World Literatures in English世界英文文學與電影中的

South-East Asia

South AsiaAfrica

The Caribbean

移民

Fall, 2019 Kate Liu

Stories of Growth

Outline

■ Post/Colonialism? Let’s start with three pictures & a chart. . .

■ What are “World Literatures in English”? ■ Main Concerns:

– (de-)colonization; – Migration: civil war & diaspora;– identity à Stories of Growth

■ Difficulties and Relevance■ 2 examples from India ■ References

Post/Colonialism: Basic Definition

■ Colonialism ? – One people’s forceful control and

exploitation of another people, deprivation of their land, culture and identity, using military, financial and cultural power.

■ Decolonization as historical phenomena after WW II (Crash Course0:57~; https://www.voicetube.com/videos/3983)

■ Post – (1) “after, against & beyond” or (2) “after & because of”

Q: What do you think about these three images?

• Are they to do with

Colonialism, Postcolonialism or Decolonization? • If so, how?

Chiang Kai-shek

(中正紀念堂〉，《台北謠言》

阮義忠先生

攝 (1988)

■ 慈湖雕塑公園 ; since 2000 (see explanation here)

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall or 台灣民主紀念館 (2008)

聯合報記者曾吉松／攝影 http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NATS3/4162779.shtmlCheck this page

雙重殖民的悲哀與抵抗台灣大地文教基金會

Taiwanese Soldiers in and after WWII

Wars No. of Taiwanese Soldiers太平洋戰爭台籍日本兵

Pacific War (for Japan)207,083

國共內戰台灣兵（國民黨軍）

Chinese Civil War (KMT)約15,000

國共內戰台灣兵（共產黨軍）

Chinese Civil War (Communist) 約3,000

古寧頭大戰台灣兵

Battle of Guningtou不詳

韓戰台灣兵

Korean War不詳

八二三砲戰台灣充員兵

823 Artillery Bombardment將近40,000

Numbers of Taiwanese Soldiers in Different Wars

source

Yes and no.

■ Yes, because they mark three important changes in the usages of a sign of political (colonial?) authority and a group of people’s sense of identity.

■ No, because – KMT is not from a “foreign” country, while Japan is. – De-colonization is either impossible—or an ongoing

process, and Taiwan’s democratization is not yet well-developed.

■ Are we/you still “colonized”? ■ How is studying English literature connected

with colonization?

Ref. 20150825有話好說：日本曾經是祖國？台灣未對日抗戰？17:30

Controversies around the 70th Anniversary of End of WW II

■ When and Why was “China” involved in WW II? (1937/7/7 or 1939/9?)

■ On which side? – Former President Lee – on the

Japanese side– Former Vice President Lien – ?

Textbook Guideline

Controversies

-- KMT took over Taiwan or restore Taiwan? -- Japan ruled over Taiwan or colonized Taiwan?

English literature and Colonial Education

1. Colonial Education/Civilization = done thru’ missionary, medicine and literature, etc.

2. The purpose of colonial education: Macaulay: "We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect." (source)

3. In India: first the Bible, and then English literature, were promoted by the East India Company.

Examples of Colonialism & Partition of India 39:00; 43:00

Relevance to US:English literature and Colonial Education

India -- “Studying English literature was seen as a way of 'civilising' the native population. By 1835, this tactic was made law by the English Education Act, which officially required Indians to study in English and to study English literature. ” (Eaglestone 11)

Taiwan -- In Taiwan: translation of American Modernist literature in the 60’s. (reference:美援文化傳播下的現代主義文學)

Identity -- Colonization (or neo-colonialism) is inevitable, but we can be self-aware and selective in receiving its influences. One way to do it is to broaden our perspective and avoid US/Japan/Korea fever by understanding more cultures than just the dominant ones.

Basic Concepts in a postcolonial vein:

■ English ≠ British ■ American ≠ US ■ English (King’s English, Queen’s

English) à englishes

Q: What are World Literatures in English?

■ Two kinds of misunderstanding --a. English literature and b. World literature

■ Definitions (see course intro.)

Colonial World 1914: The Areas Covered?

Source:Atlasofcolonialism

Mapping World Literatures in English

Colonial Influences

South-East Asia?

■ South of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia (Wikipedia)

■ Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, North and South Vietnam, Malaya (Malaysia & Singapore), the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines.

