WHY ARE YOU HERE?

• Why are you here? Think and discuss?

• As a percentage how British are you and explain your answer?

Colonialism and post colonialism

LO: to explore the effects of colonialism and apply post-colonial theory to our

British Asian case studies.

Colonialism • Before we can understand post colonialism we need

to ask what colonialism is?

• Colonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people based elsewhere. It can also take the form of subjugation of a minority culture by a majority culture. Colonialism is often linked with the concept of imperialism.

• Task: Discuss- who were the countries listed below colonised by?

• Senegal• Brazil• South Africa• Canada• Philippines• India

‘Avatar’.

What is the film saying about the idea of colonisation? What about the choice of Afro-American actors to play the Nabi.

The Colonies in the 19th century

Map of the British Empire- circa 1890s

The British Empire- a bit of history• The British Empire comprised of the colonies, ruled and administered by the

United Kingdom.

• These had originated as trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

• At its height in the early 20th Century, the British empire was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power.

• By 1922, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, one-quarter of the world's population at the time.

• As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.

• During the remainder of the 20th century, as part of a larger decolonisation movement by European powers, most of the territories of the British Empire became independent.

• Fourteen territories now remain under British sovereignty including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.

Do now recap.

• Watch this extract from ‘Yasmin’.

• How can you relate the idea of colonialism to the clip?

• What key terms could you use in relation to the clip?

Colonialism and Imperialism

• A colony is part of an empire and so colonialism is closely related to imperialism.

• The assumption is that colonialism and imperialism are the same, however some suggest that imperialism is the concept while colonialism is the practice.

American cultural imperialism

• For example there is no doubt that currently the US is the culturally dominant force in the world so it could be said that most of the world is dominated by American imperialism. However America has no actual colonies or territories that it governs.

• Therefore American Imperialism or ‘Americanisation’ as it has come to be known, is conceptual not a practical ‘taking over’ of another nation or culture.

The legacy of the British Empire• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWedTbuAtR4&feature=related&safe=active

• Task: what have been some of the consequences of the British empire for the countries it governed?

• Change of language.• Parliamentary, legal and education systems.• Imposing British values.• Place Names (the Australian states for example-

Victoria, Queensland etc).• Ruled by monarchy/elite ruling classes.• Immigration to the mother country.

An image of two ‘punkawallahs’ (Indian servants) who would care for their white British masters during the time of the empire.

What would Marxists say?

An image of the touring West Indian cricket team of 1906. Note the number of white British players and the seating arrangement!

Why a split team? What would Marxists say?

Marxist criticisms of colonialism

• “Colonialism is an instrument of wholesale destruction, dependency and systematic exploitation producing distorted economies, socio-psychological disorientation and massive poverty “

• This is the Marxist view of colonialism. They viewed it as a form of capitalism, enforcing exploitation and social change.

• Working within the global capitalist system, colonialism is closely associated with uneven development.

Back to ‘East is East’

• How is the legacy of the British Empire evidenced in the clip?

• How does the Marx quote relate? Why did George come to the UK?

• Think about key words in the quote ‘dependency’, ‘destruction’, ‘disorientation’.

Returning to the ‘mother country’

• How were the first wave of immigrants treated in the UK?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbNH4JBQiSY&safe=active

Decolonisation and Immigration

• By the 1960s most of the British Empire had been dismantled allowing nations to become independently governed or decolonised.

• After the second world war, Britain was rebuilding its economy and called for many of its colonial nationals to come over to the UK and work.

• The first wave of mass immigration came in 1948 from the Caribbean, most famously on the ship the ‘Windrush’. By the early 1950s over 1 million were in the UK.

• A second wave of large immigration came in the late 60s/early 70s from the Indian sub continent ( India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka). There were also a number of people of Indian origin who came over from Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

The Second Generation• This bring us up to date. Those born in this country but

with immigrant parentage are often referred to as ‘second generation’.

