Anglophone Literatures

Anglophone literatures

Representing diasporas in Anglophone literatures

• The British Empire: a short story
• Postcolonial studies
• Diaspora studies
• Reading

The British Empire: a short story

The United Kingdom includes four nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. The UK is relatively young, it was born in 1707: the so-called Union of Parliaments takes place between the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Scotland and England already shared the same king in 1707 = one king, two parliaments. It joined the two kingdoms (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single United Kingdom of Great Britain. The two countries have always been in competition, especially economically speaking. The Union takes place because both parliaments agree, even though there are different parties that are not happy at all. The parliament wasn’t a democratic one, it was made up of representatives of the upper classes who, clearly, acted in their own interests.

After 1707 things were still a little bit unstable, especially in Northern Scotland and Ireland, where many clans joined Jacobite risings/rebellions: they were followers/supporters of the Stuarts, the monarchy that had ascended the throne of Scotland in 1603. Military campaigns attempted to restore the Stuart kings to the throne of Great Britain. The main Jacobite risings took place in 1715 and 1745, both ended with the defeat of the Jacobites, marking the end of the Highland clan system, seen as a threat to the unity and stability of the UK. Since 1745, the British Empire becomes more powerful.

In 1801, the Irish Act of Union takes place: Ireland becomes part of the UK and the Parliament in Dublin is abolished. This wasn’t a military invasion. The Anglican Church is to be recognized as the official church in Ireland. No Catholics were allowed to hold public office.

Britain's imperial century: 1815–1914

Before 1707: English Empire and Scottish Empire

After 1707: The British Empire

The English Empire colonial possessions in 1660:

• In North America: Newfoundland, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
• In the Caribbean and northern coast of South America: Leeward Islands (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St Christopher [St Kitts] and Nevis), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Surinam.

The British Empire colonial possessions in 1763:

• In North America: Newfoundland, Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Rupert’s Land; Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida.
• In the Caribbean and northern coast of South America: Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
• In Africa and the Mediterranean: Gambia, Gibraltar, Minorca, St Helena, Senegal.
• In India: Bombay, Bengal, Bihar, Carnatic, Orissa.

The British Empire colonial possessions in 1815:

• In North America: Newfoundland, British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Rupert’s Land.
• In the Caribbean and northern coast of South America: Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
• In the Mediterranean and other European waters: Corfu, Gibraltar, Heligoland, Ionian Islands, Malta, St Helena.
• In Africa: Cape Colony, Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone.
• In India and the East: Bengal, Bhutan, Bihar, Bombay, Carnatic, Cochin, Madras, Mysore, Orissa, Pondicherry, Surat, Travancore, and Ceylon; Java, Penang.
• In Australia and the wider oceans: New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land; Ascension Island, Pitcairn Island, Falkland Islands, Mauritius, Seychelles, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island.

All areas of the world that were ever part of the British Empire. Current British Overseas Territories have their names underlined in red.

The Atlantic slave trade

The ‘imperial century’ 1815–1914 was an age of widespread religious belief, many believed that God was directing the progress of the British nation: protecting it from invasion and helping with its commercial and territorial expansion. In 1894, Lord Curzon claimed that Britain ruled, under God, over 'the greatest empire for good that the world has seen'.

Climax

By 1922, the Empire covered about ¼ of the Earth’s total area and held sway over approximately 450,000,000 people. Obviously, it had a huge impact in cultural, legal, linguistic terms at a global level.

Decline

The decline starts at the end of WW1, with a gradual decolonization, a process that formally ended with the passage of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Today: Commonwealth of Nations

The Empire transformed into a very different kind of organization. Commonwealth of Nations includes:

• 14 British Territories (under British sovereignty)
• 53 Commonwealth Nations
• 16 recognize Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State, even though it is nearly symbolic.

They are connected by strong cultural, economic, and political bonds. Commonwealth is promoting this, all done in cooperation within a framework of common values and goals such as democracy, human rights, individual liberty, and free trade.

