Post-colonial Writing

I think that Kumar, as a post-colonial writer has in many different ways achieved his own stated goals. While he was speaking of the migrant workers into the Gulf, he stated that the job of the post-colonial writer is to ensure that people on the fringes are not forgotten.

The fact that post-colonial writers have made it into a textbook is a great leap for seeing the unseen. This text will reach so many people, and hopefully as many as read it will take some piece of this text to heart. One part that I thought was really interesting was where Kumar talks about Ghosh and an Imam talking about world politics. This section of the text begins by making it seem that both of them have come on equal ground, and are just there to talk and expand their mutual knowledge. However, as soon as the discussion moves to "'guns and tanks and bombs,'" that respect is lost and it becomes an argument where both parties embrace their nationalism and begin to become hostile. I think this is an important fact to notice because too many times we become hot-headed about an issue, and instantly become defensive. for someone who is reading this from a post-colonial perspective, it was, as Kumar states, a defeat. Colonialism was all about domination and superiority, and as soon as their conversation turned down that lane, they became just as culpable as the colonizers.

Another part of the text that I was intrigued by was the part about the border crossing on page 501. I began to read, and after finding out the context, I looked at the picture. I was taken aback by the contrast in language. I thought it was a slap in the face to anyone of hispanic descent that their signs says "prohibido." This made me think once again of the differences that are inherent in people that speak a different language. Also, I thought about the dominance of English as a language in the world. I wonder what would have happened if the U. S. would have chosen a different national language. Many of our founding fathers spoke German, and what would the world be like today if German was the language spoken here, and as the consequence of history, internationally?

Finally, I was struck by the section dealing with the Texas judge ordering the mother that she had to speak only english to her child. I thought that this was an absurdity, and an abuse of the justice system. Who in their right mind would mandate a spanish speaker to speak in english, an order that they cannot fulfill? Oh, that's right, it was in Texas. I think that part of the idea behind post-colonialism reolves around cultures being free to express themselves, embrace their culture, and celebrate their diversity. In many ways however, the United States has colonized itself. Through systematic repression of culture, the U. S. has begun to weed out differences. Forced language, even as far as NCLB, has begun to make the diversity wither. Also, through our commercial culture; we are not handed mandates, but a template that if we do not fit in, we do not belong, we are outsiders.

Sorry, I think that might've gotten a little off topic. But I think that the ideas behind the post-colonial writers have been good ones. In recognizing the outsider, the unspoken for, or the unwanted, these writers are able to give those people a sense of hope. In a world that is fiercely independent, these post-colonial writers set up a place to begin a network for seeing each other through perfectly clear glasses. Not rose-colored, or sunglasses, but to give us a twenty twenty vision of where we, and the rest of the world stand today.