• Some of you might well be ‘third generation’ African, Asian or West Indian as your parents may well have been born in the UK.

• Think back to our earlier discussions. As a percentage, how British did you consider yourself?

• Now consider a colonial. How British would a young boy living in Kingston or Bombay in the 1920s feel?

Post colonialism• Post colonialism is a discourse- a way of

theorising and debating issues in the same way as feminism. It examines and analyses the cultural legacy of colonialism.

• Post colonialism comprises a set of theories found amongst philosophy, political science, sociology, theological studies, literature and the media.

• The goal of post-colonialism is to understand the effects of colonialism on cultures. It about learning how the world can move beyond this period together, towards a place of mutual respect.

• What’s the difference between nationality and ethnicity?• Name 3 factors that contribute to a person’s ethnicity?• What does cultural imperialism mean?• What does Multiculturalism mean? 

• What does second generation mean?

• Name two aspects of traditional British society that have been affected by multiculturalism.

• What are ethnic niche markets? 

• How would we define cultural hybridity?

  

• Frantz Fanon: father of post colonial theory

• Many theorists have emerged to discuss issues of colonisation and identity and perhaps the most notable is Frantz Fanon, a philosopher from the Caribbean island (and French colony) of Martinique.

• Whilst living in France, Fanon wrote his first book in 1952, ‘Black Skin, White Masks’, an analysis of the effect of colonial subjugation on humanity.

• Fanon was a key supporter of the ‘Négritude’ movement which highlighted consciousness in racial difference, a sort of black power movement. This movement was seen as a means to achieve equality and remain under French rule without losing one’s identity through assimilation.

Post Colonial theory- Frantz Fanon

• Fanon said this about colonisation…….

• “Colonisation is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it”.

• Lets decode the quote.• There are obvious links with what the Marxists said.

Another view- Stuart Hall• Stuart Hall is a Jamaican born cultural

theorist and writer who published a number of works on identity and ‘diaspora’ in the 1970s and 80s.

• Hall states that culture and identity for second generation colonials has changed…

• “Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in the past, they are subject to the continuous‘ play' of history, culture and power”.

• Hall seems to be suggesting that when cultures mix into a hybrid form, the original culture becomes more explicit with a greater sense of being different, “this idea of otherness as an inner compulsion changes our conception of 'cultural identity‘”.

• Hall states that in his native Jamaica, Jamaicans did not really start identifying with Africa and being of African slave descent until the 1970s and the emergence of ‘Afro-centric thinking’ and Rastafarianism, to be heard in reggae and the music of Bob Marley.

• The ‘constant transformation’ of identity is key to Hall’s work. He doesn't see identity as being fixed. For Hall identity is constantly evolving and there is no such thing as one shared culture as culture itself is so fragmented, particularly in Africa and the Asian sub continent where there are different tribes, religions and languages.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI&feature=related

Applying post-colonial theory

• Task: In groups look at the Marx, Fanon and Hall quotes and attempt to apply them to the opening to the film ‘Yasmin’.

• Make notes.

• Now do the same for the opening of ‘East is East’.

Fanon

• “Colonisation is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it”.

Hall

• “Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in the past, they are subject to the continuous‘ play' of history, culture and power”.

• How can Hall’s ideas be applied to the opening of Yasmin?

Incorporating theory into your essay

• Make your point first…• Many examples of contemporary British films that

represent Indo Asian culture centre around the merging of British western culture and traditional Indo-Asian cultures or what is known as cultural hybridity…

• Evidence:• In the film ‘Yasmin’, this is evidenced from the

opening sequence….• Explanation: This reinforces Hall’s post-colonial

discourse whereby culture ‘undergoes a constant transformation’….

Marx

• “Colonialism is an instrument of wholesale destruction, dependency and systematic exploitation producing distorted economies, socio-psychological disorientation and massive poverty “

Gilroy

• ‘Black culture articulated diasporic experiences of resistance to white capitalist culture’.