SHOHAT-Notes on the Post-Colonial

7/27/2019 SHOHAT-Notes on the Post-Colonial

1/16

Notes on the "Post-Colonial"Author(s): Ella ShohatSource: Social Text, No. 31/32, Third World and Post-Colonial Issues (1992), pp. 99-113Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466220.

Accessed: 24/12/2013 13:16

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Duke University Pressis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Text.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.206 on Tue, 24 Dec 2013 13:16:56 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=dukehttp://www.jstor.org/stable/466220?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/466220?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=duke


2/16

Notes nthe Post-ColonialELLA SHOHAT

The academic ppositiono theGulfWarmobilized numberffamiliarterms imperialism, neo-colonialism, neo-imperialism in averbal ounter-strikegainst heNewWorldOrder.Butconspicuouslyabsentfrom hediscussionwas the term post-colonial, ven fromspeechesmadeby ts otherwiserominentdvocates.Given he xtraor-dinary irculation f theterm nrecent cademic onferences,ublica-tions and curricularreformulations,his sudden invisibilitywassomewhat uzzling.Was this absencesheercoincidence?Or is theresomethingboutthe termpost-colonial hatdoesnot end tself o ageopoliticalritique,r to a critique fthedominantmedia'sGulfWarmacro-narratives?hen inesdrawnnthe andstillhaunt hirdWorldgeographies,t is urgento ask howwe can chart hemeaning f thepost-colonial. t is frommyparticularosition s an academicArab-Jewwhose ulturalopographiesre dis)locatedn raq, srael/Palestine,andtheU.S.A. that would iketoexplore omeofthetheoreticalndpolitical mbiguitiesf the post-colonial.Despite tsdizzyingmultiplicityfpositionalities,ost-colonialhe-oryhascuriously ot ddressedhepolitics f ocation fthevery ermpost-colonial. n whatfollows, propose obegin n interrogationfthetermpost-colonial, aising uestionsbout tsahistoricalnd uni-versalizing eployments,nd tspotentiallyepoliticizingmplications.Therisingnstitutionalndorsementfthetermpost-colonial ndofpost-colonial tudies s an emergent iscipline evident n MLA jobannouncementsallingfor pecializationn post-colonialiterature )sfraught ithambiguities.My recent xperience s a member f themulticulturalnternationaltudiescommittee t one of theCUNYbranchesllustratesomeof these mbiguities.n response o ourpro-posal, thegenerally onservativemembersf thecollege curriculumcommitteetronglyesistedny anguagenvokingssues uch s impe-rialism ndthirdworldistritique, neo-colonialismndresistingul-tural ractices, nd thegeopolitics fculturalxchange. heywerevisibly elieved, owever,t the ight ftheword post-colonial. nlythediplomatic esture frelinquishingheterrorizingermsimperial-ism nd neo-colonialismnfavor fthepastoralpost-colonial uar-anteed pproval.

99

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/16

100 Notes n he Post-ColonialMy ntentionere s notmerelyo anatomizehe ermpost-colonial

semantically,ut o situate tgeographically,istoricallynd nstitution-ally,while aising oubts bout tspolitical gency. hequestiont stakeis this.Which erspectivesrebeing dvancednthe post-colonial? orwhatpurposes?Andwithwhat lippages? n thisbrief iscussion,mypoint s neithero examine hevarietyfprovocative ritingsroducedunder herubric ost-colonialheory,or implyoessentializehe ermpost-colonial, utrather o unfoldtsslippery olitical ignifications,which ccasionally scapethe learly ppositionalntentionsf tstheo-retical ractitioners.ere will rgue or moreimited, istoricallyndtheoreticallypecific, sageof the ermpost-colonial, ne which itu-ates t na relational ontextis-a-vis therequallyproblematic)atego-ries.The post-colonial id notemerge o fill an empty pace in thelanguage fpolitical-culturalnalysis.Onthe ontrary,tswideadapta-tionduringhe ateeightieswas coincident ith nddependentn theeclipseofan olderparadigm,hat fthe ThirdWorld. heterminolog-ical shift ndicates heprofessionalrestige nd theoreticalura theissueshaveacquired,ncontrasto themore ctivist uraonceenjoyedby ThirdWorld within rogressivecademiccircles.Coinedin thefiftiesnFrancebyanalogy othe hirdstatethe ommoners,ll thosewhowereneitherhenobility or theclergy), he termThirdWorldgained nternationalurrencyn both cademic ndpolitical ontexts,particularlyn referenceo anti-colonial ationalistmovementsf thefiftieshroughhe eventiess well as to thepolitical-economicnalysisof dependencyheoryndworld ystem heoryAndr6Gunder rank,ImmanuelWallerstein,amirAmin).The lastdecadehaswitnessed terminologicalrisis round he on-ceptofthe ThirdWorld. he threeworlds heorys indeed, s manycritics avesuggested, ighly roblematic.'or onething,hehistoricalprocesses fthe astthree ecadesofferednumberfvery omplexndpolitically mbiguousdevelopments. he periodof so-called ThirdWorld uphoria a briefmomentnwhichtseemed hat irstWorldleftistsndThirdWorld uerrillas ouldwalk rm narm oward lobalrevolution has givenwayto thecollapseof theSoviet Communistmodel, hecrisisofexistingocialisms,hefrustrationf thehoped-fortricontinentalevolutionwithHo Chi Minh,FrantzFanon,and CheGuevara s talismanic igures),herealizationhat he wretchedftheearth re notunanimouslyevolutionarynor necessarilyllies to oneanother), nd therecognition hat nternationaleo-politics nd theglobaleconomic systemhave obliged even socialist regimestomake somekindofpeace withtransnationalapitalism.Anddespitethebroadpatterns fgeo-political hegemony,power relations in the ThirdWorld are alsodispersedand contradictory.he FirstWorld/ThirdWorldstruggle, ur-



