What is the Postcolonial?

Anglican Identities and the Postcolonial

I thought I 'ould begin 'ith a short reading! rom m$ little book on Postcolonialism( Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. )$ secret model or the book 'as a literar$ one*the geogra+hical! s+atial! human e,+erience o reading James Jo$ce-s Ulysses. The +oint is that as $ou read it! $ou are thro'n into di erent 'orlds! to e,+erience di erent kinds o human lives! orms o agenc$! orms o su ering and creativit$. .ot the lives 'e generall$ read about! but rather those 'hose lives and values have historicall$ al'a$s counted or ver$ little*the lives o those 'ho live outside the com orts o the West. You find yourself a refugee You wake one morning from troubled dreams to discover that your world has been transformed. Under cover of night you have been trans!orted elsewhere. As you o!en your eyes the first thing you notice is the sound of the wind blowing across flat em!ty land. You are walking with your family towards a living cemetery on the borderlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "owards Peshawar city of flowers city of s!ies. A frontier town the first sto! for travellers from #abul who have !assed out through the carved city gate of "orkham down the long narrow curves of grey rock of the #hyber Pass to the flat !lain that lies beyond to the $rand "runk %oad that runs stretches streams all the way to #olkata. In the &ld 'ity among the many sho!s and stalls in the #hyber (a)aar around the *arwash mos+ue you will find a narrow street where the houses climb into the sky with their ornamented balconies e,!loding out towards each other. "his street is known as the -issa #hawani (a)aar the street of storytellers. &ver the centuries fabulous intricate tales have been elaborated there between men rela,ing over bubbling amber shishas trying to outdo the !rofessional story tellers or amongst those more +uickly si!!ing sweet syru!y tea in glasses at the chai stalls. "he stories that are being traded there now are not for you. You are far to the west beyond the colonial cantonment beyond the huge suburbs of tem!orary housing of those who have arrived long since out into the flats that lie before the mountains. "he rest of your family two of your children are missing. You are carrying with you a bag of clothes a mat for !rayer and slee! a large !lastic container for water and some aluminium !ots. Some soldiers on the road sto! you from walking further. "he .alo)ai refugee cam! near Peshawar has been closed. Pashtuns who arrive now from Afghanistan are she!herded towards 'haman not a refugee cam! but a /waiting area0. 1ere once your eye moves above tent level the #

earth is flat and featureless until it hits the dusky distant sha!es of the 1imalayan foothills on the hori)on. Since this is not an official refugee cam! there is no one here to register you or mark your arrival as you slowly make your way forwards. 2hile your children sit e,hausted and hungry on the bare sandy brown earth the skin on their blown bellies marked with the crimson stars of infections you go in search of water and food and the ho!e of being issued with materials for housing 3 three sticks of wood and a large !lastic sheet. "his will be your tent where you and your family will live4those who manage to survive the lack of food the dehydration the dysentery the cholera. You may leave within months. &r if you are unlucky like the Somali refugees in #enya the Palestinian refugees in $a)a .ordan 5ebanon Syria the 2est (ank the /internally dis!laced !ersons0 in Sri 5anka or the South Africa of the 6789s you may find that you are to be there for a decade or for many more. "his may be the only home you your children and your grandchildren will ever have. %efugee: you are unsettled u!rooted. You have been translated. 2ho translated you: 2ho broke your links with the land: You have been forcibly moved off or you have fled war or famine. You are mobile mobilised stumbling along your line of flight. (ut nothing flows. In moving your life has come to a halt. Your life has been fractured your family fragmented. "he lovely dull familiar stabilities of ordinary everyday life and local social e,istence that you have known have !assed. 'om!ressed into a brief moment you have e,!erienced the violent disru!tions of ca!italism the end of the comforts of the common!lace. You have become an emblem of everything that !eo!le are e,!eriencing in cold modernity across different times. You encounter a new world a new culture to which you have to ada!t while trying to !reserve your own recognisable forms of identity. Putting the two together is an e,!erience of !ain. Perha!s one day you or your children will see it as a form of liberation but not now. 5ife has become too fragile too uncertain. You can count on nothing. You have become an ob;ect in the eyes of the world. 2ho is interested in your e,!eriences now in what you think or feel: Politicians of the world rush to legislate to !revent you from entry to their countries. Asylum seeker. (arred. You are the intruder. You are untimely you are out of !lace. A refugee tearing yourself from your own land carrying your body beliefs your language and your desires your habits and your affections across to the strange subliminal s!aces of unrecognisable worlds. <verything that ha!!ens in this raw !ainful e,!erience of disru!tion dislocation and disremembering !arado,ically fuels the cruel but creative crucible of the !ostcolonial.i I 'anted to start 'ith this +assage to suggest that at its sim+lest level! the +ostcolonial is sim+l$ the +roduct o human e,+erience! but more +articularl$ the result o the di erent e,+eriences o cultural and national origins! the 'a$s in 'hich the colour o $our skin or $our +lace and circumstance o birth de ines the kind o li e! +rivileged and +leasurable! or o++ressed and e,+loited! that $ou 'ill have in this 'orld. Postcolonialism is about nothing more than that. It-s a language o and or those 'ho have no +lace! 'ho seem not to belong! o those 'hose kno'ledge and histories are not allo'ed to count. It is above all this +ostcolonial +reoccu+ation 'ith the o++ressed! 'ith those o the subaltern classes! 'ith those 'ho come rom /else'here-!