■ Influences of India, China, France, Holland and the UK (earlier: Portugal and Spain)

■ ASEAN, formed in 1967

World Literatures in English: Major Concerns

■ 1. (De-)Colonization

■ 2. Civil War, Migration, Diaspora

■ 3. Identity + Language, Nation, Racial & Gender à Stories of Growth

Major Concerns (1)Colonization

■ What is it?■ Colonization= one

nation/people’s exploitation, control and possession of another nation/people on the levels of culture, politics and economy.

■ e.g. Triangle Trade; Slavery and Racism

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Physical and Cultural Colonization

Slavery & Racism

World Literatures in English

(Left) a boat for the Middle Passage;

Image source: Identity and Difference323

Example: (slavery) Mansfield Park

History of European Colonization in Brief –Beginning

■ From exploration to trade and invasion/settlement.

■ Columbus’s ‘discovery’ – 1492(Before him, some Vikings.) – à One in three of the indigenous

population of Hispaniola were dead within two years of Columbus’s arrival; in 30 years they had all been wiped out. (causes: disease [small pox], torture, imprisonment and mass suicide, Walder25)

■ (image source)The Effects of Smallpox Decimated The Americas When The Europeans Helped Spread the Disease in the 16th Century, As Depicted In This, The Florentine Codex

Q: Colonization:

Other Consequences?

Physical and Cultural Colonization

Slavery & Racism

World Literatures in English

(Right and Left) evidence for scientific racism; recent example The Bell Curve (1994) Image source: (right) Identity and Difference 308 (left) “scientific racism”

Major Concerns (1): Effects of Colonization

■ Unequal Power Relations– caused by and/or related to the

two above– between different cultures, men

and women, the colonizer and the colonized, the haves and have-nots, etc..

■ Stereotyping or Objectifying the Other influencing children

World Literatures in English

Example (skipped):

--The English Patient-- Sheltering Sky, -- Out of Africa, -- Heart of Darkness

Major Concerns (1): Effects of Colonization –Ref. Stereotyping the natives

■ We were wanderers on prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and excessive toil. But suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling, under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us –who could tell? (Heart of Darkness –to be cont’d)

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Effects of Colonization --Ref. Stereotyping the natives

■ We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were travelling in the night of first ages, of these ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign – and no memories. (Heart of Darkness 68 – 9)

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (1): Implicit Colonization

■ Dominance of English people (e.g. A Passage to India –The Bridge Party that

creates a gap)

■ Narrow definitions of English and Eng. Literature– white man’s burden (assimilationism)

■ (e.g. My Fair Lady—English Language)

■ “The Empire Writes back” --with englishes, parodies, distinct or a mixture of cultures.

World Literatures in English

Jamila Lyiscott: 3 ways to speak English

Major Concerns (2): Civil War, Migration and Diaspora (離散族群)

■ Civil Wars– Post-Emancipation (between poor

whites and ex-slaves) – Post- WW-II-Independence

Movements because of ✜ unfair racial distribution of power✜ government corruption ✜ neo-colonial intervention (Russia vs. US)✜ religious conflicts and fundamentalism

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (2): Civil War, Migration and Diaspora (離散族群)

■ Five kinds of Diaspora:– Ö Victim(e.g. Jews, Africans,

Armenians),– Ö Labour (e.g. Indian, Chinese), – Ö Trade (e.g. Chinese and Lebanese),– Ö Imperial (e.g. the British), – Ö Cultural diasporas—most of our

literary writers & some of our relatives and friends.

World Literatures in English

Source: Global Diaspora: An Introduction ix

Major Concerns (3):

Identity --Who am “I”?1. National, Cultural/Racial, & Gender

Identities-- are all influenced and challenged by colonization, civil wars and (multiple) migration– e.g. multiculturalism & double identity– e.g. “What is Worth Knowing”– “van Gogh’s ear”--meaning?

à (1) the signs of Indian culture; à (2) the “Western” signs of displacement à (3) the relatively innocent knowledge of science

and climate à (4) colonial influences

World Literatures in English

Major Concerns (3):

Identity --Who am “I”?2. Asserting one’s Identity thru’

– Language, Literature as well as Different Ways of Living and Acting.

– e.g. Caliban ““You taught me language, and my profit on 't /Is I know how to curse.”