4/16

EllaShohat 101thermore,akesplacenotonlybetween ationsIndia/Pakistan,raq/Ku-wait),but also within ations,with heconstantlyhanging elationsbetween ominantndsubalternroups,ettler ndindigenousopula-tions, s wellas in a situationmarked ywavesofpost-independenceimmigrationso FirstWorld ountriesBritain,rance,Germany,nd theU.S.) andto more rosperoushirdWorld ountriestheGulf tates.) henotion f the hreeworlds,nshort,lattenseterogeneities,asks on-tradictions,nd elides differences.This crisis n ThirdWorld hinkingelps xplain he urrentnthu-siasmfor heterm,post-colonial, newdesignationor ritical is-courseswhichhematizessues mergingromolonial elationsndtheiraftermath,overing longhistoricalpan includinghepresent.) rop-pingthe suffix ism rompost-colonialism,headjective post-colo-nial s frequentlyttached othenouns,theory, space, condition,intellectual, hile toften ubstitutesor he djective ThirdWorldin relation o thenoun intellectual. he qualifierThirdWorld, ycontrast, ore requentlyccompanieshenouns, nations, countriesand peoples. Morerecentlyhe post-colonial as beentransformedinto noun,usedboth n thesingularndtheplural postcolonials ),designatinghe ubjects fthe postcolonialondition. 2hefinal on-secration f theterm amewith heerasure fthehyphen. ften ut-tressed ythetheoreticallyonnotedubstantivepost-coloniality,hepost-colonial s largely isible nAnglo-Americancademiccultural)studiesnpublicationsfdiscursive-culturalnalyses nflectedypost-structuralism.3Echoing post-modernity,postcoloniality arks contemporarystate, ituation,onditionrepoch.4 heprefixpost, hen,ligns post-colonialism ith series fotherposts post-structuralism,post-modernism,post-marxism,post-feminism,post-deconstructionism- all sharinghenotion f a movementeyond. et while hese postsreferargelyo the upercessionfoutmodedhilosophical,esthetic ndpolitical heories,he post-colonial mplies oth oing eyondnti-co-lonialnationalistheorys well s a movementeyond specific ointnhistory,hat fcolonialismndThirdWorld ationalisttruggles.nthatsensetheprefix post aligns he post-colonial ith nother enre fposts post-war, post-coldwar, post-independence,post-rev-olution all of whichunderline passage into a newperiod nd aclosure f a certain istoricalvent rage,officiallytamped ith ates.Althoughperiodizations nd therelationshipbetween theoriesof an eraandthepracticeswhichconstitutehat ra alwaysform ontested errains,it seems to me thatthe twogenresof the post are nonethelessdistinctin their eferentialmphasis,thefirst n disciplinary dvances character-istic of intellectualhistory,nd the latteron the strict hronologiesofhistory outcourt. This unarticulated ensionbetweenthephilosophical



5/16

102 Notes n he Post-Colonialandthehistoricaleleologiesnthe post-colonial, would rgue, ar-tially nderliesomeofthe onceptualmbiguitiesfthe erm.Sincethe post n the post-colonial uggestsafter hedemise fcolonialism,t s imbued, uite partfromts users' ntentions,ith nambiguouspatio-temporality.preading rom ndia ntoAnglo-Ameri-can academiccontexts,he post-colonial ends o be associatedwithThirdWorld ountries hichgained ndependencefterWorldWar I.However,talsorefersotheThirdWorld iasporic ircumstancesf thelast fourdecades from orced xile to voluntary mmigrationwithin irstWorldmetropolises.nsomepost-colonialexts,uch s TheEmpireWritesBack: Theory nd Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures,the uthorsxpand he ermpost-colonial o nclude llEnglish iteraryproductionsysocieties ffectedycolonialism:...the iteraturesf Africanountries,ustralia,angladesh,anada,Caribbean ountries,ndia,Malasia,Malta,NewZealand,Pakistan,Singapore,outh acific sland ountries,ndSriLanka reallpost-colonial iteratures.he iteratureftheUSA should lsobeplaced nthis ategory.erhaps ecause f ts urrentositionfpower,nd heneo-colonizingole t hasplayed,tspostcolonial ature as notbeen

generallyecognized.ut tsrelationshipith hemetropolitanentreas itevolvedover the asttwo centuries asbeenparadigmaticorpost-colonialiteratureverywhere.hat achoftheseiteraturesasincommon eyond heirpecialanddistinctiveegionalharacteris-tics s that heymergedn their resentormutof the xperiencefcolonizationndasserted hemselvesy foregroundinghetensionwith he mperial ower, ndbyemphasizingheir ifferencesromtheassumptionsf the mperialentre.t is thiswhichmakes hemdistinctivelyost-colonial.Thisproblematicormulationollapsesvery ifferentational-racialformations theUnited tates,Australia,ndCanada,on the nehand,andNigeria,Jamaica,ndIndia,on theother as equally post-colo-nial. Positioning ustralia nd India,forexample, n relation o animperial enter, imply ecausetheywerebothcolonies,equatestherelationsfthe olonizedwhite-settlerso theEuropeanst the centerwith hat fthe olonizedndigenousopulationsothe uropeans.talsoassumesthatwhite ettlerountries ndemerginghirdWorldnationsbroke wayfromhe center n the ameway.Similarly, hiteAustra-lians andAboriginal ustraliansreplaced nthe ame periphery,sthough heywere o-habitatantsis-a-vishe center. he critical iffer-encesbetween heEurope'sgenocidal ppressionfAboriginalsnAus-tralia, indigenous peoples of the Americas and Afro-diasporiccommunities,nd Europe's domination fEuropeanelites in thecoloniesare leveled with n easy stroke fthe post. The term post-colonial, nthis sense, masks the white settlers'colonialist-racistpolicies towardindigenous peoples notonlybefore ndependencebutalso after heoffi-