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that constitutes a shared area o s$m+ath$ 'ith the commitments o Christianit$. It-s a long 'a$ o course! culturall$ and economicall$ s+eaking! rom Canterbur$ to Jalo0ai. 1ven so! +ostcolonialism-s concerns are centred on man$ o the issues that are so a++arent in that /0one o intensit$- that stretches across the ma2or landmass o the 'orld! rom here to Jalo0ai( issues o histor$! ethnicit$! com+le, cultural identities! o re ugees! emigration and immigration! o +overt$ and 'ealth 33 but also! im+ortantl$! as I tr$ to suggest at the ver$ end o the e,tract! the energ$! vibranc$ and creative cultural d$namics that emerge in ver$ +ositive 'a$s rom such situations. Postcolonial 4tudies also looks criticall$ at the histor$ o relations bet'een 1uro+e or the West and its colonies! at the orms o Western +olitical and cultural domination! and at the same time attem+ts to reverse this b$ ocussing on other societies not as ob2ects or stud$ as in anthro+olog$! but rather b$ develo+ing ne' orms o understanding and communication 'ith them. 5ere literature remains centrall$ im+ortant at the social and cultural level! but it-s striking that man$ other disci+lines have no' develo+ed intense interest in +ostcolonialism! even in areas such as economics and develo+ment theor$. This is because it is the +ostcolonial that has or man$ $ears no' ocussed on the social! cultural and +olitical characteristics o the changing conditions o our contem+orar$ 'orld. In order to articulate these issues o shi ting boundaries and identities! it has orged ne' net'orks o cultural interdisci+linarit$ as 'ell as a distinctive ethics. These +reoccu+ations are the ma2or reason 'h$ its +ers+ectives have been taken u+ in almost ever$ disci+line in the arts and social sciences toda$. And this session toda$! o course! is testimon$ to the current im+act o +ostcolonial theor$ u+on Anglican and other orms o theolog$. Where did the +ostcolonial come rom? )$ argument in m$ 'ork has been that +ostcolonial theor$ has been created rom the +olitical insights and e,+erience that 'ere develo+ed in the course o colonial resistance to 'estern rule and cultural dominance! +rimaril$ during the course o the anti3colonial struggles. When I 'as 'orking on the histor$ o these struggles I 'as +articularl$ moved b$ the e,traordinar$ +o'er o the intellectual 'ork that 'as +roduced at this time. Instead o theoretical rigidit$ and dogmatism! I ound creativit$! a s+irit o innovation and a desire to combine universal ideas o social 2ustice 'ith the realities o local cultures and their +articularities and +articular conditions. Postcolonial 4tudies as a disci+line marks the intrusion o these radicall$ di erent +ers+ectives into the academ$! hitherto dominated b$ the criteria and kno'ledge base o the West. The universit$ s$stem! as 'e kno' it! 'as set u+ in the #6th centur$ on the basis that 'hite! male! 1uro+ean kno'ledge 'as the onl$ true kind o kno'ledge. 7rom the late #68%s on'ards! s+earheaded b$ the arrival o academics in Western universities 'ho 'ere brought u+ in the so3called third 'orld! the +olitics o +ostcolonialism began 'ith the deconstruction o ethnocentric assum+tions in 'estern kno'ledge*'hat the great 9en$an novelist .gugi 'a Thiong-o has called /decoloni0ing the mind-. This +rocess o decentering and dis+lacing o Western kno'ledge has ocussed on e,amining its links to colonialism and racism! and on :uestioning the +ers+ectives o Western histor$ and +hiloso+h$. Western kno'ledge 'as organised +hiloso+hicall$ through binar$ o++ositions 'hich had the e ect o demonising or denigrating the other( instead o master*slave! man*'oman! civili0ed*uncivili0ed! coloni0er*coloni0ed! the West and the rest! the +ostcolonial seeks to develo+ a third s+ace in 'hich identities are no longer starkl$ o++ositional or e,clusivel$ singular but de ined b$ their intricate and

