r I

P^h;.1, Q{*,^/1, jun, :-l¡,- ^&*tl'^JfL

( Sht.\n:v ,f ,y /ru,,,2,$

CHAPTER ONE

LTTBRATURES or CoLoNrar CoNTACT

Cuhwral Geography and the Søuctures of ldentity

Posrcor-oNrzATloN LrrpnRtuns axo CulrunRl GrocnRpHy

The first problem facing ânyone who sets out to wrire on postcoloniza-
tion literature is to determine the scope of the field. Unlike most literary
"periods," postcolonization literature is broadly multinational and mul-
ticultural. More importantly, not everyone is agreed as to which nations
and cultures fall under the rubric. There are some unequivocal cases:
India, Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana. And there are some almost
unequivocal cases: Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, South Africa. But some
writers include New Zealand, Australia, and Canada; some add the
United States; others include Ireland.
These various countries and their literatures can be grouped in dif-
ferent ways, depending upon one's interests and aims. It does not seem to
me productive to try to decide that one or another grouping is definitive,
that it captures some sort of essence-or, conversely, that there is an
essence to the "postcolonial" that can be rightly instantiated in one par-
ticular grouping. Rather, the best approach, in my view, is to define the
sort of colonial situation in which one is interested, and then to determine
which regions are relevant to that definition, and in what degree.
By "postcolonization literature," I mean literature emerging from
the historical encounter between culturally distinct and geographically
2 Co¡-oNr¡rrsu ¡uo Cur-run¡r- Io¡Nr¡rv L¡r¡n¡tun¡s or Colon¡er- Co¡¡r¡cr J

separated societies, where for some extended period one society con- which the colonized people are in a numerical majority, but they have
trols the other politically and economically; moreover, during this been alienated from their land through forced displacemenr, and alien-
period, the dominated society remains numerically and culturally ated from their ancestral traditions, languages, and so forth through
prevalent in its own geographical location, and the dominant society forced dispersal and intermixing. In consequence, there are, as we shall
justifies its control through the denigration of the dominated culture see, some significant differences between alienated majority literatures
and through the ideological insistence that the dominated people are an and the indigenous majority literafures of the paradigm postcoloniza-
inferior race. In other words, the body of literature I should like to iso- tion countries. On the other hand, since the writers in this region are
largely of
'Ilest
late has the following characteristics: It is the historical result of direct African ancestry, they retain many African traditions,
political and economic domination. This direct domination need not be and they do so in a way that clearly involves the repeated rransforma-
in place currently (i.e., the colony may have achieved independence). tion of these traditions in response to novel circumstances-an impor-
However, direct domination must have continued for a long enough tant point for any study of cultural identity. Moreover, perhaps even
period to establish lasting political and economic structures, as well as more than African writers, black Caribbean writers-whose ancestors
ideological or cultural institutions (schools, etc.) that continue to have were almost all slaves-have been faced with the justificatory racism
important effects. Moreover, the initial, direct domination was imposed and ethnocentrism of Europe in a particularly stark form. Because of
and maintained through violence or the threat of violence, along with this, their treatment of identity is in some ways more paradigmatic of
other forms of coercion. Thus, in its most significant impact, it was rel- the colonial condition than is that of lighter-skinned south Asians or,
atively sudden; it did not develop slowly out of internal conditions. In even more obviousl¡ the lrish. Indeed, the separate racial starus of the
keeping with this, it involves a salient cultural conflict in which the Irish was slowly dissolved into a reconstituted "whire" race-which, in
dominant society claims cultural and racial superiority and justifies its some versions, includes Semitic and south Asian peoples-all opposed
domination by reference to this putative superiority. Finall¡ each to blacks.
group-colonizer and colonized-retains a geographical domain in As this definition aheady makes clear, by its very nature, postcolo-
which it is clearly numerically superior. nization literature is, in a sense, two literatures: one arising from the
Societies such as India, Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria' and South dominant or colonizer sociery the other from the dominated or colo-
Africa fit this definition very well, as does Ireland' Australia, New nized society. This is, indeed, the most fundamental division, which one
Zealand, Canada, and the United States do not fit well, for the indige- must draw in anatomizing postcolonization literature: literature written
nous population did not maintain majority status in the colony-a fact by members of the oppressor group (i.e., the English) and literature
with important political, economic, and cultural consequences. Thus, we written by members of the oppressed group (Indians, Africans, and so
shall not be considering this group ât all in the following pages. On the on). As one would expect, these literatures are united by a sort of
other hand, there are a number of similarities between these fwo groups. dialectical tension necessarily produced by the history that defines post-
Moreover, any literature from the predominantly European colonies colonization literature. But they also maintain a striking degree of the-
which emerges from an appropriate sort of cultural encounter-not only matic or st¡uctural congruence, often centering around the issue of
early settler literature, but, for example, Maori writing in New Zealand, identity. Within the dominated group, we have already distinguished
'S7e
African American literature, Australian writing concerned with aborigi- indigenous and alienated peoples. may isolate two roughly parallel
nal peoples, and so on-could fruitfully be compared with the paradig- categories within the oppressor group: 1) metropolitan writers-Eng-
matic postcolonization literatures in this respect. lish writers, in the case of Anglophone literature-and 2) settlers and
Colonies that retâined an indigenous majority and colonies that Creoles (i.e., descendants of settlers).
'W'e can render this division more precise, and use it to provide a
were overrun by Europeans do not, however, exhaust all relevant cases.
Somewhere between these lie what we might refer to as "alienated framework within which to discuss identit¡ if we consider in more
majority" colonies. These are colonies, primarily in the Caribbean, in detail the geography of the colonial situation. Síe may distinguish, first
4 Co¡-o¡¡¡¿r-¡sr.¡ a¡¡p Currun¡r- I¡¡Nrrtv Lrrrn¡rurrs or Cor-oN¡¡¡- CoNrecr 5