6/16

EllaShohat 103cial break romhe mperialenter, hile lso de-emphasizingeocolo-nialglobalpositioningsf FirstWorld ettler-states.I amnotsuggestinghat his xpanded se of the post-colonial stypicalor paradigmatic.6he phrase post-colonialsociety mightequallyevoke ThirdWorldnation-statesfterndependence. owever,thedisorientingpaceof the post-colonial eneratesddcouplings fthe post ndparticulareographies,lurringhe ssignmentfperspec-tives.Does the post ndicateheperspectivend ocation f the x-col-onized Algerian),he x-colonizerFrench),he x-colonial-settlerPiedNoir),orthedisplacedhybridn FirstWorldmetropolitansAlgeriannFrance)? ince the xperiencef colonialism nd mperialisms shared,albeit symmetrically,y ex)colonizernd ex)colonized,tbecomes neasymoveto applythe post also toFirstWorld uropean ountries.Since most ftheworld s now iving fter heperiod fcolonialism,hepost-colonial aneasilybecome universalizingategory hichneu-tralizes ignificanteopolitical ifferencesetween rance ndAlgeria,Britain nd Iraq,or theU.S. and Brazil incethey re all living n apost-colonial poch. This inadvertentffacementf perspectives,shouldadd, results n a curious mbiguityn scholarlywork.Whilecolonialdiscourse efers o thediscourse roduced ycolonizersnboththecolony nd themotherlandnd, ttimes,o itscontemporaryiscur-sivemanifestationsn literaturendmass-mediatedulture,post-colo-nial discourse oes notrefer ocolonialist iscourse fter heendofcolonialism.Rather,t evokes thecontemporaryheoreticalwritings,placed nboth he irst ndThirdWorlds enerallynthe eft,ndwhichattempto transcendhe presumed) inarisms fThirdWorldistmili-tancy.Apart romts dubious patiality,he post-colonial enders prob-lematic emporality.irst, he ack ofhistoricalpecificitynthe postleadstoa collapsing fdiverse hronologies.olonial-settlertates,uchas those oundntheAmericas, ustralia, ewZealand, ndSouthAfrica,gained heirndependence,or hemost art,nthe ighteenthnd nine-teenthenturies.Most countriesnAfrica ndAsia,incontrast,ainedindependencen the twentiethentury,ome in thenineteen hirties(Iraq),others nthenineteenortiesIndia,Lebanon), ndstillothersnthenineteenixtiesAlgeria, enegal)andthenineteeneventiesAn-gola,Mozambique),whileothers aveyetto achieve t. When xactly,then, oes the post-colonial egin?Which egions privilegednsucha beginning?What re therelationshipsetween hesediversebegin-nings? The vague startingpoint of the post-colonial makes certaindifferentiationsifficult.tequates early ndependencewonbysettler-co-lonial states, n whichEuropeansformed heirnew nation-statesn non-European territories t theexpense of indigenouspopulations,withthatof nation-stateswhose indigenouspopulations struggledfor indepen-



7/16

104 Notesn he Post-Colonialdenceagainst urope,but won t,for hemostpart,with hetwentiethcenturyollapseofEuropean mpires.Ifone formulateshe post nthe post-colonial nrelationoThirdWorldist ationalisttrugglesf thefifties ndsixties, henwhat imeframewouldapplyforcontemporarynti-colonial/anti-racisttrugglescarried nderhebannerfnational ndracialoppression,or alestinianwriters or xample, ikeSaharKhalifehndMahmoud arwish,whowrite ontemporaneouslyith post-colonial riters?houldonesug-gest thattheyare pre- postcolonial? The unifiedtemporalityfpostcolonialityisks eproducinghe olonialdiscourse fan allochro-nic other, iving n another ime, till aggingbehindus, thegenuinepostcolonials. heglobalizing esturefthe postcolonialondition, rpost-coloniality,ownplaysmultiplicitiesf ocation ndtemporality,as well as thepossiblediscursive ndpolitical inkages etweeenpost-colonial theoriesndcontemporarynti-colonial,r anti-neo-colonialstrugglesnddiscourses.notherwords,ontemporarynti-colonialndanti-neocolonialesistantiscoursesromentral mericandtheMiddleEast to Southern frica nd thePhillipinesannot e theoreticallyis-missed s epigons, s a mere epetitionfthe ll too familiariscoursesof the iftiesndsixties. espite heir artlyhared iscourses ith hirdWorldnationalism,hesecontemporarytruggleslso mustbe histori-cized, analyzed n a present-dayontext, hen he non-aligned is-courseofrevolutionss no longern theair.Such an approachwouldtranscendhe mplicit uggestionfa temporalgap betweenpost-co-lonial andthepre- postcolonial iscourses,s exemplifiedntheme-langeofresistantiscoursesndstrugglesnthe ntifada.7 hat as tobenegotiated,hen,s therelationshipf differencendsameness, uptureandcontinuity.