mutual relations 'ith others. 4o coloni0er and coloni0ed come to be re3vie'ed as /intimate enemies-! in Ashish .and$-s evocative +hrase. At the same time! the +ostcolonial +ro2ect seeks the introduction not 2ust o kno'ledge of other cultures! but o di erent kinds o kno'ledge! ne' e+istemologies! from other cultures. Postcolonialism! there ore! begins rom its o'n kno'ledges! the diversit$ o its o'n cultural e,+eriences! and starts rom the +remise that those in the West! both 'ithin and outside the academ$! should relin:uish their mono+ol$ on kno'ledge! and take other kno'ledges! other +ers+ectives! as seriousl$ as those o the West. Postcolonialism! or tricontinentalism as I have also called it! that is the discourse o the three continents o the 4outh*A rica! Asia! and Latin America*re+resents a general name or these insurgent kno'ledges! +articularl$ those that originate 'ith the subaltern! the dis+ossessed! and seek to change the terms and values under 'hich 'e all live. It-s about learning to challenge and think outside the norms o Western assum+tions. You can learn it an$'here i $ou 'ant to. The onl$ :uali ication $ou need to start is to make sure that $ou are looking at the 'orld not rom above! but rom belo'! not rom the north! but the south! not rom the inside! but rom the outside! not rom the centre! but rom the margin-s orgotten edge. It-s the 'orld turned u+side do'n. It-s the language o the 4outh challenging the dominant +ers+ectives o the .orth. In itsel ! the +ostcolonial is generall$ a secular! socialist discourse*but unlike communism! it is not anti3Christian. Indeed! its thinking can be ada+ted and utilised ver$ e ectivel$ in a Christian conte,t! as ha++ened most notabl$ in the conte,t o the Liberation Theolog$ develo+ed in Latin America in the #68%s! 'hich! ins+ired b$ the anti3colonial movements o the +eriod! linked Catholic theolog$ to social and individual emanci+ation. In the same 'a$! the +ostcolonial links its +hiloso+hical and theoretical 'ork to social activism. The 'ork o the +ostcolonial 'ill onl$ end 'hen there are no hierarchies o +o'er in the 'orld! 'hen there are no orms o e,clusions! no insides to 'hich others are outsiders. What does that mean or those 'ho 'ork on the inside! 'herever it ma$ be? It means to look! and irst o all to listen. Listening to 'hat others are sa$ing is +erha+s the central necessit$ or an$ +ostcolonial critic. I-ve never thought the +roblem is that the subaltern can-t s+eak! in <a$atri 4+ivak-s o t3cited +hrase! but rather that the dominant 'ill not listen. Those in +o'er o ten develo+ a curious but s$m+tomatic dea ness. The cultural +ers+ectives 'hich cause s+eech to be heard or to be silenced are nicel$ i une,+ectedl$ illustrated! I think! in an e+isode recounted b$ Antoine de 4aint3 1,u+=r$ in his amous children-s book! "he 5ittle Prince! o #6>?.ii It seems to be not a coincidence that this comes in a children-s book. As Charles @ickens kne'! ever$one as a child has some version o the +ostcolonial e,+erience*because as a child! $ou are looking u+ at the 'orld! +o'erlessl$! rom belo'. The di erence bet'een +eo+le are those 'hose +olitics! like @ickens-! are ounded on the memor$ o that e,+erience! and those 'ho choose to orget it. =I have serious reason to believe that the !lanet from which the little !rince came is the asteroid known as (>?6@.