of all, the metropolis, which is to sa¡ the home country of the colonizer, sense) is typically the region that is under the firmest control of the colo-
and the region of colonial contâct, which is to sa¡ the region of settle- nial government, whereas Pratt's contact zone would be the area least
ment where colonizers live in close interaction with the colonized peo- firmly controlled.
ple. Finall¡ we may isolate an indigenous region or region of cultural It is also worth mentioning that, in the region of contact, the rela-
autonomy involving little contact with the colonizer, a region parallel to tions between the colonizers and the colonized are often partially
the metropolis. Regions of contact are most often large urban centers mediated by some third group, which is also often considered racially
(e.g., Lagos in Nigeria), where the colonized inhabitants (e.g., Igbos) are, intermediate. Mulattos and other mixed-race people often fill this
like the Europeans, settlers themselves, and not strictly indigenous to the role. Privileged relative to people of fully indigenous ancestr¡ they
place. Perhaps the most fâmous example of this general division is Ire- can aspire to a higher station than ordinary "natives" and can be used
land. For centuries, the region of contact-and, for a long period, the by colonizers as a sort of buffer. Indeed, the mixed-race character
region of English control-was confined to the city of Dublin and a who strives to be white and who collaborates with the colonizer is a
small area around the city. This area, referred to as "The Pale," was common figure in much postcolonization literature. On the other
Anglo-Irish in culture. Outside of this area (beyond the Pale), Ireland hand, this function is not confined to mixed-race people. It can be
remained largely Gaelic in language, customs, dress, and so on. (On the taken up by any race considered "closer" to being white. In Africa
Pale, see, for example, Hayes-McCoy, 176, and Cosgrove, 168.) and the Caribbean, this role is frequently taken up by South Asians.
Within the region of settlement, we may distinguish regions of high Indeed, during apartheid, the South African government strictly dis-
intensity contact and regions of low intensiry contact between coloniz- tinguished between South Asians and black Africans in precisely this
ers and colonized. I shall reserve the term "region of contact" for the way. But this was not confined to South Africa. As Benedict Ander-
former (i.e., areas of high intensity contâct). Obviously there is often a son has pointed out, "Almost everywhere economic power was either
continuum in intensity of contact between the contact region and the monopolized by the colonialists themselves, or unevenly shared with
âutonomous region. Indeed, sometimes it will be important to distin- a politically impotent class of pariah (non-native) businessmen-
guish low intensity contact regions. However, I reserve the term for high Lebanese, Indian and Arab in colonial Africa" (1,1,6). This colonial
intensity contact because the zone I wish to isolate is a zone in which division-sometimes exacerbated by extreme collaborationism and
interaction is extensive, structured, even routinizedrin such a way that anti-"native" racism on the pa:t of some members of the buffer
it has structural consequences regarding culture. This sharply differenti- group-often gave rise to considerable (racist) resentment against this
ates my use of the phrase "region of contact" from Mary Louise Pratt's group after independence, Uganda providing perhaps the most noto-
'SØhile rious instance. In the absence of such a tacially intermediate group'
use of the similar phrase "contact zene," I am concerned with
established, structured contact, which is integral to the daily life of both an indigenous group, often one with a more "European" culture-
colonizers and colonized (as in, say, Lagos), Pratt is concerned with the religion, political structure, dress, etiquette, whatever-could serve
sorts of contact that are not well established, structured, etc. Hence her the same function, with similar results.
view that colonial encounters are "improvisational" and her statement In terms of identit¡ the most important aspects of this geographical
that the contâct zone is "often synonymous with 'colonial frontier"' (6). relation are cultural and social. The metropolis and the indigenous
At the frontier and in the early stages of contact, encounters may well region maintain what might be called "basic" culture-English culture
be improvisational (though they may also be governed by a rigid set of in England and lgbo culture in the interior Igbo villages. In contrast, the
military protocols, known and understood by one side only). My con- regions of high intensity contact (e.g., Lagos), develop two sorts of Cre-
cern, however, is with contact that is not at all improvisational, but olized culture. Most obviousl¡ indigenous culture is affected by metro-
highly regulated, and regulated in such a way as to define a system of politan culture-through English education, forced Christianization, or
interaction, for this is the sort of contact that is consequential for one's simply through the partial Europeanization produced by the structure of
sense of identity. It is worth noting that the region of contact (in my work and the physical and economic environment. Less obviousl¡ the
 6 Cor-oNr¿r-¡s¡¿ ¡No Culrun¡r- I¡¡Nttty L¡Ten¡runEs or Co¡.o¡¡al CoNracr 7

settler culture is altered by indigenous culture. W'e may refer to both the peripheral matters), the diversity of areas affected (e.g., is it merely a
modified indigenous culture and the modified merropoliran/settler cul- matter of commerce, or does it enter into religious observance, educa-
ture as "contact cultures." tion, etc.), systematicity and rationalization (i.e., is it governed by artic-
At the same time, despite this cross-cultural interaction and the for- ulated rules that make interactions regular and predictable), and so on.
mation of contact cultures, settlers and contact-region indigenes often Again, I reserve the term "region of contact" for an area in which con-
form tightly knit, socially rigid, and mutually antagonistic societies tact is relatively intense, in this technical sense.
which operate to rigidify aspects of basic culture viewed as threatened The second parameter is the degree of severance, the degree to
by contact. Contact leads to widespread modification or even loss of which one is cut off from basic culture. This is a highly complex matter
basic culture. But it leads simultaneously to a reihcation of that culture. and involves several subvariables. The most obvious subvariable within
Basic culture has always evolved in the metropolis and the autonomous severance is a matter of the actual lines of connection with the basic cul-
region and continues to do so. In the contact region, the recollection and ture-the distance, the freedom of travel, the existence of means of
practice of basic culture often become fixed at a particular moment-the transportation, and so on. Clearly, there are differences here between
moment when the settler left the metropolis or autonomous region. For India, with its extensive infrastructure, Afuica, with its more limited
example, the English settler/Creole often feels him/herself to be some- infrastructure, and the Caribbean, where there was no âccess to the orig-
what African (Indian, etc.), and thus to a degree different from the Eng- inal autonomous regions at all, for the slaves simply could not return to
lish. But, at the same time, he/she often believes him/herself to be more African villages.
"truly" English than the English, more genuinely faithful to English cus- A second subvariable here is the mode of existence of the basic cul-
tom, etc. ture, the degree to which it is codified in writing, etc. It is clearly easier
Here as elsewhere, the Caribbean is slightly different from India, to maintain a culture that is preserved in writing than to maintain one
Africa, and lreland. Through slavery, virtually all Africans were, at least that is not-the latter will simply die out if it is not practiced for a sin-
initiall¡ thrust into a contact region, and removed entirely from gle generation..Mode of existence is closely related to a third subvari-
autonomous regions. Of course, slaves-including newly arrived able, the uniformity of basic culture across communities. It is clearly eas-
Africans, who carried particularly fresh memories of their culture (see ier to preserve a culture that is broadly consistent across the indigenous
Púce, Z4)-sometimes escaped from the plantations and formed region. Members of many diffe¡ent local communities mix together in
Maroon communities, and these partially had the function of the contact region; insofar as they share detailed cultural ideas and prac-
autonomous regions. Moreover, even plantation work could involve tices, they are more likely to repeat and thus preserve them. Though, for
more or less contact. Though extensively routinized, it could be struc- ease of explication, I have referred to "basic culture" in the singular,
tured in such a way as to make it highly oriented toward European cul- there are significant cultural differences determined by region, profes-
ture (with forced church attendance, etc.), or it could be structured more sion, econornic status, and so on. These differences can impede, and
or less purely as labor, with other aspects of culture not entering sys- sometimes undermine, the preservation of what is common. For exam-
tematically into regulated interaction. Nonetheless, there \Mas no strictly ple, if all Yoruba share a particular ritual, then that ritual may be prac-
indigenous region where an indigenous culfure could be revisited, for ticed in the contact region, even when the Yoruba there are from differ-
even the culture of the Maroons was a sort of ad hoc synthesis of dif- ent regions. However, suppose that, despite common abstract principles,
ferent African traditions-Yoruba, Ashanti, and so on (see Price,29). this ritual is subject to considerable regional variation in its actual per-
'Víe
can more fully specify the nature of culture in the region of con- formance. Then it is much less likely that the ritual will be repeated and
tact by distinguishing three related parameters. The first is intensity of preserved, for its performance will require a high concentration of
contact. This is a matter of frequency of contact (i.e., how often Euro- Yoruba from a particular region.
peans and non-Europeans come into contact), significance of contact This is related to a fourth subvariable, the degree to which a tradition
types (whether contact involves essential matters of livelihood or more may be continued at a distance from the autonomous region. Consider, for
 I Cor-oN¡¿r.¡s¡¡ .rNo Culrun¿r- Iorxrrry Lrr¡n¡tun¿s or Cor-oNra¡- Col¡r¡cr 9