Since,onone level,the post ignifiesafter, tpotentiallynhibitsforceful rticulationsf whatonemightall neo-coloniality. ormalindependenceor olonized ountries asrarelymeant heendofFirstWorldhegemony.gypt's ormalndependencen 1923 didnotpreventEuropean,specially ritish,ominationhich rovokedhe1952 revo-lution.AnwarSadat's opening o theAmericansnd theCampDavidaccords nthe eventieswereperceived yArab ntellectualss a rever-sion topre-Nassermperialism,s wasEgyptianollaboration ith heU.S. during he Gulfwar.8 hepurpose f the CarterDoctrinewas topartiallyrotecterennial .S. oil interestsouroil) intheGulf,which,with hehelpofpetro-Islamicistegimes, avesoughthe ontrolfanyforce hatmight osea threat.9nLatinAmerica,imilarly,ormalcre-ole independencedid notpreventMonroeDoctrine-stylemilitarynter-ventions, r Anglo-American ree-trade egemony. his process sets thehistory f Central and SouthAmericaand the Caribbeanapartfrom herestof thecolonial settler-states;ordespitesharedhistorical riginswith



8/16

EllaShohat 105NorthAmerica,ncludinghegenocide fthe ndigenousopulation,heenslavementf Africans,nd a multi-racial/ethnicompositionheseregions avebeen ubjectedopolitical ndeconomictructuralomina-tion,on somelevels more evere,paradoxically,han hat f recentlyindependenthirdWorld ountriesuchas Libyaand evenIndia. Notaccidentally, exican ntellectualsnd independentabor unionshaveexcoriated heGringostroikaoftherecent radeLiberalizationreaty.Formalndependenceid not bviate heneedforCubanorNicaraguan-style evolutions,rfor he ndependista ovementnPuertoRico.Thetermrevolution, ncepopularn theThirdWorld ontext,pecificallyassumed post-colonialmoment,nitiatedyofficialndependence,utwhose ontent ad been suffocatingeo-colonial egemony.The termpost-colonial arrieswitht the mplicationhat olonial-ism s nowa matterf thepast,underminingolonialism's conomic,political, ndcultural eformative-tracesnthepresent. he post-colo-nial nadvertentlylosses ver he act hat lobalhegemony,ven nthepost-coldwarera,persistsnformsther han vert olonialrule.As asignifierfa new historicalpoch, he ermpost-colonial, hen om-paredwith eo-colonialism,omes quippedwith ittle vocation f con-temporaryower elations;t acks political ontent hich anaccountfor he ightiesndnineties-style.S. militaristicnvolvementsnGra-nada,Panama, ndKuwait-Iraq,ndfor he ymbioticinks etween .S.politicaland economic nterestsnd those of local elites. In certaincontexts, urthermore,acial nd national ppressionseflect learcolo-nialpatterns,or xample he ppressionfblacksbyAnglo-Dutchuro-peans nSouthAfricand ntheAmericas,he ppressionfPalestiniansand MiddleEasternJewsbyEuro-Israel. he post-colonial eavesnospace,finally,or he trugglesf boriginalsnAustralia nd ndigenouspeoples hroughoutheAmericas,nother ords,fFourthWorld eoplesdominatedybothFirstWorldmulti-nationalorporationsndbyThirdWorld ation-states.Thehegemonictructuresndconceptual rameworkseneratedverthe astfivehundred ears annot e vanquished ywaving hemagicalwand fthe post-colonial. he1992unificationfEurope, or xample,strengthensooperationmong x-colonizingountriesuch as Britain,France,Germanynd taly gainstllegal mmigration,racticingtricterborder atrol gainstnfiltrationydiverse hirdWorld eoples:Algeri-ans, Tunisians,Egyptians, akistanis,Sri Lankans, ndians,Turks,Senegalese,Malians, ndNigerians.hecolonialmaster arrative, ean-while, s beingtriumphantlye-staged.Millions ofdollars arepoured ntointernational vents planned for the quincentenary f Columbus's so-called voyagesofdiscovery, limaxing ntheGrandRegatta, fleet f tallships from40 countries eaving fromSpain and arriving n New YorkHarbor forU.S. IndependenceDay, theFourth fJuly.At thesame time,



9/16

106 Notes n the Post-Colonialan anti-colonial arrativesbeing erformedia theview-from-the-shoreprojects,heNativeAmerican ommemorationsfannihilatedommuni-ties hroughoutheU.S. andtheAmericanontinent,ndplansfor ettingupblockades tthe rrival f the eplicas fColumbus'saravels, ailingintoU.S. ports.What, hen, s themeaning f postcoloniality hencertain tructuralonflictsersist? espitedifferentistoricalontexts,the onflict etweenheNativeAmerican laimto theirand s a sacredand communal rust nd theEuro-Americaniewof land as alienablepropertyemains tructurallyhesame. How thendoes one negotiatesamenessnddifferenceithin he rameworkf post-colonial hosepost emphasizes upturenddeemphasizesameness?Contemporaryultures re markedythe ension etween he fficialend of direct olonialrule and its presence ndregenerationhroughhegemonizingeo-colonialism ithin he FirstWorld nd toward heThirdWorld, ften hannelledhroughhenationalistatriarchallites.The colonial nthe post-colonial ends oberelegatedo thepast ndmarkedwith closure an implied emporalorder hat nderminespotential ppositionalhrust.orwhateverhe hilosophicalonnotationsof the post s anambiguousocusofcontinuitiesnddiscontinuities,