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"his asteroid has only once been seen through the telesco!e. "hat was by a "urkish astronomer in 6797. &n making his discovery the astronomer had !resented it to the International Astronomical 'ongress in a great demonstration. (ut he was in "urkish costume and so nobody would believe what he said. $rown>u!s are like thatA Bortunately however for the re!utation of Asteroid (>?6@ a "urkish dictator C#emal AttaturkD made a law that his sub;ects under !ain of death should change to <uro!ean costume. So in 67@9 the astronomer gave his demonstration over again dressed with im!ressive style and elegance. And this time everybody acce!ted the re!ort.Eiii Aniversities! and +erha+s churches! are like that. In order to be acce+ted! $ou have to look right! in ever$ sense! and s+eak the right language. And o course! as in this stor$! the right language is the dominant language! the language o the West. In m$ o'n 'ork! I have! over the $ears been tr$ing in di erent 'a$s to change out o 1uro+ean costume! to move out the obvious Western 'a$ o looking at things! to tr$ to read the signs and the languages that o ten remain unheard and invisible in the 'est! to hear 'hat +eo+le are sa$ing! to undo the dominant. The domination o Western +ers+ectives toda$ is o course based on a structure o +o'er! 'hich 'as originall$ develo+ed through the course o 1uro+ean colonial e,+ansion. 4aint 1,u+er$-s stor$ hinges on the changes that came about at the end o the irst 'orld 'ar( 'hen the Bttoman 1m+ire 'as de eated b$ the Allies! and its territories in the )iddle 1ast divided u+ bet'een Critain*'hich assumed control o Palestine! Ira: and Jordan*and 7rance! 'hich took 4$ria and the Lebanon. This 'as to be the high moment o 1uro+ean im+erialism! 'hose ractured legacies 'e are still ver$ much living 'ith toda$. C$ the end o the 7irst World War 1uro+ean or 1uro+ean derived +o'ers controlled or occu+ied around nine tenths o the globe. With no s+ace le t or territorial e,+ansion! the im+erial +o'ers turned in'ards and attem+ted to devour each other. A ter the <reat War! 2ust as the Bttoman 1m+ire 'as reduced to Turke$! so too <erman$ 'as de+rived o its colonies and be ore long tried to turn 1uro+e itsel into a colonial em+ire( it 'as the great )artini:uan 'riter and statesman Aim= C=saire 'ho irst +ointed out that 7ascism 'as sim+l$ colonialism brought home to 1uro+e. 7or the colonial +o'ers such as Critain and 7rance! the cost o victor$ over a coloni0ing <erman$ in #6>? 'as the dismemberment o their colonial em+ires! orced b$ a Anited 4tates that 'as keen to break u+ the im+erial mono+olies on 'orld trade. @ecoloni0ation occurred relativel$ :uickl$ a ter Indian inde+endence in #6>8! although it 'as to be another ort$ $ears be ore the last great Western em+ire! that o the 4oviet Anion! 'as dissolved. Coth 1uro+e and the decoloni0ed countries are still coming to terms 'ith the long histor$ o colonialism! 'hich could be said to have begun ive hundred and si, $ears ago! in #>6". The claim o this histor$ is that there 'as something +articular about colonialism( in it 'as not 2ust an$ old o++ression! or an$ old series o