example, the difference between Hindu and lgbo practices. Much Hindu Clearl¡ degree of internalization is in part a function of intensity and
ritual is performed within a family, and thus does nor require a large com- severance. However, it is not reducible to these-in derivation, in
munity. In contrast, as Isichei points out, in lgboland, "Traditional reli- consequences, or in explanatory value.
gion is essentially local-tied to this local shrine, this village festival, this
village taboo. A man who left his village for Lagos was almost bound to
cease to practice his inherited religion" (169).
bsNrrrv RNn ThaorrroN

Another subvariable affecting the parameter of severance is the

degree of linguistic continuity. Irish and Caribbean people, including It hardly needs to be said that colonial contact disrupts indigenous cul-
v/riteÍs, no longer share the language of. everyday culture used by their ture, often radically. For many people, it renders traditional ideas uncer-
colonized forebears. Africans and Indians typicaliy do preserve thatlan- tain and ends the easy performance of traditional practices. In doing
guage in fluent, daily, native use. this, it makes cultural identity a problem-an issue on which one almost
Finall¡ the third important paramerer is degree of inte¡nalization. necessarily takes a stand. IØhile questions about one's relation to tradi-
Each of us assimilates certain ways of thinking about ourselves and tion may arise at any time, in any context, they arise with unique force
about the world, and certain ways of acting. 'We come automâtically and scope as colonial contact intensifies, the degree of severance
to conceive of people in particular \Mâys, to organize our conception increases, internalizations of idea and act fade or shift between antago-
of life in relation to particular structures, and so on. The parameter I nistic cultures, coming to rest fully in neither one nor the other. In short,
wish to isolate here is a matteî of the degree to which any given cul- under colonialism, in the region of contact, the conflicts are so strong
ture has been internalized in this sense. In the region of cultural and pervasive that they constitute a challenge to one's cultural identitS
autonomy, the people have internalized the basic culture-Igbo or and thus one's personal identity.
Hindu or whatever. The same holds for the metropolis. In the region As we shall discuss in more detail in the following chapters, identity
of contact, however, there will be a variety of internalizations. Some is best thoughC of as involving a representational or referential compo-
indigenous people will have internalized a culture that is largely nent and a procedural or "skills" component. (The distinction is fairly
indigenous; others will have internalized a culture that is largely met- standard in cognitive science, though the terminology varies; see, for
ropolitan; and there will be all intermediate cases as well. A simple example, Johnson-Laird, 1'66ff.) The procedural component consists in
example should illustrate the point. The story of Romeo and Juliet all of one's unreflective knowledge about how to act or interact in typi-
does not have a place in basic Indian culture. There, the paradigmatic cal situations. It includes knowledge about how to greet and address dif-
literary instances of romantic love would be Duçyanta and Sakuntala ferent people, knowledge of how one is to take part in religious activi-
or Räma and S¡ta in the Hindu tradition (see Kalidasa and Valmiki) ties or work, and so forth' I will refer to this as "practical identity." The
or Laila and Majnun in the Muslim or ArabicÆersian tradition (see representational or referential component consists in a set of properties
Nizami). ClearlS there is a difference in acculturation-that is, inter- that define one's self-understanding. This set is hierarchized in that some
nalization of culture-between an Indian who spontaneously assimi- pfoperties afe "more central" to one'S self-definition than are others
lates lovers to Duçyanta and Sakuntala and one who spontaneously (e.g., one's sex is more central than one's shoe size). I will refer to this as
assimilates them to Romeo and Juliet. The same holds for "reflective identity." Clearly, the two are related. For example, much of
settlers/Creoles. It is rare for any colonizer fully to internalize the one's practical identity is based on one's sex, which is correlatively cen-
indigenous culture (though this is an important literary motif-cf. tral to one's reflective identity.
Gora, Kim, and Midnight's Childrea). Nonetheless, even among col- Both sorts of identity are the result of common social practices, not
onizers, there will be many degrees of partial internalization of individual decisions. Clearl¡ I do not choose my ptactical identity.
indigenous culture. As we shall see, this has considerable bearing on Rather, I am brought up in such a way that I am comfortable in cettain
the attitudes individuals and groups take up toward cultural identity. situations, know how to behave, know my "Íole." The same is true of
 10 Cor-o¡r¡¡r-rsv aNo Culru¡.¡¡. Io¡Nrrrv L¡r¡n¡run¡,s o¡ Co¡-o¡¡r¡L Co¡¡recr 11

