According to"Imperialism and Textuality", what are some defining characteristics of colonial literature? What is the value of discussing literature in this context?
One of the defining characteristics of colonial literature is the attempt by the writer to create and image for his readers of a new place, often by comparing it to one the readers already know. The literature is used to express to people back home what the new world is like. It also often masks the suffering of indigenous peoples by making them appear less than human and making it seem natural for them to die. It aims to keep sympathies with the author.
Discussing literature in this context is useful because it gives insight into the mindset of the colonizing people. While official documentation may not have been the best at the time, literature can provide an accurate portrayal of society's views at the time. It also can give insight into the importance of colonization.
Colonial literature is, or perhaps was, about as fantastic as a fairytale to the people of the colonizing country, so it's only natural for colonial literati to describe the far off land to their audience. Otherwise, the reader'd have no idea what sort of a place he was reading about. That's a given, but colonial descriptions are followed by colonial opinions.
In the context of The Tempest, we have studied how Strachey's men so feared the Caribbean and the Bermudan islands (Devil Islands!) It seems to me that even Shakespeare, by his choice of setting, seeks to convey a sense of wonder and foreboding. So, with everyone wanting to show how kooky the New World is, we can learn a lot about the opinions of the Old World.
I think of the quote from Inglourious Basterds, "Rumours? I LOVE rumours! Facts can be so misleading when rumours -true or false- are often more revealing." I think that's true as well and I think that's why colonial lit is important. We can take away historical opinions, and read a good book at the same time.
A defining characteristic of colonial literature is the occurrence of colonists trying to make the new land they have discovered very similar to their native country. The passage talks about how city names like New York, Windsor, or Newcastle appear all over the world. These new places weren’t necessarily exact European; they were to be similar to it and ruled by it. Another example would occur in Robinson Crusoe, in that the main character tries to turn his new habitat into a home similar to the one he owned in England, which relates to the idea that even though these new settlers were trying to assimilate the new land and culture into a European land and culture, the “New Europe” would be represented in a totally different way than was intended. The value of discussing this literature is important because it gives us more insight into the new cultures and lands these colonists were discovering, from the view of both the colonist and the native. By reading more of these texts, we learn more about the colonists’ views, thoughts, and ideas. With every new discovery of a field report written by a Provincial Commissioner in 19th century colonial West Africa, more is discovered about the colonists.
According to Imperialism and Textuality, there are a broad range of defining characteristics of colonial literature. Some of these include gamble and experimentation. Many colonial writings defined efforts to interpret other lands. The literature “created channels for the exchange of colonial images and ideals.”
The Temipist fits into the category of colonial literature as previously described. It is a play that describes the life of a past duke and his daughter on an unknown island. Many things about The Tempist are unnatural and surreal. Shakespeare can employ this fantastic image because his readers have not traveled to this island; therefore, they are more willing to believe wild things. The Tempist allows readers to open their minds to different images and ideals because it doesn’t take place in a familiar setting and the characters are not similar to acquaintances of the readers.
It is valuable to discuss literature in this context because it allows people to be more open-minded and not block out any ideas or concepts that seem strange to them. It also allows for the exploration of new, inventive ideas.
From my interpretation of "Imperialism and Textuality", I think the most prominent characteristic of colonial literature is its great descriptions. The author creates a different world for his readers in such a descriptive way that the reader will most likely be able to accurately depict the place in his or her mind. The value of discussing literature in this context allows students to understand what people of the time really thought about imperialism. It shows what they expected to find or did find as well as what they believed they should do with their new colonies.
What sticks out to me the most in this chapter of the book is, "colonists declared their intention to make a home, to begin a new history. Often the effect of their descriptions was to erase, either wholly or in part, the signs of other lives which had unfolded in that particular space." I believe in most cases that is what happens when colonists settle. They "create new worlds out of old stories." They can either completely disregard the ways of the natives, or they can use them to their advantage, like Prospero does to Caliban in The Tempest. He uses Caliban's knowledge of the island to benefit himself, then mistreats and abuses Caliban after seeing that his moral code and standards are not exactly what his were. Although Caliban was there first, he must live by Prospero's rules and interpretations of what is right and wrong.
In colonial literature, the explorer tries to explain what the new land he has discovered or seen to the people back home by relating it to a certain feature or monument back in the home land.The known world during colonial era was small. People in Europe only knew about Europe and people in Asia only knew what Asia was like. So the scribe had to use relative terms of explaining foreign terrain and people by what was known. An example is relating a mountain range in America to a mountain range in Europe such as the Alpes. This is so that people can get a clear picture of what the explorer was seeing. Another characteristic is descibing the native people in a new foriegn land as savages or cannibals. By calling the native people savages, the people back home would not feel the remorse of the horrid killings and torturing the native people. The value for the colonist or exploring explaining the new land and people as they did was for commercial purposes. If people were told how beautiful the land was and they could picture it, then more people would want to come over Europe over to the new world.
