POST COLONIAL LITERATURE AS THE LITERATURE OF MARGINALISED

Postcolonial literature as the literature of Marginalised

Introduction

In this essay I provide the multi polar dimensions of postcolonial literature. I seek to explore various notions, concepts, theories which are born out of postcolonial literature. It explains the various ideas and discussions related to culture and the literature with the perspective of postcolonial eye view. Postcolonial is both epistemological and epistemological category. How did occur the cultural transactions among the various countries and the different civilizations? The societies mingle each other and amalgamate the values between them and they cultivate new ideologies and the moral principles. That might have happened in the African and most colonized countries. Thus the culture is most discussed matter among the literary world of the discussions.

Literature of the marginalized

Colonialism again created the marginalization among the society. But the issue of marginalization and its process cannot be thrown completely towards the colonization but the process existed as the heritage of that country also. Bhabha (1994:171) sees postcolonial critique emerging from colonial

experiences. He argues:

Postcolonial perspectives emerge from the colonial testimony of Third World countries and the discourses of “minorities” within the geopolitical divisions of East and West, North and South. They intervene in those ideological discourses of modernity that attempt to give a hegemonic “normality” to the uneven development and the differential,often disadvantaged, histories of nations, race, communities, peoples. According to Young (2001:1-11, 57-69), postcolonial critique is concerned with the history of colonialism “only to the extent that history has determined the configurations and power structures of the present.”

As the tribal population of India is about one-sixth of the total population of the country” and yet the tribals in India have not been part of decolonization, even though “they have paid the price”. As it is denoted through the work of Mahasweta Devi. “Frames of Marginalisation in Mahasweta Devi’s Outcast: Four Stories” in this anthology that Mahasweta Devi’s stories can be read as “the voiced articulations of the tribal. Eventhough India has got freedom the society adivasi and others s the dalits still wait for the freedom. The writings of Kancha ilaiha clearly spoke about the marginalized society of India. Her words deeply analyze and reflection upon how the power structures that engender marginalization are replicated in the texture of the society of the marginalized.” Outcast: Four Short Stories deals with the fate of four women characters that, belonging to the ‘Other’ world, are doubly marginalized and looked down upon even by those who are usually regarded as marginalized in Indian society. The term colonizer denotes the power who dominate and the word colonized denote that the power which has gone under the domination or the process of the marginalization. These marginalization even effected the daily life of the common people.

In the drama Ubu and Truth Commission” a conversation between two characters shows how crucial was their common life.

Ma ubu: I see that prices are still rising.

Pa ubu: what rising?

Ma ubu: Today, everything costs an arm and a leg.

In the drama of Maeshe Maponya brought the labour issue in his drama “The Hungry Earth” as Beshawana says that: you are stranger, a foreigner. By your labour you merely repaid your debt to our country that extended its hospitality to you for two hundred years. Even the colonization reached the marginalizing till they threaten the survival of colonized countries.

As the colonization oppressed the people and dominated on them through various ways it caused to arouse remonstrations and protestations against the colonial powers. It is clearly picturised in all the three dramas. Jane taylor uses the human like puppets and the animal puppets to depict the protest through the action and the texts. The symbolical reference of the puppets is in a protesting manner against the agitation. In the drama of maponya the characters directly says to leave the country as Ushiviko says: Your are about to leave this country with all the wealth we sweated our lives for.

THE STRONG BREED

Wole Soyinka is a famous Nigerian play Wright who writes in a wide cultural perspective. He had put his role in the Nigerian fights for the political freedom and its democratization even he was arrested as a member of the political fighter of Nigeria. He worked as a professor and lecturer in various universities.

The “Strong breed” is a famous drama written by Soyinka. Major characters of the drama are EMAN, SUNMA, IFADA, GIRL, and JAGUNA. The story of the drama ends in a tragic feeling, and really it is a tragedy. The drama goes through the cultural aspect of the people who live in the Nigeria. The drama progress on the basis of traditional festival called EGUNGUN. It is a yoba festival tradition in which a man from the society became the victim of the society. The whole wicked deeds of a society are taken on the back of one man called EMAN. This play offer more thought than any another plays of Wole Soyinka. I co- read the works of Samuel Beckett and Francis Kafka who are the famous writers with the elements of absurdity in the writings, as in Waiting for Godoth and The Trial. In the drama strong breed wole Soyinka really approach the belief in myths in critical manner. The supernatural belief may cause for the fall down of the human being as he refers in the drama, sometimes it may destroy the family relationships and other personal relations as the character Sunma says to Eman that “I have renounced it; I am jaguna`s eldest daughter only in name”.