itsdenotationf after the eleologicalure fthe post evokescelebratorylearingfa conceptualpacethat n one evelconflicts iththenotion f neo.The neo-colonial, ikethe post-colonial lso suggestsontinuitiesanddiscontinuities,ut ts mphasiss on thenewmodes ndforms ftheold colonialist ractices, ot on a beyond. Althoughne can easilyimagine he post-colonial ravellingntoThirdWorld ountriesmorelikelyvia theAnglo-Americancademy hanvia India),the post-colo-nial has little urrencynAfrican,MiddleEasternnd LatinAmericanintellectualircles, xcept ccasionallyntherestrictedistoricalenseoftheperiodmmediatelyollowinghe ndofcolonial ule. erhapst sthe ess ntensexperiencefneo-colonialism,ccompanied y he trongsense of relatively nthreatenedultitudesf cultures,anguages ndethnicitiesn India,that llowedfor herecurrentsageof theprefixpost over that f the neo. Nowthat ebt-riddenndia,where post-colonialdiscourse asflourished,ashad toplaceitself nder he ute-lage of the nternational onetaryund, nd now that tsnon-alignedforeign olicy s givingwaytopolitical nd economic ooperation iththeU.S., one wonders hetherhe ermneo-colonial illbecomemorepervasivehan post-colonial. '2The post-colonial also formsa critical locus formovingbeyondanti-colonialnationalistmodernizingnarratives hat nscribeEurope asan object of critique,towarda discursiveanalysis and historiographyaddressing decenteredmultiplicitiesof power relations (for example,between colonized womenand men,orbetweencolonized peasantry nd



10/16

EllaShohat 107thebourgeoisie). hesignificancef such ntellectualrojects tandsnironiccontrasto the term post-colonial tself,which inguisticallyreproduces,nce gain, he entralityfthe olonialnarrative.he post-colonial mplies narrativefprogressionn which olonialismemainsthe entraloint freference,n a march f time eatlyrrangedromhepre othe post, utwhicheaves mbiguoustsrelation o newformsfcolonialism,.e. neo-colonialism.Consideringhe ermpost-colonial n relation o other ermsuch sneo-colonial nd post-independencellowsformutuallluminationofthe oncepts. lthoughneo-colonial, ike post-colonial,mpliespassage, t has the dvantagefemphasizingrepetitionith ifference,a regenerationfcolonialismhroughthermeans.Thetermneo-colo-nialism sefullyesignatesroad elationsfgeo-economicegemony.When xaminednrelationo neo-colonialism,he ermpost-colonialunderminescritique fcontemporaryolonialisttructuresfdomina-tion,more vailablethroughherepetitionndrevival fthe neo. Theterm post-independence, eanwhile,nvokes n achievedhistoryfresistance,hiftinghe nalytical ocus o theemergentation-state.nthis ense, hetermpost-independence,recisely ecause timpliesnation-stateelos,provides xpanded nalytical pace forconfrontingsuch xplosivessues s religion,thnicity,atriarchy,enderndsexualorientation,one fwhich rereducibleoepiphenomenafcolonialismand neo-colonialism. hereas post-colonial uggests distance romcolonialism,post-independenceelebrates henation-state;utbyat-tributingowerto thenation-statet also makesThirdWorld egimesaccountable.The operationfsimultaneouslyrivilegingnddistancinghecolo-nialnarrative, oving eyondt, tructureshe in-between rameworkof the post-colonial. his in-betweenessecomes vident hroughkind fcommutationest.Whileonecanposit heduality etween olo-nizer/colonizedndevenneo-colonizer/neo-colonized,tdoes notmakemuch enseto speakofpost-colonizersndpost-colonized.Colonial-ism nd neo-colonialismmply oth ppressionndthepossibilityfresistance.ranscendinguchdichotomies,he ermpost-colonial os-its no clear domination,nd calls forno clear opposition.t is thisstructuredmbivalence f the post-colonial, f positing simulta-neously lose and distant emporal elation o the colonial, that sappealingna post-structuralistcademic ontext.t is also this leetingquality, owever,hatmakesthe post-colonial n uneasy erm orgeopoliticalcritiqueofthecentralizeddistributionfpower nthe world.Post-colonial theory as dealt mostsignificantly ithculturalcontra-dictions, ambiguities,and ambivalences. 13 Througha major shift nemphasis, taccountsfor heexperiencesofdisplacement fThirdWorldpeoples in themetropolitanenters, nd theculturalsyncretisms ener-