One of the defining characteristics of colonial literature is the attempt by the writer to create and image for his readers of a new place, often by comparing it to one the readers already know. The literature is used to express to people back home what the new world is like. It also often masks the suffering of indigenous peoples by making them appear less than human and making it seem natural for them to die. It aims to keep sympathies with the author.
ReplyDeleteDiscussing literature in this context is useful because it gives insight into the mindset of the colonizing people. While official documentation may not have been the best at the time, literature can provide an accurate portrayal of society's views at the time. It also can give insight into the importance of colonization.
Colonial literature is, or perhaps was, about as fantastic as a fairytale to the people of the colonizing country, so it's only natural for colonial literati to describe the far off land to their audience. Otherwise, the reader'd have no idea what sort of a place he was reading about. That's a given, but colonial descriptions are followed by colonial opinions.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of The Tempest, we have studied how Strachey's men so feared the Caribbean and the Bermudan islands (Devil Islands!) It seems to me that even Shakespeare, by his choice of setting, seeks to convey a sense of wonder and foreboding. So, with everyone wanting to show how kooky the New World is, we can learn a lot about the opinions of the Old World.
I think of the quote from Inglourious Basterds, "Rumours? I LOVE rumours! Facts can be so misleading when rumours -true or false- are often more revealing." I think that's true as well and I think that's why colonial lit is important. We can take away historical opinions, and read a good book at the same time.
A defining characteristic of colonial literature is the occurrence of colonists trying to make the new land they have discovered very similar to their native country. The passage talks about how city names like New York, Windsor, or Newcastle appear all over the world. These new places weren’t necessarily exact European; they were to be similar to it and ruled by it. Another example would occur in Robinson Crusoe, in that the main character tries to turn his new habitat into a home similar to the one he owned in England, which relates to the idea that even though these new settlers were trying to assimilate the new land and culture into a European land and culture, the “New Europe” would be represented in a totally different way than was intended.
ReplyDeleteThe value of discussing this literature is important because it gives us more insight into the new cultures and lands these colonists were discovering, from the view of both the colonist and the native. By reading more of these texts, we learn more about the colonists’ views, thoughts, and ideas. With every new discovery of a field report written by a Provincial Commissioner in 19th century colonial West Africa, more is discovered about the colonists.
According to Imperialism and Textuality, there are a broad range of defining characteristics of colonial literature. Some of these include gamble and experimentation. Many colonial writings defined efforts to interpret other lands. The literature “created channels for the exchange of colonial images and ideals.”
ReplyDeleteThe Temipist fits into the category of colonial literature as previously described. It is a play that describes the life of a past duke and his daughter on an unknown island. Many things about The Tempist are unnatural and surreal. Shakespeare can employ this fantastic image because his readers have not traveled to this island; therefore, they are more willing to believe wild things. The Tempist allows readers to open their minds to different images and ideals because it doesn’t take place in a familiar setting and the characters are not similar to acquaintances of the readers.
It is valuable to discuss literature in this context because it allows people to be more open-minded and not block out any ideas or concepts that seem strange to them. It also allows for the exploration of new, inventive ideas.
From my interpretation of "Imperialism and Textuality", I think the most prominent characteristic of colonial literature is its great descriptions. The author creates a different world for his readers in such a descriptive way that the reader will most likely be able to accurately depict the place in his or her mind.
ReplyDeleteThe value of discussing literature in this context allows students to understand what people of the time really thought about imperialism. It shows what they expected to find or did find as well as what they believed they should do with their new colonies.
What sticks out to me the most in this chapter of the book is, "colonists declared their intention to make a home, to begin a new history. Often the effect of their descriptions was to erase, either wholly or in part, the signs of other lives which had unfolded in that particular space."
ReplyDeleteI believe in most cases that is what happens when colonists settle. They "create new worlds out of old stories." They can either completely disregard the ways of the natives, or they can use them to their advantage, like Prospero does to Caliban in The Tempest. He uses Caliban's knowledge of the island to benefit himself, then mistreats and abuses Caliban after seeing that his moral code and standards are not exactly what his were. Although Caliban was there first, he must live by Prospero's rules and interpretations of what is right and wrong.
In colonial literature, the explorer tries to explain what the new land he has discovered or seen to the people back home by relating it to a certain feature or monument back in the home land.The known world during colonial era was small. People in Europe only knew about Europe and people in Asia only knew what Asia was like. So the scribe had to use relative terms of explaining foreign terrain and people by what was known. An example is relating a mountain range in America to a mountain range in Europe such as the Alpes. This is so that people can get a clear picture of what the explorer was seeing. Another characteristic is descibing the native people in a new foriegn land as savages or cannibals. By calling the native people savages, the people back home would not feel the remorse of the horrid killings and torturing the native people. The value for the colonist or exploring explaining the new land and people as they did was for commercial purposes. If people were told how beautiful the land was and they could picture it, then more people would want to come over Europe over to the new world.
ReplyDelete