...In the beginning of this chapter, the author states that as the colonizer needs an image so does the colonized. Albert Memmi goes into the concept of the “Mythical Portrait of the Colonized,” and in this chapter he explores the myth of the colonized being lazy. He explains the processes in which the colonizer dehumanizes and cheats the colonized out of wages. The colonizers impose the idea on others that the colonized are lazy to justify the low wages that they are being the paid and the cruelty they are subjected to. There are qualified workers of European descent that could do the same jobs as the colonized, but their wages are 3-4 time more than the colonized. Therefore the colonizer continues to use the colonized because it is cheap labor. The colonized are only used for the muscle and their ability to move things....
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...POSTCOLONIAL THEORY & LITERATURE Postcolonial theory: John McLeod in Beginning Postcolonialism (2000) states that it “involves the challenge to colonial ways of knowing, ‘writing back’ in opposition to such views” (32). Within a literary context it involves “reading texts produced by writers from countries with a history of colonialism” (McLeod, 33). From ‘Commonwealth’ to ‘Postcolonial’: 1950’s-60’s—Field of ‘Commonwealth Literature’: Studies of individual national literatures Late 1970’s-80’s—Theories of colonial discourse: Frantz Fanon and Edward Said 1980’s—Turn to postcolonial theory Founding Work: Albert Memmi—The Colonizer and the Colonized (1957) Frantz Fanon—Black Skin, White Masks (1952), The Wretched of the Earth (1961) Edward Said—Orientalism (1978) Notable Theorist: Homi Bhabha—The Location of Culture (1994) Gayatri Spivak—“Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1988) Writing Back—Some Examples of Postcolonial Literature: Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin in The Empire Writes Back: Theory, and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (1989) express that the“…crucial function of language as a medium of power demands that post-colonial writing define itself by seizing the language of the centre and replacing it in a discourse fully adapted to the colonized place” (38). Naguib Mahfouz—Palace Walk (1956) Chinua Achebe—Things Fall Apart (1958) V.S. Naipaul—Mystic Masseur (1959) Jean Rhys—Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) Gabriel García Márquez—One Hundred...
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...decides to become a driver. Luckily, he gets hired by Mr. Ashok and his family. Working as the servant and driver for Mr. Ashok became Balram’s first step into his corruption and wealth. The experiences and observations he faced in Delhi, a city filled with wealth and corruption, showed him how “people are bad”(Adiga 103). When Balram was almost framed for Pinky Madam’s fatal accident of the child, Balram learns that the judges and court system are corrupt because of the fact that “they take their bribe, they ignore the discrepancies in the case” (Adiga 145). This event also connects with Memmi’s article on “Racism and Oppression”, which he states, “by means of racism, the victim is blamed for the real or imaginary crimes of the racist” (Memmi 29). Because of Pinky Madam’s prejudice, the masters believe that once a lower class works for them, they become their master’s property. The people that Balram works for and meet also changes his life and helps him become successful. Mr. Ashok is Balram’s master and boss....
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...Therefore, indigenous practices were often disregarded because they had their own set of beliefs that went against the greater power system. “The fact that indigenous societies had their own systems of order was dismissed through what Albert Memmi referred to as a series of negations; they were not fully human, they were not civilized enough to have systems, they were not literate, their languages and modes of thought were inadequate” (Smith, 366) It is important to note that indigenous people were not taken into consideration when Western societies were beginning to build themselves up due to the fact that they did not meet their beliefs. Indigenous practices were disregarded due to the fact that they did not meet the scientific viewpoints of the rest of the colony.When it comes to history, indigenous people and the Western World have different viewpoints. According to Smith, indigenous people believe that history is important in understanding the present and is essential in the process...
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...Frantz Fanon : « Les Damnés de la terre », Chapitre 1 : De la violence Il est un martiniquais, vient du contexte colonial des Antilles. Contexte colonial pas encore effervescent, plutôt passif. Il est à l’origine d’une famille bourgeoise, il fait des études. Il va étudier la médecine en France et va devenir psychiatre. Contrairement à Memmi qui est écrivain, c’est un médecin donc il est plus en relation avec l’humain. Il va s’engager assez tôt dans des mouvements de résistance et prend des positions en public. Expulsé d’Algérie en 1956. Quand Fanon a écrit son livre il était atteint de Leucémie donc il savait qu’il allait mourir. Ecrit dans une situation d’urgence. On peut voir une certaine authenticité dans son livre. Dynamique de la violence Quelles sont les formes de violence dont on parle : Dans le contexte colonial comme tel Violence comme résultat de la dynamique de violence à l’intérieur du contexte colonial qui vont exister au niveau international après 1- Violence coloniale brute : violence de front 2- violence contenue dans les corps, énergie psychique et agressive emmagasiné par les colonisés dirigées vers les colonisateurs. Une énergie contenue qui peut se manifester et qui doit se manifester pour avoir une santé psychique. 3- contre-violence exercée par le colonisé sur le colonisateur : va devenir une forme de résistance dans la lutte anticoloniale 4- violence atmosphérique : le contexte international où les lutes commencent à se mettre...
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...Cultural Action for Freedom Paulo Freire Introduction I think it is important—for my own sake as well as the reader’s—that we try, at the very outset, to clarify some points fundamental to the general understanding of my ideas on education as cultural action for freedom. This is all the more important since one of the basic aims of this work, where the process of adult literacy is discussed, is to show that if our option is for man, education is cultural action for freedom and therefore an act of knowing and not of memorization. This act can never be accounted for in its complex totality by a mechanistic theory, for such a theory does not perceive education in general and adult literacy in particular as an act of knowing. Instead, it reduces the practice of education to a complex of techniques, naively considered to be neutral, by means of which the educational process is standardized in a sterile and bureaucratic operation. This is not a gratuitous assertion. We will later clarify the radical distinction between knowing and memorizing and the reasons why we attach such importance to the adult literacy process. But first, some words about the socio-historical conditioning of the thinking presented here, as well as an explanation of the necessity for critical reflection on such conditioning. From a non-dualistic viewpoint, thought and language, constituting a whole, always refer to the reality of the thinking subject. Authentic thought-language is generated...
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...IGOROTS * Home * IGOROT SONGS * IGOROT DANCE * IGOROT TRADITIONS * MONEY ON THE MOUNTAIN IGOROT TRADITIONS IGOROT TRADITIONS When we talk about Igorot identity and culture, we also have to consider the time. My point is that: what I am going to share in this article concerning the Igorot culture might not be the same practiced by the Igorots of today. It has made variations by the passing of time, which is also normally happening to many other cultures, but the main core of respect and reverence to ancestors and to those who had just passed is still there. The Igorot culture that I like to share is about our practices and beliefs during the "time of Death". Death is part of the cycle of life. Igorots practice this part of life cycle with a great meaning and importance. Before the advent of Christianity in the Igorotlandia, the Igorots or the people of the Cordilleran region in the Philippines were animist or pagans. Our reverence or the importance of giving honor to our ancestors is a part of our daily activities. We consider our ancestors still to be with us, only that they exist in another world or dimension. Whenever we have some special feasts (e.g., occasions during death, wedding, family gathering, etc.), when we undertake something special (like going somewhere to look for a job or during thanksgiving), we perform some special offer. We call this "Menpalti/ Menkanyaw", an act of butchering and offering animals. During these times we call them...
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