11/16

108 Notesn he Post-ColonialatedbytheFirst/Thirdorlds ntersections,ssues ess adequatelyd-dressed yThirdWorldnationalistndworld ystems iscourses,morerootednthe ategoriesfpolitical-economy.he beyond fpost-colo-nialtheory,nthis ense, eemsmostmeaningfulhen laced nrelationtoThirdWorld ationalist iscourse. he termpost-colonial ouldbemore recise,herefore,f rticulateds post-First/Thirdorldsheory,or post-anti-colonialritique, s a movement eyond relativelybinaristic,ixed ndstablemappingfpowerrelations etween colo-nizer/colonizednd center/periphery.uchrearticulationsuggestmorenuanced iscourse, hich llowsformovement, obilityndfluid-ity.Here,theprefix post wouldmake sense less as after han sfollowing, oingbeyond nd commentingpona certainntellectualmovement thirdworldist nti-colonialcritique rather han beyonda certainpoint n history colonialism;for here neo-colonialismwouldbea lesspassiveformfaddressinghe ituationfneo-colonizedcountries,nd a politicallymore ctivemode fengagement.Post-colonialheory as formedotonly vibrantpacefor ritical,evenresistantcholarship,ut lso a contestedpace,particularlyincesomepractitionersfvarious thnic tudies eel omewhatisplaced ytheriseofpost-colonialtudiesnNorth mericannglish epartments.If therisingnstitutionalndorsementfthetermpost-colonial s onthe ne hand success toryor he Cs (politicallyorrect),s itnot lsoa partialcontainmentf thePOCs (peopleof color)?BeforePO-CObecomes thenew academicbuzz-word,t is urgent o address suchschisms,pecificallyntheNorth mericanontext,14,where nehastheimpressionhatthe post-colonial s privileged recisely ecause itseems afely istant rom thebelly fthebeast, heUnited tates.Therecognitionfthese racks nd fissuress crucial fethnic tudies ndpost-colonialtudies cholars re to forgemore ffectivenstitutionalalliances.Havingraised thesequestions boutthe term post-colonial, t re-mains oaddress omerelated oncepts,ndtoexplore heirpatio-tem-poral mplications.heforegroundingf hybriditynd syncretismnpost-colonialtudies alls attentiono themutualmbricationf centraland peripheral ultures.Hybriditynd syncretismllownegotia-tion fthemultiplicityf dentitiesnd ubject ositioningshich esultfrom isplacements,mmigrationsnd xileswithoutolicinghe ordersofidentitylongessentialistndoriginaryines. t is largely iasporicThirdWorld ntellectualsn theFirstWorld,hybridshemselves,otcoincidentally,whoelaborate framework hich ituates heThirdWorldintellectualwithin multiplicityf culturalpositionalities nd perspec-tives.Nor is it a coincidence,by the same token,that n LatinAmericasyncretism nd hybridity ad alreadybeen invokeddecades ago bydiverseLatin Americanmodernisms,whichspoke ofneologisticculture,



12/16

EllaShohat 109ofcreolite,fmestizaje,ndofanthropophagy.'5heculturallyyncreticprotagonistsf the Brazilianmodernistsf the nineteenwenties,heheroeswithoutharacter oined yMariodeAndrade,mighte seen spostcolonial ybrids vant a lettre. he cannibalistheories f theBrazilianmodernists,nd their laborationsn theTropicalistmovementofthe atenineteenixties ndearlynineteeneventies,implyssumedthatNew Worlderswereculturallymixed, contentiousmalgam findigenous,frican,uropean, sian, nd Arab dentities.At thesametime, heproblematicpatio-temporalitymplicitn thetermpost-colonial asrepercussionsor heconceptualizationfthepast npost(anti)colonialheory.herupturemplicitn the post hasbeenreflectedntherelationshipetween astandpresentnpost-colo-nialdisourse,with articulareferenceo notions fhybridity.ttimes,theanti-essentialistmphasis n hybriddentities omesdangerouslyclose todismissingll searches or ommunitarianriginss an archaeo-logical excavation f an idealized, rretrievableast.Yet,on anotherlevel,while voiding nynostalgia or prelapsarianommunity,rforanyunitaryndtransparentdentityredatinghefall,we must lso askwhethert spossible oforge collective esistance ithoutnscribingcommunal ast.Rap musicnarrativesndvideorepresentationshichconstructesistantnvocationsfAfrica ndslaveryre a case inpoint.Forcommunities hichhaveundergonerutal uptures,ow nthepro-cess offorging collectivedentity,omatter owhybridhatdentityhasbeenbefore,uring,nd fterolonialism,he etrievalndreinscrip-tion fa fragmentedastbecomes crucial ontemporaryitefor orginga resistantollectivedentity. notion fthepastmighthus e negoti-ateddifferently;ot s a static etishizedhase obeliterallyeproduced,but s fragmentedetsofnarrated emoriesndexperiencesnthebasisofwhich omobilize ontemporaryommunities.celebrationf yncre-tism ndhybridityer e, fnot rticulatednconjunction ith uestionsofhegemonyndneo-colonialower elations,uns he isk f ppearingtosanctifyhe aitaccompli fcolonialviolence.Thecurrent etropolitaniscursiverivilegingfpalimpsesticyncre-tismsmust lso be negotiatedis-a-vis ourthWorld eoples. t mustaccount,forexample,fortheparadoxical ituation f the ndigenousKayapo ntheAmazon orestwho, n theonehand,usevideo-camerasandthus emonstrateheirultural ybriditynd theirapacity ormim-icry, utwho,on theother, semimicryreciselynorder ostagetheurgencyfpreservinghe ssential racticesndcontoursftheirulture,includingtheir elationto therainforestnd thecommunalpossession ofland. The defactoacceptance of hybriditys a productof colonial con-questandpost-independence islocations s well as therecognition ftheimpossibility f going back to an authenticpast do not mean thatthepolitico-culturalmovements fvariousracial-ethnic ommunities hould