How the British Empire is remembered and how do the British remember the Empire today

- The British Empire as 'something to be proud of': "Among the British public, feelings tend to be positive. A new YouGov survey finds that most think the British Empire is more something to be proud of (59%) rather than ashamed of (19%). 23% don't know. Young people are least likely to feel pride over shame when it comes to the Empire, though about half (48%) of 18-24 year olds do. In comparison, about two-thirds (65%) of over 60s feel mostly proud"

- The inglorious Empire: what the British did to India: "There are also reminders of the vile racism of Winston Churchill: "I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. Let the Viceroy sit on the back of a giant elephant and trample Gandhi into the dirt." Tharoor seeks to demolish the myth of "enlightened despotism" given brutalities like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, with soldiers "emptying their magazines into the shrieking, wailing, then stampeding crowd with trained precision". It is a pity he does not give the context for the comment of William Joynson-Hicks, home secretary in the 1928 Conservative government of Stanley Baldwin, that "we conquered India by the sword and by the sword we shall hold it. I am not such a hypocrite to say we hold India for the Indians." Up to 35 million died unnecessarily in famines; London ate India’s bread while India starved, and in 1943 nearly four million Bengalis died. It was their own fault, according to the odious Churchill, for "breeding like rabbits". Collectively, these famines amounted to a "British colonial holocaust".

Old imperialism and new imperialism

The 16th and the 18th century are characterized by the rise of Imperialism. We want to make a distinction between imperialism as it is shaped and defined between the 16th and the 18th century, and other forms of imperialism which existed long before.

Old imperialism

We are describing the empires that developed between the 16th and 18th century. European empires had a different approach to Imperialism. The first feature is that they weren’t interested in acquiring territory (except for Spain in Americas and Portugal in Brazil) but rather building a series of trading stations. They were respected and frequently cooperated with local rulers in India, China, Japan, Indonesia, and other areas where trade flourished between locals and European coastal trading centres. The strategy was more political than military; it was about persuading political leaders to cooperate.

New imperialism

We refer to what happened between the 18th and the 19th century in relation to the colonization of Asia and Africa, where military force took control of local governments. The shift from friendly relationship to military occupation is due to the industrial revolution: the demands for raw materials increased, and Asia and Africa are rich in terms of resources, and they are militarily vulnerable. Britain and other European countries imposed Western values, tradition, and language in terms of superiority.

Imperialism or colonialism

The semantic area of these two terms is different, so they aren’t interchangeable:

• Imperialism means creating an empire, expanding into the neighbouring regions, and expanding its dominance far.
• Colonialism is a term where a country conquers and rules over other regions. It means exploiting the resources of the conquered country for the benefit of the conqueror. The word colony derives from the Latin word for “farmer, cultivator, planter, or settler in a new country” (Lat. Colonus). Related term: colonial. From the OED: "Of, belonging to, or relating to a colony, or (spec.) the British colonies; in American history, of or belonging to the thirteen British colonies which became the United States, or to the time while they were still colonies. Now freq. derogatory."

Intersections with imperialism

Imperialism is a powerful but difficult to understand machine. The two following main economic systems are connected to imperialism and these three feed each other:

• Capitalism: economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit. Capitalism and imperialism feed each other: capitalism needs imperialism in order to expand and imperialism needs capitalism for the technological weapons, that capitalism was able to produce, and for the infrastructure that keeps the empire together.
• (Chauvinistic) Nationalism: the belief that people should be loyal mainly to their nation. That is, to the people with whom they share a culture and a history, rather than to a king or ruler. It is based on the belief that individual nations were stronger and had the right to dominate other nations.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) in the Edinburgh Review

One example of what we have discussed is provided by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) in the “Edinburg Review”. He was a Scottish writer, philosopher, and translator. He wrote: “We remove mountains, and make seas our smooth highway; nothing can resist us. We war with rude nature; and by our restless engines, come off always victorious and loaded with spoils”. He was in favour of the British Empire and Imperialism. People like him spread and constructed this type of ideology by postering ideas on identity. He was convinced that the British Empire could do everything, nothing can resist British. There is a military image with a scenario of violence, he celebrates his country and the Industrial Revolution. This is a perfect example where Imperialism, Capitalism, and Industrialisation are mutually dependent events.

Postcolonial studies

The postcolonialism is the time after colonialism (after the colonies had become independent). Postcolonial Studies are the study of the interactions between European nations and the societies they colonized. Should we opt for post-colonialism with a hyphen or without it (postcolonialism)? Both forms are correct. The difference is that the hyphen implies that there has been an important turning point, things have changed dramatically and drastically. Postcolonialism without the hyphen implies that there’s a strong continuity between the colonial and the postcolonial period. This is a very subtle distinction, but most scholars use them consciously opting for one version or for the other on the basis of what their vision of postcolonialism is.

Who is postcolonial? “Any population that has been subjected to the political domination of another population.”