'ars and territorial occu+ations. The +ostcolonial reconsiders this colonial histor$ rom a critical +ers+ective! 'hile at the same time anal$0ing its +olitical and cultural a ter3 e ects in 'hich 'e all live. It also em+hasi0es that the resistance to! and eventual liberation rom colonialism! 'as one o the most remarkable stories o human histor$. The role o Christianit$ in the histor$ o im+erialism and colonialism is o course a com+licated and di icult one. Bn the one hand! there is +lent$ o testimon$ to the act that Christianit$! including Anglicanism! 'as dee+l$ im+licated in the im+erial +ro2ect. As Ro'an 4trong has described it in his book! Anglicanism and the (ritish <m!ire( /Anglicanism! in the orm o the institutional Church o 1ngland! the Anglican missionar$ societies! and their su++orters! 'as institutionall$! consciousl$! evangelisticall$! and organi0ationall$ connected and concerned 'ith the 1nglish3Critish em+ire since the beginning o the #&th centur$-.iv The global reach o the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches toda$ survive the em+ire 'hich the$ 'ere once called u+on to serve. At the same time! des+ite the general commitment to em+ire as a /theological missionar$ im+erative-! the role o the Church in that enter+rise 'as an ambivalent one. Bn the one hand! it ormed +art o the im+erial in rastructure! and there is +lent$ o evidence that missionaries! or e,am+le the Church o 1ngland-s 4PC9 and 4P<! ounded in #D6& and #8%# res+ectivel$! o ten ormed the vanguard o im+erial rule. The role that the Anglican church +la$ed in that histor$ o colonial rule and disem+o'erment o the local +o+ulation is +erha+s no'here more haunting than in the no' ruined and abandoned churches o the Church o Ireland that can be ound in almost an$ 4outhern Irish to'n. Bn the other hand! it is also true that colonial rulers 'ere 'ar$ o missionaries! and! as 'as the +olic$ o the 1ast India Com+an$! o ten took great trouble to kee+ them out. This 'as not onl$ because the missionaries 'anted to inter ere 'ith local custom through conversion! 'hich 'as thought might cause disru+tive resistance! but also because missionaries 'ere regarded as too riendl$ or too s$m+athetic to the local +eo+le and their as+irations*a legac$ o one o the Church-s greatest social and +olitical achievements in the Anti34laver$ )ovement. Added to that! in the conte,t o the lo'ering o brilliant +ostcolonial literatures in our o'n da$! one should not orget the immense linguistic 'ork done b$ missionaries and +riests! learning local languages! o ten com+iling 'ritten grammars and dictionaries or the irst time! and engaging 'ith the act o translation*not onl$ translating the Cible into local vernacular languages! but also translating local literatures into 1nglish! as in India. And then there 'ere the +articular individuals 'ho resisted colonialism! such as the @ominican +riest Cartolomeo de las Casas! or much more recentl$ 1d'ard Thom+son! )ethodist minister and riend o Rabindranath Tagore! or C.7. Andre's! the Anglican +riest 'ho 'as the great riend o <andhi! 'ho 'ere all in di erent 'a$s involved activel$ in the intellectual currents o the reedom movements. While the reedom movements can be divided historicall$ into those that 'ere committed to violence or to non3violence! the continuing im+ortance o the Church-s commitment to non3violent methods o resistance cannot be underestimated. I 'ant to close b$ suggesting a more une,+ected interrelation bet'een certain conce+ts! such as h$bridit$ and multiculturalism! that are o ten associated 'ith +ostcolonial anal$sis o our contem+orar$ social and cultural situation! and the Anglican Church. What-s interesting here is that in a certain sense these conce+ts 'ere oreshado'ed! and +erha+s orm a legac$! o earlier Anglican thought. As John Wol e has sho'n in $od and $reater (ritain! the Anglican Church ormed a central +art o the late im+erial ideolog$ o the Critish 1m+ire constituting a /<reater Critain-.v Cut as I have argued in