reflective identiry. It is standard social practices rhar define the caregories sarily allow some scope for social change, for regional and other diver-
in which I conceive of myself. And it is standard social practices that tell sit¡ and even for individual choice and idiosyncrasy. Many allow a
me which of these categories is important. If ',male', is centrally impor- great deal.
tant to my reflective identiry this is because sex is generally treated as I call this sort of broad and open traditionalism "orthodox¡" and
centrally important in the society around me, because I am regularly mean the câtegory to encompass a wide range of attitudes toward tra-
identified as male, because my pracrical identity has been shaped around dition, including some that are systematically critical. Indeed, ortho-
this categorization. doxy, in this sense, can even be "modernizing," for, like Samir Amin
In terms of both reflective and practical identit¡ indigenous people and others, I would distinguish modernization from Europeanization or
in contact culture are caught between two conflicting sets of impera- W'esternization. As Amin has stressed, the "debate in which 'identity'
tives. The practices that are normal and natural in indigenous culture are (and 'heritage') are placed in absolute contrast with 'modernizationr'
often inappropriate, and are almost always denigrated, in colonial cul- viewed as synonymous with ''Westernization"' is "confused" and is part
ture. one's reflective identity as defined by the colonizer is often brutally of "a false construction of the question of 'cultural identity"' (133).
demeaning. And yet rhe economic and political domination of the colo- Specificall¡ I see "modernization" as the adoption of practices which,
nizers-their widespread control of the structure of work, their system by the broad principles of traditional thought, count as advances on
of education, and so on-impels one to accept the colonial categories, traditional ideas or practices, either for empirical or moral reasons. For
their implications and practical consequences. This can give rise to very example, there is nothing in orthodox Hindu thought that is incoherent
sharp and painful conflicts in one's self-understanding, aspiration, with the development of medicine. Indeed, there is a highly developed
'Süestern
expectation, action, etc., leaving one almost entirely unable to take Hindu science of medicine. To make use of the benefits of med-
coherent action toward humanly fulfilling goals-and thus in effecr icine would thus count as "modernizing," in my sense, anc{ not neces-
requiring that one take some sort of stand on the issue of identity. In the sarily as'o'lV'esternizing. "
very simplest terms, one mây respond to this by embracing indigenous In contrast with open-minded orthodoxy-especially modernizing
tradition, striving for full Europeanization, or combining the two. I orthodoxy-we might distinguish "unreflective conformism" or
should like to discuss each option in turn. "unreflective traditionalism." As I am using the term, "orthodoxy"
involves an openness to the reflective consideration of tradition, and
genuine attention to the structure and meaning of traditional beliefs
Orthodoxy, Unreflective Conformism, and Reacrion
and acts. Unreflective conformism, in contrast, is merely the thought-
less repetition of the common ideas and practices of a tradition' not
The most obvious way in which one may return ro tradition is only without criticism, but without an understanding of their relations
through a genuine reintegration with the living, changing prâcrices and and purposes. It is roughly what Heidegger called "inauthenticit¡"
ideas of the tradition, accepting them in all their precolonial diversity. doing what "one" does. It is not entirely complementary with ortho-
It is particularly important to srress the open quality of tradition here. dox¡ as any given orthodox traditionalist is likely to be reflective
As Ashis Nandy has argued, "Those in deeper touch with traditions . . . âbout certain aspects of tradition but not about others. Indeed, it is
are, for that very reason, more open to the new and the exogenous" not possible to be reflective about everything. In that sense, everyone
(Illegitimacy, 47), for traditions are themselves always to some degree is, to some degree, an unreflective conformist. However) there are
flexible, multiple, various. Bhiku Parekh, following Gandhi, mainrains highly significant differences in degree, with some people-or at least
that "A tradition . . . [is] not blind, a mere collection of precedents, but some literary characters-being almost entirely unreflective con-
a form of ìnquiry . . an unplanned but rigorous colnmunal science formists, and othe¡s being highly reflective.
constantly tested and revised against the harsh rcality of life" (19). The nature of orthodoxy becomes clearer when we consider the
Even if one does not go this far, it seems clear that all traditions neces- third standard mode of affirming tradition, what I call "reactionary
 t2 Co¡-oNr¡r-lstr¡ ¡.No Cur-ru¡.¡r. I¡r¡qt¡ry Lr¡rn¡run¡s or ColoNt¡L Co¡¡r¡cr 13