– e.g. “Situation” (Ka. Naa. Subramanyam)Note: allusions Max Mueller Bhavan -- All the institutes

in India, is known as Max Mueller Bhavan – in honourof Max Müller (1823-1900), a scholar of comparative religion and co-founder of modern Indian studies. （author of Sacred Books of the East）

World Literatures in English

Situation

■

By Ka. Naa. Subramanyam-- Upanishads印度哲學書-- The Dance in India By Faubion Bowers1953“Sailing to Byzantium” (below)

Review: Course Title: (1) World Literatures in English

(see syllabus)English ≠ UK

American ≠ USForeign Film ≠ Hollywood FilmForeigners ≠ Americans

englishes ≠ King’s English

Postcolonial Literature: Main Concerns?

1. Cultural Colonization and its Impact on Race, Gender and Class Relations

2. Civil War, Diaspora and Global Migration

3. Identity --& its definitions thru’ Nation, Race, Gender, Class, Language & Social Action

World Literatures in English: Possible Difficulties & Relevance

■ Difficulties1. Language2. Culture and History3. Some “Postcolonial” Styles

■ RelevanceChinese Diaspora and Taiwan’s

experience of multiple colonization

Course Title: (2) Stories of Growth

1. Children: ■ vulnerable and receptive to influences of

their environment■ like an innocent mirror posed to society 2. Experience of growth(genre:

“bildungsroman”) ■ “turning points,” rite of passage (first day

of school, most embarrassing moment/lessons, wedding)

■ with thoughts and needs we can relate to.

Points of Access: Sameness & Difference àBuilding a context to connect

Turning Points

Involve – Causes, Chance and Choice – Dynamic, on-going– Changes in one’s life in a rite of

passage, growth or aftermath of a trauma

■ Telling a story of a Critical Turning Point: to make changes

■ See syllabus

CTP

Geopoli-tical

factors

C, G, T

CulturalSocial

Factors

C,C,C

Example 1: India’s Daughter (2015)

■ India‘s Daughter is a documentary film directed by Leslee Udwin and is part of the BBC’s ongoing Storyville series.

■ The film is based on the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh who was a physiotherapy student.(Wikipedia)

Example 2: Dangal (2016)

Timecode Note0:13:15wanting a son Culture

0:17:291st turning point-fighting the boys0:20:58 training starts0:35:20 complaints0:41:452nd turning point0:53:273rd turning point1:07:17winning sub-junior and junior

national champion1:58:21Commonwealth game (1)-

Melissaattack

2:04:21before Commonwealth game (2)-Naomi

defend

2:16:59father's encouragement-2:21:05The last match-Angelina

Compare and Contrast

■ What to compare? For instance, choose one of the themes – Main themes: colonialism, civil war, race/gender/sex/class

relations, childhood experience of family, education, folk belief, and migration.

– and compare the characters’ similarities and differences in their experience, responses, interpersonal relations, as well asthe text’s symbolic treatments of them.

--the focus can be on the characters, or a scene, or the texts’ language & skills.

■ How to compare: ❶ parallel arrangement of two texts, point by point, text by text;

■ ❷ Bring in two texts in your introd and then narrow it down to one of them, referring back to the non-selected text in the conclusion.

■ ❸ Either way, make sense of the differences and/or similarities.

Concept Map (1)

Issues of Post/Colonialis

m

Colonization

Slavery

Middle Passage

Racism

Cultural

Stereotyping

Orientalism

Global Marketing

Exoticism

Scientific Physical,

Neo-Colonialism

De-Coloniazation &

Migration

Civil War

Child Soldiers & Refugees

Diaspora

Identity

Race/Nation

Folk Culture

Witch craft & Voodoo

Racial conflict Hybridity

Gender/Class Language

Stories of Growth

Concept Map Produced with C-Map

Recommended online data visualization: Lucidchart

■ https://www.lucidchart.com/

References

■ Eaglestone, Robert. Doing English : A Guide for Literature Students. London ; New York Routledge, 2002.

■ Walder, Dennis. Post-Colonial Literatures in English: History, Language, Theory. Blackwell P, 1998.

■ Cohen, Robin. Global Diaspora: An Introduction. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1997.

Corrections!

■ Office: LA 116■ No. 0229052550■ Office Hours:

– Tues 4:50-5:30 – Friday 3:30 – 5:30