Passage Two

Postcolonialism in Literature

1．Colonialism and its effects can not be considered uniform:It was not practiced in the same way with identical results around the world．Nor did every region or nation follow the same process of decolonization at the same time and at the same rate．Nor did the various ethnic，political，gender，class，and religious groups experience colonization and decolonization in the same way and to the same extent．However，this(heterogeneity of“postcolonialism”)does not negate its usefulness as a theoretical lens with which to look at literature and the world．

2．Postcolonial theory deals with the reading and writing of literature written in previously or currently colonized countries，or literature written in colonizing countries which deals with colonization or colonized peoples．It focuses particularly on the way in which literature by the colonizing culture distorts the experience and realities，and inscribes the inferiority，of the colonized people on literature by colonized peoples which attempts to articulate their identity and reclaim their past in the face of that past's inevitable otherness．It can also deal with the way in which literature in colonizing countries appropriates the language，images，scenes，traditions and so forth of colonized countries．

3．Postcolonial theory is built in large part around the concept of otherness^[4]．There are however problems with or complexities to the concept of otherness，for instance:otherness includes doubleness，both identity and difference，so that every other，every different than and excluded by is dialectically created and includes the values and meaning of the colonizing culture even as it rejects its power to define;the western concept of the oriental is based，on the Manichean allegory(seeing the world as divided into mutually excluding opposites):if the west is ordered，rational，masculine，good，then the orient is chaotic，irrational，feminine，evil．Simply to reverse this polarizing is to be complicit in its totalizing and identity-destroying power(all is reduced to a set of dichotomies，black or white，etc．);colonized peoples are highly diverse in their nature and in their traditions，and as beings in cultures they are both constructed and changing，so that while they may be“other”from the colonizers，they are also different one from another and from their own pasts，and should not be totalized or essentialized．

4．There are complexities and perplexities around the difficulty of conceiving how a colonized country can reclaim or reconstitute its identity in a language that is now but was not its own language，and genres which are now but were not the genres of the colonized．One result is that the literature may be written in the style of speech of the inhabitants of a particular colonized people or area，which language use does not read like Standard English and in which literature the standard literary allusions and common metaphors and symbols may be inappropriate and/ or may be replaced by allusions and tropes which are alien to British culture and usage．It can become very difficult then for others to recognize or respect the work as literature．

5．The concept of hybridity^[5]，an important concept in postcolonial theory，referring to the integration(or，mingling)of cultural signs and practices from the colonizing and the colonized cultures．The assimilation and adaptation of cultural practices，the cross-fertilization of cultures，can be seen as positive，enriching，and dynamic，as well as oppressive．“Hybridity”is also a useful concept for helping to break down the false sense that colonized cultures—or colonizing cultures for that matter—are monolithic，or have essential，unchanging features．

6．To sum up(based on literary criticism)，postcolonialism does the following things:

●To examine，question，and critique dominant，Western representations of race and cultural difference．

●To show how canonical literature as it is traditionally understood is silent on matters of colonization and imperialism and how that literature addresses issue of race and cultural difference．

●To foreground questions of cultural difference and diversity．

●To examine the natures of hybridity and otherness and to celebrate them as potential centers of cultural energy，plurality，and change．

●To recover marginalized voices and literatures both national and transnational that have been silenced and/or suppressed by colonial and neo-colonial domination．

●To study the ways in which nations reconstruct their political and cultural identity after independence from colonial domination．

●To study and eliminate the ways in which the Western industrialized powers continue to dominate the Third World even after the end of formal political colonialism．

Questions for Understanding:

1．What does the author intend to say about postcolonialism in paragraph 1?

2．Whose literature will be the focus of postcolonialism?

3．What does paragraph 3 try to tell readers?

4．According to paragraph 4 what problem or trouble may a colonized nation encounter in creating its own literature?

5．What can be seen from the term“hybrdity”about postcolonialism?

【注释】

[1]High Middle Ages:高中世纪，指公元1000～1300这段时间，欧洲人口剧增，军事、宗教不断向外扩张和传播，经济和政治发生了巨变。欧洲中世纪的历史根据其发展特征可分为三段时间:早中世纪(Early Middle Ages:500～1000)、高中世纪和晚中世纪(Late Middle Ages:1300～1500)。

[2]Curzon(George Nathanial):柯曾(1859～1925)，英国驻印度总督(1898～1905)，任内整饬文官制度，保护印度艺术和文化遗产;后任外交大臣(1919～1928)，在解决中东问题、签订洛桑条约中曾起重要作用。

[3]alter ego:第二个我，个性的另一面;知心朋友，极受信任的代理人。

[4]otherness(other):“他性”或“他人意识”。在西方存在主义哲学看来，任何一个人的存在都是与他人的共存，即有“我”也就有“他”。但是在殖民主义话语和父权社会中，掌握话语权的“我”(殖民主义或父权)总是把他(被殖民者或父权社会里的女性)作“我”的对立面而加以否定、排斥，使其永远都处于一个和“我”相对立的不利、边缘和从属的地位。所以，otherness此处是一个具有特定意义的概念。

[5]hybridity:杂交文化、杂交。在殖民主义时期和后殖民主义时期是一个一直为学者们广泛关注的一个概念。殖民主义时期，殖民主义者为了保持对殖民地人民的优势和统治，始终宣扬和维护种族纯洁论;而后殖民主义时期，为了打破殖民主义的统治和奴役，把民族、文化融合看成世界多极、平等发展的趋势。所以，在“文化杂交”这个问题上，后殖民主义和殖民主义的观点是截然对立的。