m$ recent book! "he Idea of <nglish <thnicity! this ormulation also involved a ne' account o 1nglishness! one +redicated not on its identit$ through e,clusion Eat the beginning o the centur$! 1nglishness 'as identi ied 'ith 4a,onism! de ined against the Celtism o the Catholic Irish and 4cots highlandersF! but rather a h$brid one o inclusion! through an o+en toleration o di erence.vi I argue in m$ book that this set u+ the undamental social structure o including others! tolerating or even 'elcoming di erence and di erences! 'hich 'e no' associate 'ith the +ers+ective o multiculturalism*and the +ersistence o this attitude hel+s to e,+lain 'h$ Critain has been one o the most success ul o modern multicultural 1uro+ean nations. What is +articularl$ relevant toda$ is that a ma2or source or this model came rom nothing less than the Church o 1ngland! 'hich! at a moment o crisis at the beginning o the nineteenth centur$! aced 'ith the +o+ularit$ o dissenters! as 'ell as the legitimation o Catholicism! develo+ed an institutional structure o inclusive toleration o di erence that has! as I see it! been its +articular strength ever since. This idea 'as originall$ develo+ed b$ 4amuel Ta$lor Coleridge in his &n the 'onstitution of 'hurch and State E#&;%F! but it 'as Thomas Arnold 'ho! in his Princi!les of 'hurch %eform E#&;;F re ormulated it in a 'a$ that became generall$ accessible. Arnold begins rom the conte,t o @issent! arguing that( to e,tinguish @issent b$ +ersecution being both 'icked and im+ossible! there remains the true! but hitherto untried 'a$! to e,tinguish it b$ com+rehensionG that di erent tribes should act together as it 'ere in one arm$! and under one command! $et should each retain the arms and manner o ighting 'ith 'hich habit has made them most amiliar.vii 5ere Arnold suggests that the best 'a$ to deal 'ith dissent or di erence is through accommodation rather than +ersecution. Accommodation is achieved through /com+rehension- or tolerance! that +ermits and even encourages h$bridit$ or diversit$ on both sides*allo'ing! in Arnold-s militar$ meta+hor o the Church as a kind o Liberation 7ront! the /di erent tribes- to ight in the 'a$s and 'ith the arms most amiliar to them*allo'ing them! in other 'ords! to maintain their di erences through 'hich the$ de ined themselves 'hile still orming +art o a larger socius. )ight it not be +ossible! Arnold asks! to constitute a Church thoroughl$ national! thoroughl$ united! thoroughl$ Christian! 'hich should allo' great varieties o o+inion! and o ceremonies! and orms o 'orshi+! according to the various kno'ledge! and habits! and tem+ers o its members! 'hile it trul$ held one common aith! and trusted in one common 4aviour! and 'orshi++ed one common <od? E"&36F The genius o Arnold-s argument is to em+hasise the lo$alt$ to the institution o the church and the common religious sentiments that it sustains over the +articular theological di erences o dissent( to make the Church-s unction as the Anglican Church more im+ortant than +articular theological niceties! o ering rather 'hat he calls! in the gendered language o his da$! /an earnest union in great matters! and a manl$ and delicate orbearance as to +oints o controvers$- ED6F. Toda$ Arnold-s +rescri+tion or a com+assionate and inclusive Church! tolerating the di erence o others! seems outdated onl$ in the gender bias o its language! not at all in its undamental sentiments 'hich seem to me to remain entirel$ relevant or us toda$( Is it too much to ask o good men! that the$ should consent to unite themselves

to other good men! 'ithout re:uiring them to subscribe to their o'n o+inions! or to con orm to their o'n ceremonies? E&>F The Anglican church lives on as a testimon$ to that +ossibilit$.

H "%%& Robert JC Young

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Robert J.C. Young! Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction EB, ord( B, ord Aniversit$ Press! "%%;F! 63#;. ii Antoine de 4aint31,u+=r$! "he 5ittle Prince! trans. 9atherine Woods ELondon! William 5einemann! #6>?F. iii Ibid! #?. iv Ro'an 4trong! Anglicanism and the (ritish <m!ire c.6899>6FG9 EB, ord( B, ord Aniversit$ Press! "%%8F "6>. v John Wol e! $od and $reater (ritain: %eligion and Hational 5ife in (ritain and Ireland 6FIJ>67IG ELondon( Routledge! #66>F vi Robert J.C. Young! "he Idea of <nglish <thnicity EB, ord( Clack'ell! "%%&F. vii Thomas Arnold! Princi!les of 'hurch %eform! ;rd ed. ELondon( 7ello'es! #&;;F iv. 7urther re erences 'ill be cited in the te,t.