Postcolonial studies analyses literary texts produced by cultures that developed in response to colonial domination. A lot of British and, more in general, European authors wrote about the imperial enterprise. Even their texts are interesting as they represent the colonial experience and they often do so in a complex and controversial manner. Examples of literature written by colonisers:

• A Passage to India by Edward Morgan Foster
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• The Tempest by Shakespeare
• Kim and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Postcolonial Studies focus especially on literature written by either colonised or formerly colonised people. Postcolonial Studies are more interested in highlighting their experience that was marginalised or silenced for a very long time, until the second half of the 20th century. It’s basically a recuperative project in many ways. Examples of colonised and/or formerly colonised authors:

• Chinua Achebe: he was a Nigerian novelist and he’s considered as the father of Anglo-Nigerian literature
• Wole Soyinka: he’s also Nigerian and he’s the first African Nobel Prize awarded in 1986

Postcolonial studies are also the study of the process of colonization and decolonization. We are not talking about only military, economic, social colonisation, but also of cultural colonisation. Cultural colonization is a very complex and painful process because when a country is colonized, a new language and culture are imposed, this of course is a traumatic experience that confuses people about their identity.

Colonialist ideology

Each empire had its own strategy and ideology even though they were very similar. For example:

• Their sense of superiority, the belief that their own Anglo-European culture was civilized, sophisticated, or metropolitan. Metropolitan refers to the huge metropolises which are the heart of the empire.
• The alleged inferiority of native (indigenous) people, the original inhabitants of the lands they invaded.
• Native/indigenous people defined as savage, backward, underdeveloped.
• Colonizers believed their whole culture was more advanced because their technology was more developed.
• They ignored or swept aside the religions, customs, and codes of behaviour of the people they subjugated.

Binary oppositions

Binary vision means two polar, incompatible opposites. The world is organized and structured through the lens of this binary perspective. Most common binary oppositions that can be easily identified in any colonial text (some texts will challenge them, others won’t) are:

• Colonisers:
  • "Centre": they are the centre of the world, the centre of power. Remember the map depicting the whole world with Great Britain exactly at the centre. Everyone else is less important.
  • "Proper self": they are the norm against which anyone else has to measure himself/herself.
  • "We/us" represent a sort of homogeneous community sharing the same values, merits, advanced civilization. Even the use of pronouns somehow suggests this binary vision.
  • "Civilized"
• Colonised:
  • They are obviously the margins. Adjectives related to this idea: peripheral, provincial, marginal, less important.
  • All of them are the "other". It’s a very important term because it refers to something that doesn’t conform to the norm that the colonisers represent. These subjects are different and, therefore, inferior (maybe there are distinctions between degrees of inferiority, but the concept doesn’t change).
  • "They/them" represent the backward natives.
  • Savages: it’s a derogative and offensive term that is still used and that has colonial roots. Once again, it implies that indigenous populations are dramatically backward, primitive and, in a certain sense, less human.

Eurocentrism

This term refers to the idea that the European civilization is perceived as at the centre of the world. Eurocentrism also implies the process of “othering”, a verb used very often in the field of Postcolonial Studies. It’s the practice of judging all who are non-European as inferior, savage, and threatening. Eurocentrism implies the use of European culture as the standard by which all other cultures are negatively contrasted. Examples:

• Non-European societies are despotic (vs the West's freedom and individualism)
• Non-European societies are cruel and practice barbaric customs toward women.
• Non-European societies are unchanging, unable to evolve.
• Non-European societies are poor and underdeveloped (vs the industrialized, progressive, and rich West).
• Non-European societies lack rational modes of thinking.

Eurocentrism is an expression of colonialism and we can see how present it is in the world with these terms that we still use:

• First World: Europe, the United States
• Second World: white populations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa; former Soviet bloc
• Third World: developing nations such as India, Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia
• Fourth World: indigenous populations subjugated by white settlers and governed by the majority culture which surrounds them: e.g., Native Americans and aboriginal Australians

This is a good example of how Eurocentrism implies a world order, a ranking of the different nations.

Universalism

Universalism is the idea that we can judge literature in terms of its “universality”. To be considered great, a literary text had to have “universal” characters and themes. Literally, universalism means the whole world, but nobody knows all the languages and all the cultures, so that “universality” depended upon resemblance to European ideas, ideals, and experiences. Who were the judges? Of course, British, European, and later American cultural standard-bearers.

The consequences of the colonialist ideology

The colonialist ideology has a devastating impact on both colonised and colonisers. One of the consequences of the colonialist ideology is that it generates a double consciousness: a way of perceiving the world that is divided between two (conflicting) cultures. This produces an unstable sense of self, the feeling of being “caught” between cultures.