algerian war of independence in 1962 and was formed in the late 20th century 10. At first, it was born with a free and easy attitude of rejecting western music and describing social reality, but it spread rapidly among young people. Kekeha 6 1 Remy once said: Lyle has always been a rebellious music, an avant-garde music. Lai Le stands between two enemies, on the one hand, it is a modern interpretation of traditional Muslim values, on the other hand, it is a resistance to the historical transformation forces of Muslim society. With Lai Le's emergence in the international arena, the attitude of the government has changed greatly, but the condemnation in the Islamic world has become more and more fierce. With Lehrer's choice of France as his refuge, this form of secular struggle, which initially neither pleased the West nor opposed the shackles of Islamic culture, began to blend with the Western recording industry, gradually becoming a cultural symbol representing the Islamic world, repackaged and produced, and became popular all over the world. From the perspective of cultural prosperity, Lai Yue, which has the color of new post-colonial culture, has achieved worldwide success. However, if Lai Yue is regarded as a rebellious tool to express political demands, its original purity will be diluted by repackaging and promotion in the West. The use of synthesizer, the change of language, the westernization of rhythm and harmony, and the sales model make Lai Le, like the oriental ancient pagoda in western gardens, an obscene object to satisfy western aesthetic tastes. On the other hand, this seems to be the final destination of post-colonial emerging culture in the context of globalization. This post-colonial culture is neither willing to rely on tradition nor the west, but it can't get rid of their attraction and nourishment, and the final result is: mixing and integration. This kind of example is more obvious in other art categories. Performance art, installation art, etc. Often based on post-colonial and post-modern philosophy, their mixed expressions and abstract and distorted exaggerated shapes show people the contradictions, tears and distortions behind post-colonialism. In addition to the direct display and competition between cultures, the adoption of symbols with cultural meanings has played a more obvious role in political activities. Marcos, the deputy commander of Zapata Movement, wore a veil when he successfully entered Mexico City in 200 1, which was not only romantic (even heroic) as a thief and beggar, but also as a means of self-protection, which made him more confident to gather political forces to fight. This cross-context application of cultural symbols confuses the western understanding of non-Western, which is also a mixed form of expression. Inherent knowledge is constantly subverted in the wave of globalization, and traditions are also changing. This is not only applicable to non-western countries, but also similar examples can be found in the West. Gender politics: Feminism is described as an analogy with the post-colonial era in the introduction. As the object of habitual observation, appreciation and approval in a patriarchal society, women are very similar to post-colonial countries and their nationalities and cultures. Women are usually regarded as the main force representing national cultural identity and the most suitable candidates for non-violent and non-cooperative movements. The section of gender politics in India takes Gandhi's political activities related to women as an example to show the catalytic role of gender in politics. Gandhi himself usually even makes him look more like a woman, facing opposition forces as a weak person, so as to soften violent contradictions and achieve the goal of non-violence and non-cooperation. This philosophy, similar to China's "combining rigidity with softness", is often more effective than blindly using strength. However, with the realization of national independence, nationalists began to part ways with feminists. Women should not only face the conflict between western culture and transnational capital system like other relatives, but also confront the patriarchal society that no longer needs women's support; Even non-Western women have to remould themselves under the shadow of the western feminist movement, showing a different mental outlook from the first world women. This also makes the feminist movements in the three continents have different political colors and meanings. It is quite complicated to discuss female identity and feminist movement under the post-colonial background, and the examples cited by the author are also quite complicated. Zipek Movement and Namada Anti-dam Organization aimed at protecting the ecological environment; Women lawyers Khathia 6 1 Nashawi and Giselle 6 1 Harimi in Tunisia fight for human rights; Pollan 6 1 Dai Wei in Clash of Caste System shows that women play a unique and significant role in the struggle of post-colonial society. Women have not only become active participants in political activities, but also obviously stepped onto their own political stage. Conclusion: Post-colonial and global information age, Internet age and globalization process have pushed the development and evolution of today's world to a completely different stage from the past. Information sharing, cultural blending, transnational trade and so on make the political and economic ties between countries closer and the interests behind them more complicated. Because of this, it is more difficult for the voices of the lower classes in post-colonial countries to be conveyed, and even their interests are often transferred and replaced before reaching the public level. It can be said that in the face of globalization, the unfair distribution of resources on a global scale is being carried out in a more secret and gentle way. This situation is undoubtedly not optimistic for post-colonialism who advocates that all ethnic groups in the world enjoy good material and cultural rights. When hard-working (even precarious) people on three continents pack fresh fruits, seafood and mineral oil and ship them to Europe and America, the vision of equal enjoyment seems even more distant. Cheap resources, like blood, are drawn from the weak blood vessels of the people on three continents and injected into the stout bodies of European and American giants. What is even more helpless is that the workers who paid did not get the due return, while the enjoyment felt at ease and did not agree. The last two chapters of Post-colonialism: A Very Simple Introduction give some examples of the post-colonial movement's opposition to unequal trade and power under globalization, and how translation, as a means of cultural transformation, affects the dialogue between civilizations. As an introductory reading, this book tries to be concise and vivid, introducing readers to the global view from the perspective of post-colonialism, without further expounding how people on three continents pursue the equality advocated by post-colonialism. The deepest inequality comes from arrogance and prejudice of ideas. As stated at the beginning of this book, colonial expansion stems from the collusion between western violence and arrogance, and indifference to non-western countries only justifies its shameless behavior. For this reason, today's post-colonial movement should jump out of the simple and isolated struggle at the factual level and launch an impact on the prejudice and indifference of western thought. People suffering all over the world should unite again, such as protesting against the WTO, the World Bank and multinational enterprises. Only with a broader foundation can we achieve substantive results.