traditionalis¡n"-6¡, sometimesr "reactionary nativism" or "reac- reactionary traditionalist that he/she does not truly know indigenous
tionary racialism." Reactionary traditionalism is, first of all, a rigidifi- tradition. He/she has lived away from communal practices for too long,
câtion of indigenous tradition. However, it is a rigidification governed has never studied the sacred texts or learned the holy tongue, has never
by European culture-zot by indigenous tradition itself-and this in internalized the ways and stories of his/her ancestors. Indeed, the reac-
one of two wâys: It is either purgatiue or stereotypical. If purgarive, tionary traditionalist is rypically someone who has tried to become Eng-
the reactionary traditionalist tries to eliminate from indigenous cukure lish and be accepted into English societ¡ but has failed. In seeking to
all elements that it shares with European culture. Simultaneousl¡ become English, he/she has internalized not indigenous culture, but
he/she stresses all elements of indigenous culture that oppose Euro- colonialist views of indigenous culture.
pean culture. If English men and women mix freel¡ then the tradi- Most often, the stereotypes in question involve specific views about
tional practices surrounding the isolation of women and men must be the nature of indigenous traditions. But sometimes the stereotype is even
extended and strengthened, with exceptions eliminated. Arguabl¡ this cruder than this, for it in effect represents indigenous people before colo-
form of reactionary traditionalism is not simply a mamer of eliminat- nialism as living in as state of nature, acting from a sort of brute spon-
ing Europeanisms, but involves alarger "purifying" practice, in which taneity. IØhen an indigenous person takes up this sort of stereotype, it
the reactionary traditionalist purges indigenous culrure of anything hardly makes sense to refer to this as "traditionalism." In this case, I
that seems to make it weak in the face of colonial culture. This would substitute the term "reactionary nativism." Similarl¡ when a stereotyp-
centrally include any element shared with colonial culture, for a point ical identification by race is the basis for reactionary traditionalism, I
of contact might equally provide a point of entry for cultural "infil- refer to this as "reactionary racialism."
tration." But this sort of purgative traditionalism also seeks to elimi- Sometimes indigenous "traditions" adopted by the reactionary tra-
nate any non-European aspect of indigenous culture that appears to ditionalist \¡/ere not precisely what we would call "stereotypes," but
make it vulnerable. Thus, distinctive indigenous traditions of plural- were, nonetheless, a byproduct of British administrative practices, which
ism, nonviolence, and the like, may be purged by reactionary tradi- comes to much the same thing, as both involve the substitution of the
tionalists, insofar as these are seen as weakening tradition in the face colonizer's ideas about tradition for tradition itself. Parekh presents a
of colonial threat. fine illustration from the British treâtment of Hindu law. "The complex
Purgative reactionary traditionalism often takes the form of orig- customary law which the traditional system of administering justice
inalism or pseudo-originalism. Originalism is the return to â puta- knew how to interpret and enforce" was too flexible and complex for
tively "pure" form of tradition, an original form that was followed by "the British-established coufts of law." In consequence, the traditional
degeneration. Reactionary traditionalists often see this putative system was "replaced by the shastras and their rigid and sometimes
degeneration as the reason for the eventual triumph of colonialism, obsolete and impractical norms" (31). In this way, the rigidity of some
making the elimination of degeneracy and the return to the origin cru- Hindu rcactionary traditionalists was a direct result of this prior, British
cial for the political struggle against colonialism. Originalism is the rigidification of Hindu law, which was entirely out of keeping with liv-
antithesis of the modernism found among some orthodox traditional- ing Hindu tradition.
ists, for it counsels, not the continuation of development, but its Along the same lines, reactionary traditionalists often unconsciously
abandonment. "Fundamentalism," in the popular sense of the term, anglicize indigenous tradition themselves, reformulating it in British
is typically a form of originalist reactionary traditionalism, usually terms, shaping it in British categories. As Nandy points out, many tra-
involving some sort of dogmatic textual literalism linked with coer- ditionalists remade Hinduism in the image of christianit¡
cive force. "introducfing] into Hinduism the principles of organization, proslytiza-
The stereotypical version of reactionary traditionalism is an adop- tion, specialized priestly orders, the concept of religion as a principle of
tion of tradition based not on tradition per se, but rather on the colo- political mobilization, ahard sense of history and even, in some câses' â
nial, ideological misrepresentation of that tradition. It is typical of the patriarchal God" (Ar the Edge,57).
i
I
¡
 14 CoroNr¡r-rs¡¿ ¡¡qo Culrun¡l Io¡¡¡r¡rv Lrrr,n¡runrs or Cor.o¡r¿r- CoNr¡cr 15

Assimilation and Mimeticism alien culture, and thus has little bearing on the problem of cultural
identity as it appears in indigenous literature.
But, again, one need not accept indigenous tradition; one might The general nature of assimilation becomes clearcr when contrasted
turn instead to the merropolis. Directly parallel ro orthodoxy is what I with the remaining manner of adopting metropolitan culture-mimeti-
shall call "assimilation." Assimilation is the full acceptance and inter- cism. Mimeticism is directly parallel to reactionary traditionalism, but,
nalization of the other basic culture. For an English person, it is, in like assimilation, it moves in the opposite direction. An early accounf of
effect, becoming African or Indian. For an African or Indian, it is, in this response to colonialism was given by Douglas Hyde, in his seminal
effect, becoming English. Some Europeans find themselves drawn to lecture of 1.892, "The Necessity for De-Anglicizing lreland." As Lyons
Indian religion, Indian literature, Indian food and cusroms. Some Indi- summarizes, "Hyde protested . . . against the slavish conformism which
ans find themselves drawn to Christianit¡ English lirerature, and so on. made the Irish adopt everything English simply because it was English"
Though the colonial situation limits the degree to which assimilation is (Cuhur e, 42). More exactl¡ mimeticism-or, equivalentl¡ " reactionary
possible in either direction, there are, I think, many cases where it assimilationism" (I shall use the terms interchangeably)-is closely
occurs. This is particularly true if one allows the possibiliry of being related to reactionary traditionalism, not least in having two main types,
truly multicultural-and there is no reason not to allow this. In other purgative and stereotypical. In the more common, purgative mode,
words, it seems to happen with some regularity that Indians or Africans mimeticism is the repudiation of indigenous traditions, and includes the
or Caribbeans (or even lrish) come ro be perfectly ar home in English repudiation of those aspects of English culture that overlap with indige-
society, think of themselves as English (as well as Indian, or whatever), nous traditions. It involves the maximization of difference between the
act with perfect, unreflective ease in English society, and so forth. It also two traditions. It is enacted through an emphasis on and exaggeration
happens that English persons come ro be perfectly ar home in Indian or of the most extreme and non-Indian/non-African/non-Irish aspects of
African or Caribbean (or even lrish) societ¡ and so on. Though it is English culture, even to the extent of appearing to be a sort of parody of
more difficult, one can assimilate another culture just as one can English custom-as when a Hindu gives up Indian food to sit every
become fluent in ânorher language. (Having menrioned that the English evening at a high table with a white cloth and eat vast quantities of
may assimilate, I should probably nore rhar all these categories apply to boiled beef. This parodic effect is particularly easy to achieve because,
the colonizer as well as the colonized. For example, a settler may adopt much like the reactionary traditionalist, the mimeticist most often has
a reactionary traditionalist attitude toward English culture. I have not only the most superficial knowledge of the culture to which he/she has
treated the English side here as it has only very limited bearing on rhe devoted him/herself. This is equally evident in the less common stereo-
literature we will be examining.) rypical mode. In this mode, the mimeticist strives to imitate a standard
If we like, it is possible to distinguish a form of assimilation that idea of English custom that has little relation to acfital British practical
is critical or deliberative and a form that is unthinking or mechanical. identity-as when an Igbo man rvears an ill-fitting three-piece suit while
If we wish to make this distinction, we may reserve the term assimi- at leisure in a remofe village on a sïveltering afternoon
lation for the former (maintaining its parallelism with "orthodoxy"), One particularly important connection bet\Meen reactionary tradi-
and refer to the latter as a type of unreflective conformism-perhaps tionalism and mimeticism is that reactionafy traditionalists are typically
distinguishing the two rypes of unreflective conformism as "emula- reacting against a prior mimeticism. In other words, a colonized person
tive" and "traditionalist." In reallife, both sorts of unreflective con- who ends up as a reactionary traditionalist will very often do so after
formism are no doubt important. However, the disdnction bet\Meen having passed through a period of mimeticism. In general terms, this
assimilation proper and emulative conformism (i.e., unreflective, point was one of the main themes of Fanon's work (see, for example'
uncritical, but genuine tnternalization of the ideas and practices of the Black Skin, B-9 and WetcUted,277-23). Ashis Nandy's analyses of Sri
alien culture) does not have much of any place in literature. This is Aurobindo and Nathuram Godse, the assassinâtor of Gandhi, provide
unsurprising as it is rcally a distinction imporranr only within the excellent illustrations of this process (on Aurobindo, see Intirnate
 16 Cor-oN¡¡L¡sl¿ ¡¡¡o CulrunaL Iosmr¡rv Lrr¡nlrunrs or Co¡-oNI¡L Cour¡cr 17