As I told that some of the philosophical elements exist in the play of wole Soyinka that is palpable in the conversation of the characters clearly. As Eman says that “there is love comes to me more easily with strangers”. Here the word strangers repeat whole through the conversation of Eman in the drama and it is used in a philosophical manner by picturizing the human being as a stranger to the world. The words of the old man explicitly go through a philosophical manner as he says that:”ours is a strong breed my son. It is only a strong breed that can take this boat to the river year after year and wax stronger on it. I have taken evils for over twenty years. I hope you would follow me”. Here the old man speaks about the philosophy of the scape goat who is the victim of the society and the prey of the social evils. I like to read the work of Khalil Gibran with the work strong breed. Man is picturized as a stranger to the world in the work while Gibran picturizes the man as a wanderer in the world until he finds the ultimate reality. The words of the each characters picturizes it well. Even though ifada is a human being he is considered as a wicked creature. Sunma calls him as idiot, foolish, insect such ugly words. The work of Gibran , the wanderer, picturizes the life of man as travel which goes on infinite. Like that the words in the drama also points out it clearly as Eman says that “there is peace in being a stranger” again he says that “Let me continue a stranger” again “there is peace in being stranger”.

However the drama deeply affects the heart of the reader as it goes in a flowing manner.

THE HUNGRY EARTH

NOUSHAD KH

MA ENGLISH &COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

First semester

Dr: KANIKA BHATRA

POST COLONIAL DRAMA

“THE HUNGARY EARTH”: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

“THE HUNGRY EARTH“

“THE HUNGRY EATH” the drama written by ‘Maishe Maponya’ is a picturization of African issues which were blatant in the world. The drama is a great example for the picturisation of the real world and taking the literature as a social tool. Really the arise of the postcolonial literature may be the result of the various thoughts and the discussions which arouse in various countries which were under poverty and colonization and the countries which were called as third world countries as I understand from the view point of” THE HUNGRY EARTH”. Various blazing issues as race, ethnicity, imperialism, colonization, economic inequality, apartheid system were the major issues which were discussed by the drama deeply. The consequence of the colonization and the imperialism was so drastic and ferocious eventhoug they might have impacted positively. The thought of Bernard Bretch as taking the literature as social tool really influenced the thought of Mashie Maponya deeply. Even the title ‘THE HUNGRY ……’ means not only the hungry of the apatite but also the hungry for the freedom from every bondage. The bondage under the white man brought by the author was clearly drowned in the words as MATLHOKO says: unfortunately, blacks can never be spectators of white creations but victims. Here the manifesto of the victims created well by making the role of the black people as victims forever. The theory of fighting for the existence is deeply analyzed by the drama. The words of BESHAWANA explicitly denote it as he told: “Let us throw stones then. We must put up a fight”. The fight is for the existence is denoted here. The economic problems such as the wages for the workers were and the labour issues were denoted through the drama widely as we could see in the words of the characters of the drama. SETHOTHO says: “we can’t work for so little money”. The real bondage under the colonization was felt to the people because they were not permitted to work in their own earth without the permission of the imperialists as it said by USIVIKO in the drama: “Most of us were requested to produce passes and permits. Those who failed to produce spent two weeks in jail and were deported to their respective homes on their release”. By the consequence of the imperialism and the colonization even the children were compelled to work in the fields. The apartheid system of the land owner ship and the bondage of the black people were brought by the author well through the drama well. The industrialization and its effects on the poor countries as making the unemployment and such difficulties are also pointed out by the author well. As we could see in the words of compound manager:” look at these fools. Didn’t you hear the machine”. Thus the drama really prepared as a picturesque of the Africa which was under many problems. But the lack of the recognition about the world, age, time of the African people was brought by the author as the characters answer to the question of the visitor: how old are you? The age becomes unknown to them. The problem of identity crisis is thoroughly discussed by the author throughout the drama completely. The loss of identity which by the lust of foreigners on the citizens of a country and by the domination which makes them far away from their own culture and tradition lead to loss of their existence. Throughout the drama we can see the survival of the fittest, the white man on the blackish Africans, where the African people loss their own existence. The author is deeply discussing the cultural clash and the bondage of a society under the domination of foreigners. But the mourning and the cries of the people are put far away from the humanity.

While we discuss the structure of the drama we can understand that the drama is prepared with its structure well. It includes the parts as prologue to give an introduction about the drama. And the starting of the drama in the prologue which starts by a song that it might be prepared to show on the stage. But the unity of the place not kept by the dramatist. The various happenings take place from various places. Drama is divided into various scenes and acts to simplify the action and for the grasping of the audience. At the end of the drama the epilogue is also given by the dramatist. The narrative technique of bringing the song between the dialogues is an interesting of presentation. The songs are used to capture the emotion or the heart feeling of the audience or the reader whole through the drama and the songs are given after making the emotion of the reader in the zeneath of the feeling and emotion.