13/16

110 Notes n he Post-Colonialstopresearchingnd recyclingheirpre-colonialanguages nd cul-tures.'6ost-colonialheory'selebrationfhybridityisksnanti-essen-tialist ondescensionoward hose ommunitiesbliged y ircumstancestoassert, or heir eryurvival, lost ndeven rretrievableast. nsuchcases,theassertionfculture rior oconquest orms art f thefightagainst ontinuingorms f annihilation.fthe ogicofthepost-structur-alist/post-colonialrgument eretaken iterally,hen heZuni nMex-ico/U.S.wouldbe censured or heir earch or he races f anoriginalculture,nd theJindyworobakn Australia riticized or heir urn oAboriginalanguage nd cultures part f their wnregeneration.hequestion, n otherwords, s not whether here s such a thing s anoriginaryomogeneousast, nd fthereswhethert wouldbepossibleto returno t,orevenwhetherhepast s unjustifiablydealized.Rather,thequestion s: who s mobilizingwhat n thearticulationf thepast,deploying hat dentities,dentificationsndrepresentations,nd nthename fwhat olitical ision ndgoals?Negotiatingocations, dentities,ndpositionalitiesnrelationotheviolenceof neo-colonialisms crucial fhybriditys not to becomeafigure or he onsecrationfhegemony.s a descriptiveatch-all erm,hybridity er e fails o discriminateetweenhediversemodalitiesfhybridity,orexample, orced ssimilation,nternalizedelf-rejection,political ooptation,ocial conformism,ulturalmimicry,nd creativetranscendence.he reversal fbiologicallyndreligiouslyacist ropes- thehybrid,he yncretic on theonehand, nd thereversal f anti-colonialist urist otionsf dentity,n the ther,hould ot bscure heproblematicgency f post-colonialybridity.ncontextsuch s LatinAmerica, ationhood asofficiallyrticulatednhybriderms,hroughanintegrationistdeologywhich lossed ver nstitutionalnddiscursiveracism.Atthe ame ime, ybridityasalsobeenused spart fresistantcritique,or xample y hemodernistndtropicalist ovementsnLatinAmerica.As in theterm post-colonial, hequestion f location ndperspectiveas tobe addressed,.e. thedifferencesetween ybridities,or more pecifically,ybriditiesfEuropeansndtheir ff-shootsroundtheworld,nd that f ex)colonized eoples.Andfurthermore,hediffer-encesamong ndbetween hirdWorld iasporas, or xample, etweenAfrican merican ybridspeaking nglishntheFirstWorld ndthoseof Afro-CubansndAfro-Brazilianspeakingpanish ndPortuguesentheThirdWorld.Hybridity,ikethe post-colonial, s susceptibleo a blurringfperpectives.Hybridity ust e examinedna non-universalizing,if-ferentialmanner, ontextualizedwithin resentneo-colonialhegemonies.The cultural inquiry generatedby the hybridity/syncretismiscourseneeds re-linking ogeopoliticalmacro-level nalysis. trequires rticula-tion withthe ubiquityof Anglo-American nformationalmedia (CNN,



14/16

EllaShohat 111BBC, AP),as well as with vents f themagnitudeftheGulfWar,withitsmassivendtraumaticransfersfpopulations.hecollapse fSecondWorld ocialism,t shouldbe pointed ut,has not alteredneo-colonialpolicies, ndon some evels,hasgeneratedncreasednxiety mong uchThirdWorld ommunitiess thePalestiniansndSouthAfrican lacksconcerningheir truggle or ndependencewithout SecondWorldcounter-balance.The circulationf post-colonial s a theoreticalrame ends osug-gesta supercessionfneo-colonialismnd theThirdWorld ndFourthWorld s unfashionable,ven rrelevantategories. et,with ll itsprob-lems, he ermThirdWorld oes stillretain euristicalue as a conve-nient abel for he mperializedormations,ncludinghosewithin heFirstWorld. hetermThirdWorld s mostmeaningfulnbroadpoliti-cal-economicerms,ndbecomes lurred hen neaddresses hediffer-entlymodulatedpolitics in therealm of culture,the overlappingcontradictorypacesofinter-minglingdentities.heconcept f ThirdWorld s schematicallyroductivef it is placedunder rasure, s itwere, een as provisionalndultimatelynadequate.At this ointntime, eplacinghe erm ThirdWorld with he post-colonial s a liability. espitedifferencesndcontradictionsmong ndwithinhirdWorld ountries,he ermThirdWorld ontains commonprojectof (linked)resistanceso neo/colonialisms. ithin heNorthAmericanontext,more pecifically,t hasbecome term fempower-ment ornter-communaloalitionsfvarious eoples f olor. Perhaps,it is thissenseof a common roject roundwhich o mobilize hat smissing rom ost(anti)colonialiscussions.fthe ermspost-colonialand post-independencetress,ndifferentays, rupturenrelation ocolonialism, nd the neo-colonial emphasizes ontinuities,ThirdWorld sefullyvokes tructuralommonalitiesfstruggles.heinvo-cationofthe ThirdWorld mplies belief hat he sharedhistoryfneo/colonialismnd nternal acism ormufficientommon round oralliances monguchdiverse eoples. fonedoes notbelieve renvisionsuchcommonalities,hen ndeed hetermThirdWorld houldbe dis-carded. t is thisdifferencef allianceandmobilization etween heconceptsThirdWorld ndthe post-colonial hat uggests relationalusageofthe erms.Myassertionfthepolitical elevance fsuchcate-gories s neo-colonialism,ndeven hat fthemore roblematichirdandFourthWorld eoples, s notmeant osuggest submissiono ntel-lectual inertia, ut to pointto a need to deployall theconcepts ndifferentialndcontingent anners.In sum, theconcept of the post-colonial mustbe interrogatedndcontextualizedhistorically, eopolitically, ndculturally.My argumentsnot necessarilythat one conceptual frame s wrong and the otherisright, but thateach frame lluminates nlypartial aspects of systemic



15/16

112 Notes nthe Post-Colonialmodes fdomination,foverlappingollectivedentities,ndofcontem-porary lobalrelations. ach addressespecific ndevencontradictorydynamicsetweennd within ifferentorld ones.There s a needformoreflexible elationsmong hevarious onceptual rameworks amobile et ofgrids, diverse etofdisciplinarys wellas cultural-geo-political enses adequateto these omplexities.lexibleyetcriticalusagewhich anaddress hepolitics f ocation simportantot nly orpointingut historical ndgeographicalontradictionsnddifferencesbut lso for eaffirmingistoricalndgeographicalinks, tructuralnal-ogies, ndopenings or gency ndresistance.