Enemy,85-100, on Godse, see At the Edge, T0-99). As Nandy pur rhe counts as orthodoxy and what counts as syncretism is relative to cul-
general point, one group "paid their homage to the alien authorities by tural context. In Afro-Caribbean literature, there is no "pure" ortho-
identification and imitation," while the other did so "by compulsive and doxy. Rather, what counts as orthodox (in our sense) is any cultural
counterphobic rejection" (At the Edge,61", see also 113). practice that, however synthetic, preserves elements or structures of
As Nandy's allusion to psychoanalysis suggests, the process here is African origin. For example, in Africa itself, a religion that combines
closely related to-and is often an insrance of-what psychoanalysts call Yoruba and Christian beliefs would be syncretist and would be opposed
"reaction formationr" the repression of one impulse or idea and its sub- to "pure" orthodox Yoruba belief on the one hand and "pure" metro-
stitution by the precise opposite. Reaction formation is, in a sense) a sort politan Christianity on the other. In the Caribbean, however, the
of hyper-repression. It in effect says, "That is so false that the complete "pure" Yoruba practices survive, for the most partr only in syncretistic
opposite is true!" Suppose, for example, that I have strongly aggressive forms. In that context, then, the Yoruba/Christian synthesis would be
impulses toward someone, which cause such intense and disturbing con- the only relevant form of "orthodoxy." The overall result is that the
flict that they are repressed. As part of my defense against these alternatives in Afro-Caribbean tradition are more limited than alterna-
impulses, I may come to behave toward this person with excessive affec- tives in India or Africa. Orthodoxy and syncretism are, in effect, col-
tion and care. This is a reaction formation. Though my outward behav- lapsed into a single category.
ior and conscious attitude are solicitous and loving, they are in fact a Paired with syncretism is what I will call "alienating hybridity," the
defense against aggression and hatred. Reactionary traditionalism, estrangement from both traditions, the sense that one can be neither
racialism, and so on, are directly parallel in that they are outward affir- English nor lgbo (Hindu, etc.), the panlyzíngconviction that one has no
mations of one's cultural or racial superiorit¡ but they are frequently identity, no real cultural home, and that no synthesis is possible. In lit-
derived from, and in many cases srill based on, a prior or underlying erature, ât least, the condition is linked with madness. This extreme cul-
belief in one's cultural or racial inferiority. tural alienation appears to be particularly common in Caribbeanliteta'
ture, unsurprisingl¡ given the high degree of severance experienced by
all colonized people in the region. As rü(/alcott puts it, the "West Indian
Syncretism and Alienation
feels rootless on his o'r7vn earth" ("rü(/hat the Twilight Says," 2L). Indeed,
in some cases from the Caribbean, the alienation is so severe that it
Finall¡ one might privilege neither indigenous nor metropolitan tra- might more appropriately be referred to as 'oalienating denial of iden-
dition, but try instead to combine the two, choosing what seems best tity." In the standard less severe case of alienating hybridit¡ the charac-
from each, and bringing them together into a ne\M culture, ideally supe- ter in question internalizes the alien culture after extensive education,
rior to both precedents-or, if not superior, at least better suited to those typically including a period in the metropolis. His/her racial or ethnic
people who have internalized aspects of both cultures. This is syn- origin prevents true âcceptance in the foreign culture, and the internal-
cretism. It is the aftitude toward identity preferred by the bulk of Anglo- ization of the foreign culture makes him/her (in Achebe's phrase) "no
phone postcolonization writers-predictably, given their background, longer ât ease" in the home culture as well.
readership, and so forth. (It should be emphasized that this background
is by no means typical of postcolonization people, as Appiah 12391,
Ahmad [1,49), and others have stressed; indeed, for this reason, and due IosNrrtv eNp GsNopn
to the diversiry of opinions and practices in any societg the views of
these writers should never be generalized or taken as "representative" of As Ashis Nandy has pointed out, the colonial denigration of indigenous
their home cultures.) culture consistently involved an assimilation of cultural hierarchies to
For the most part, the nature of syncretism is straightforward and sex hierarchies (Intimate, 4-1,1'1. SpecificallS the indigenous cultures
does not require explanation. However, it is worth noting that what were seen as feminine or effeminate and the metropolitan culture as
 18 Co¡-oNr¡r-rsu ¡¡¡p Cur-run¿r. I¡¡Nrrry Lrrrn¡runrs or Cor-oNr¡l CoNrncr t9