Notes1. See, for xample,AijazAhmad,Jameson's hetoricfOthernessnd theNationalAllegory, 'ocial Text 7 (Fall1987);Arjun ppadurai,DisjuncturendDifferencentheGlobal CulturalEconomy, ublic Culture .2 (1990); RobertStam, Eurocentrism,Afrocentrism,olycentrism:heories f ThirdCinema, Quarterlyeview fFilmandVideo vol. 13, nos. 1-3 (Spring, 991); Chandra alpade Mohanty,CartographiesfStruggle:hirdWorldWomen nd the olitics f Feminismin ThirdWorldWomenndthePoliticsofFeminismd. byChandra alpadeMohanty, nnRusso,LourdesTorres(IndianaUniversityress, 991).2. Does that onditioncho the anguage fexistentialism,r s itthe choofpost-mod-ernism?3. The relationshipsetweenpost-colonial, post-colonialitynd post-colonialismhaveyet obe addressedmore igorously.4. Fora readingf therelationshipsetween ost-modernismndpost-colonialism,eeKwameAnthony ppiah,Is the ost- nPostmodernismhe ost-nPostcolonial?, Criti-cal Inquiry7 (Winter991).5. Bill Ashcroft,arethGriffiths,elenTiffin,heEmpireWrites ack: TheoryndPractice nPost-ColonialiteraturesLondon:Routledge,989),p.2.6. For a radical formulation f resistant ost-colonial ee GayatriChakravortySpivak, Poststructuralism,arginality,ostcolonialityndValue, n Literary heoryToday, eter ollier ndHelga Geyer-Ryands. London: olity ress, 990).7. Read for xample, achary ockman nd JoelBenin ds., ntifada: he PalestinianUprising gainstsraeliOccupationBoston: outh ndPress, 989), pecificallydward

W.Said, Intifadand ndependence, p.5-22;EdwardW.Said,Afterhe astSkyBoston:Pantheonooks,1985).8. This perspectivexplains heharsh epressionfmovementsn oppositiono theU.S.-Egyptllianceduringhewar. nfact,heCampDavidtreatys intimatelyinked otheOpenDooreconomic olicywith tsdismantlingfthe gyptian ublic ector. eferredto as the shadowgovernmentfEgypt,USAID is partly esponsibleor hepositionsEgyptianndmostArabgovernmentsook uringheGulfWar.9. The rigidmpositionf slamic aw in Saudi Arabia s linked oeffortso mask heregime'snti-regionalollaborationithmperialnterests.10. Gringostroikas the oinage fMexicanmulti-mediartist uillermoom6z-Pen~.11.For discussionsfthe post, ee for xample, obert oung,Poststructuralism:heEnd ofTheory, xforditerary eview ol.5,nos.1-2 1982);R. Radhakrishnan,ThePostmodernvent nd theEnd ofLogocentrism, oundary , Vol. 12 #1 Fall 1983);Geoffreyennington,Postal oliticsnd he nstitutionf heNation, nHomiK.Bhabhaed. Nation nd NarrationLondon& New York:Routledge,990)12. As thesenoteson the post-colonial reon theirwaytoprint, relevantrticleappearednTheNation, raful idwai, India'sPassage oWashington,January,0,1992.13. See for xample,Homi K. Bhabha, TheCommitmentoTheory, nQuestions fThird inema, d.byJim inesandPaulWillemenLondon:Britishilm nstitute,989);Trinh .Minh-ha,Woman, ative, therBloomington:ndianaUniversityress, 989).14. The post-colonial eplacementfthe ThirdWorld sambiguous,specially henpost-structuralist/post-colonialheoriesreconfidentlyeployedwith ittle nderstanding



16/16

Ella Shohat 113of thehistorical-materialegacy fcolonialism,eo-colonialism,acism,ndanti-colonialresistance.heseslippages avecontributedo facile ismissalsfFrantz anon'sformu-lations svulgar.15. On theBrazilianmodernistsnd theconcept f anthropophagy,ee Robert tam,Subversive leasures:Bakhtin,ulturalCriticismnd Film Baltimore: ohns opkinsUniversityress, 989.)16.Foranotherriticalonsiderationfhybridityndmemoryee also Manthia iawara,The NaturefMothernDreaming ivers, hird ext 3 Winter 990/1991).17.AijazAhmad nhis 'ThirdWorld iterature'ndtheNationalistdeology JournalofArts nd Ideas#17-18, une 989)offersn importantritiquef theusagesofThirdWorld ntheU.S. academy. nfortunately,e ignoreshe rucial ssue ofempowermenttakinglaceunderhe ubric hirdWorldmong iverse eoples f olor nNorth mericanintellectualnd cademic ommunities.

Polygrapha journal fculturaltudiesIssue 5: ContestingheNew WorldOrderSamirAmin Fredric amesonArjunAppadurai PeterMcLaren/RhondaammerSumanta anerjee Antonio egriArif irlik/Roxannrazniak AlanSinfieldBarbaraHarlow ImmanuelWallersteinandothers

Forsubscriptionsnd back issues,write:Polygraph rates fortwoissues):Bell Tower I Student 12Duke University Individual$15Durham,NC 27706 Institution25

SHOHAT-Notes on the Post-Colonial

Documents

Transcript of SHOHAT-Notes on the Post-Colonial