masculine. Colonialists who promulgated this view stressed or Í.abú- the racist image of the African rapist or the African man with huge
cated elements of indigenous culture purarively indicative of effeminacy reproductive organs and inexhaustible drives-a psychologically deep,
(passivit¡ weakness, irrationalit¡ wiliness, etc.) and elements of metro- historically persistent, and ideologically functional image, as Frantz
politan culture putarively indicative of masculinity (aggressiveness, Fanon demonstrated ín Blacþ Sþin, White Masþs.In this way, the ideo-
strength, rationality, honest¡ etc.). Correspondingl¡ they downplayed logical feminization and consequent sexualization of colonized people-
or denied the aspects of both culrures that did nor fir this schema. which, again, involved a misogynist stereotype of vast and predatory
As Nandy emphasizes, colonial ideologists tended ro focus parricu- sexual appetites-paradoxically contributed to the apparent hypertro-
lar attention on indigenous men, in effect denying their manhood. On phy of male sexuality in the ideological representation of the African
the other hand, the position of women was ideologically imporranr as man. This is not to say that \ryomen did not suffer from this ideological
well. First of all, indigenous women were viewed as the most passive sexualization. Quite the contrary. Here, too, indigenous \Momen ìMere
creatures possible. Subservient, even to the point of lacking separafe "hyper-feminizedr" which in this case means assimilated as a group to
will, they were the shadowy tittering figures on rhe margins of A pas- prostitutes) or rather to a fantasy of the prostitute, an imago of an insa-
sage to Indiat " All the [Indian] ladies were uncertain, cowering, recov- tiable, scheming, threatening temptress.
ering, giggling, making tiny gestures of aronemenr or despair,' (36). Or In part as a result of this colonial imposition of gender models on
"those Indian \Momen . . . silly prett)¡, flimsy nincompoops,, of Virginia cultural relations, and in part âs a result of a cross-cultural tendency to
Woolf's Mrs. Dallowøy (L0l. Ar best, they were fitting objects of pity for assimilate important social divisions to the division between men and
IØestern liberals, including'lØesrern feminists. In this wa¡ colonial ide- women, many indigenous Anglophone writers too came to see the oppo-
ology tended to "feminize" indigenous men and "hyper-feminize,, sition between tradition and colonial culture as bound up with gender
indigenous women. issues. Indeed, a great deal of characterization in postcolonization
But this feminization did not merely involve seeing indigenous peo- Anglophone literature may be viewed as a direct, if partially uncon-
ple as passive. As, for example, Homi Bhabha has stressed, the colonizer scious, response td this ideological feminization of indigenous people.
never views colonized people as simply and unequivocally subservient. Beyond this, gender is in any case a central part of both reflective
He/she always sees colonized people simukaneously as dangerous and and practical identity. It is typically the first and most repeated way in
uncontrollable. As we shall discuss beloq Bhabha identifies these two which we are defined. In every culture of which I am aware, children are
aspects of the colonizer's attitude with fetishism and paranoia. But, inso- categorized by sex from birth and are consistently referred to in terms of
far as there is a dualism here, it seems much closer to the dualism of their sex thereafter. Moreover, this categorization is consequential. In a
misogynist stereotypes, more like virgin and whore. Indeed, the dissem- wide range of cultures, sex is one of the most highly stereotyped cate-
bling or duplicity that allows for this duality is itself a misogynist stereo- gories, especially in terms of ideals. In other words, moral and practical
type. Thus, indigenous peoples came to be viewed in colonial ideology ideals appear to be based on gender distinctions far more often than they
as seemingly passive and subservient, but harboring hidden violence and are based on distinctions of any other sort. Many cultures also have
lust. Out of sight, they were drugged and lecherous, immoral and dis- descriptive stereotypes associated with sex. In other words, most cul-
solute. These are the "Eastern excesses," bacchic "opposites" to Euro- tures assign distinctive normative roles to men and women-obvious
pean "values" (57), the putative "lechery" and "debauchery" (62), instances for women would include serving their husbands and nurtur-
explored by Edward Said in Orientalism. ing their children. In addition, a large number of cultures impute dis-
This racist and sexist view was applied cross-culturally by colonial tinctive psychological and other traits to men and women-for example,
ideologues, but there were some important variations in degree. In par- rationality and nonrational intuition respectively in Euro-American cul-
ticular, the more vicious the cultural denigration, the more sexually ture. Thus, one's reflective identity as male or female is not a matter of
degraded \Mas the image of colonized people. This denigration reached simple sexual categorization. Rather, it entails a wide range of beliefs
its nadir with respect to sub-Saharun Africa. Thus, it helped give rise to about what one should do and what one is able to do.
f'
5
t
I 20 Cor.o¡¡r¡r,rslø ¡No Cur-runa¡. Io¡¡¡rt,I:y Lrr¡.netun¡,s or CoLottI¡L Co¡¡r¡cr zl
i
:

i
In keeping with this, social interâctions in work and leisure, in pub- Unreflective conformist masculinity and femininity are somewhat
lic and in the home, are largely otganized according to sex. IØhat jobs rarer than the other categories we are considering. In each case, we are
one can have, whar rasks one is expected to fulfill, what forms of relax- faced with a character's unquestioning conformiry to common gender
ation one can engage in and with whom-these are all at least in part roles, as currently practiced, even when those violate larger social ideals
determined by whether one is male or female. Not only one's reflective or are directly harmful to the people involved. The most obvious cases
identiry but one's prâcrical identity is largely a function of one's sex. All of this, perhaps the only cases, occur in feminist writing, where we might
this makes gender identity a central concern in deliberations over cul- find a woman thoughtlessly adhering to patriarchal practices that harm
tural and personal identity and in responses to crises of cultural and per- her and other women, including her daughters.
sonal identity. Parallel to reactionary traditionalism, we may distinguish reac-
IØe may conceptually organize the possibilities for gender identiry in tionary masculinity and reactionary femininity. Either may involve
parallel with the general caregories of cultural identity, beginning with stereotypical elements. Thus, women may be presented as silent, sub-
orthodox masculinity and orthodox femininity. These are, of course, servient, chaste, and so on, and men as eloquent, wily, virile, and so on,
social categories-not so much because gender identity is "socially con- depending on the specific way the group in question has been stereo-
structed," in the sense of resulting from socialization, but rather because typed. However, characters of this sort do not seem to figure promi-
gender identity is ideological. In other words, reflective identiry is not a nently in postcolonizatíon Anglophone literature. Whatever the reason,
mâtter of what \rye are made into by culture, but of what we believe we in literature at least, both reactionary masculinity and reactionary fem-
are. In all cultures, conceptions of masculinity and femininity are deter- ininity are most often "purgâtiver" rather than stereotyped. Thus, reac-
mined not by what men and women are really like-whether rhis results tionary masculinity is typically a refashioned masculinity from which
from nurture or nature-but by the function of the concepts "male" and all elements of putative femininity have been purged in order to avoid
"female" in structuring social hierarchies. Thus, "orthodox masculinity" the threat of feminization. This is closely related to "machismo," with
here is masculinity as understood in the cuhure in question; the same the difference that reâctionary masculinity is a part of reactionary :ra-
holds for "orthodox femininity." Moreover, this category is normatiue ditionalism, involving religious and other attitudes that we do not asso-
within the tradition in question, which is to sa¡ a definition of "orrho- ciate with machismo. Machismo is, in a sense' reâctionary masculinity
dox masculinity" or "orthodox femininity" indicates a standard,not nec- divorced from traditional culture. Reactionary femininity is a scrupu-
essarily a belief about real people-still less any fact about real people. lous adherence to a cultural ideal of femininit¡ purged of any hint of
Orthodox masculinity and orthodox femininity necessarily involve the degeneracy projected by colonial ideologues onto colonized women.
competence, as well as strength and a degree of fortitude, in traditional It too is clearly a pãrt of reactionary traditionalism. Note that both
spheres of activity. This is part of. any literary representarion of charac- reactionâry masculinity and reactionary femininity arc often originalist,
ters of this sort. On the other hand, there are, unsurprisingly, differences calling for a return to "original" cultute with its "pure" masculinity
in the precise ways this is depicted. This type is usually of two sorrs, and femininiry.
depending upon the age of the character. A younger womân is chaste In connection with reâctionâry femininity and reactionary masculin-
and respectful of her husband-though not necessarilS or even typically iry it is important to recall that colonial ideologies tend to deny the mas-
subservient. An older \ry'oman is most often a repository of spiritual and culinity of indigenous men and the "purity" of indigenous women. Thus,
folk wisdom. Both figures occur in literature by men and by women, bur a purgative feactionary masculinity and a purgative reactionary feminin-
the strength and independence of both is somewhar more likely to be ity will operate differently. They are opposed not to one another, but to
emphasized in literature by women. Moreover, the strength and compe- a set of demeaning colonial stereotypes. These stereotypes have particu-
tence of traditional men is less in evidence, and their abuse of social, eco- lar force for the feâctionary traditionalist, not only because they are
nomic, and physical power is more likely to be exposed in work by demeaning, but because they suggest a form of cultural decline that could
women-though this motif is not absent from writings by men. account for the triumph of colonialism. In other words, the reactionary
 22 Coro¡¡IaLIsl¡ aN¡ Cur-runar. I¡rNrrrv L¡ren¡run¡s or Colour¡l Cour¡cr 23

traditionalist man defines himself nor âgainst the traditional woman, bur However, in that version, the sensuous dissipation is typically much less,
âgainst the degenerate effeminate (e.g., cowardly) male stereotype pro- and is replaced by the more abstract degeneracy of greed-though the
mulgated in colonial culture; the reaction ary traditionalist woman exploitative treatment of women remains relatively constânt. Moreover,
defines herself not against the traditional man, but againsr her derogatory in the political case, the mimic often conceals his mimeticism behind an
characterization in colonial ideology. Indeed, as reâcrionary femininity is insincere traditionalism, reâctionary or orthodox.
opposed to a colonial "hyper-feminization," it may involve stereotypi- Degenerate femininity is parallel, but with some predictable differ-
cally masculine traits, such as strength, ânger, even physical violence, ences. Female sensual decadence is more likely to manifest itself in such
especially insofar as these are aimed at the colonizer or at other dangers mild forms of self-indulgence as smoking, rather than habitual intoxica-
facing tradition. In each case, the opposition ro rhe stereorype is simulta- tion, and sexual dissolution in this case is often a matter of prostitution.
neously a purging of just those elements that may be seen âs making UnsurprisinglS when women writers take up the common "s7esternized
indigenous culture weak in the face of metropolitan threat. whore" character, they frequently do so in such a way as to criticize the
To these orthodox, conformist, and reactionary categories, we may sexist presuppositions that so often underlie the stereorype. For exam-
add the falling away from orthodox gender ideals that is linked with ple, Dangarembga's Nyasha is a Westernized young \¡/oman who is
mimeticism and is typically conceived of as a form of effeminacy-com- falsely perceived to be dissolute.
pare Okonkwo's judgment of his Christianized son Nwoye as "degener- Parallel to syncretism is the synthesis of masculine and feminine
ate and effeminate" in Achebe's Things Fall Apart (159). More exactly, properties, sometimes referred to as "androçYfYr" in other words, a
as we have seen, degeneracy and effeminacy have been central attributes forging of gender identity that combines the putative virtues of both
in the standard European view of colonized men and women. This view sexes into a ne\¡/, superior identity. For example, in Tagore's The Home
has no doubt been held by reâctionary assimilationists as well. However, and tbe World, Nikhil is the culturally syncretistic character. He also
canonical postcolonizâtion writers raîely treat mimeticism with any combines the "feminine" virtues of generosity, kindness' affection, with
sympathy. Thus, they not only repudiate this colonial view, they tend to such "masculine" virtues as physical bravery. In other words, he is not
reverse it. In other words, a number of postcolonízation authors see only synthetic in culture, but androgynous in gender. It is worth noting
European culture-and a fortiori all those who imitate European cul- that he is opposed to Sandip, a cowardly mimic who exploits women
ture-âs lascivious and degraded, and typically effeminate as well. Just and indulges mild sensual vices, and who conceals his mimeticism
as reaction is standardly portrayed as masculinizing-even in reac- behind a facade of reactionary nationalism and violent masculinity' This
tionary femininity-mimeticism is standardly portrayed as feminizing. sort of opposition-between an androgynous syncretist and a degener-
On the other hand, this does not mean that there are not male and ate mimic masquerading as a hyper-masculine traditionalist-is not
female forms. There are. Moreover, iust as reactionary masculiniry and uncommon in postcolonization fiction.
reactronary femininity tend to be purgative, degenerate masculinity and Finally, corresponding with alienating hybridity, we have the com-
degenerate femininity tend to be stereotypical, at least in the sense that they plete loss of gender identiry usually as part of a broader loss of personal
tend to be based in part on a stereotype of Europeans as hedonistically self- identity. Bessie Head's Elizabeth, in A Question of Pouter, is a good
indulgent, cruelly dominant, and, again, effeminate, which is to say, lack- example of this-a colored woman with no real home culture, she loses
ing in putatively masculine virtues and harboring putarively feminine vices. any firm sense of even physical sexual identity. Needless to sây' not all
Degenerate masculinity typically involves excessive inroxicarion, cases are this extreme.
sexually exploitative behavior, and general dissolution. A good illustra- Assimilation should find a parallel here as well, presumably in some
tion of this is Rushdie's Ahmed Sinai, a mimic even ro the degree that his genuine adherence to metropolitan gender roles and ideals. However, I
skin turns white (212); in the course of this transformarion, he becomes kno* of no relevanf cases in postcolonization literature, thus I shall
an alcoholic and begins to sexually harass his secreraries (154). This leave it aside, as there is no empirical basis on which to develop and
character type is frequently linked with polirical corruption as well. specify the notion.