INTRODUCTION:
Colonialism is a new literary movement found in the literature of the
colonized countries like India, Pakistan, Africa, Australia etc. Colonial
literature expresses the voice of the colonized people (natives) against the colonizers
(Europeans). It mainly deals with the conflict between these two. Colonialism emerged as a literary
movement during the 20th century which served as the author’s weapon
to fight against the colonizers. As the freedom fighters like Shahid Bhagat
Singh, Shubhash Chandra Boze, Mahatma Gandhi etc. fought against the Britishers
for independence, Indian authors like Salman Rushdie, Raja Rao, R. K. Narayan
etc. also raised their voices against the Britishers by expressing the spirit
of independence, nationalism, patriotism in their literature.
MEANING OF THE TERM ‘COLONIALISM’:
The term ‘Colonialism’ comes from the root word ‘Colony’. The word
‘Colony’ was first used in the late Middle English period which is actually
from Latin word ‘Colonia’ meaning ‘Settlement’ and ‘Colonus’ meaning “a
cultivator, a planter or a settler in a new land”. Hence, colonization means to
‘establish a new settlement at someone’s territory and achieve power and
control over the natives’. Kohn has defined colonialism as under:
“Colonialism is dominating or conquering a territory and
involving the subjugation of one people to another.”
So we may say that colonialism means the act of dominating and
controlling of one nation or race over the other nation or race. This is done
for political or economic gain.
HISTORY OF COLONIZATION:
Colonization began during the 15th century when the pirates
like Columbus and Vasco De Gama started exploring the oceans and found new
lands like India, Africa, West-Indies, America and so on. The European Whites
started settling at these new countries and started exploiting the illiterate native
people. The countries like Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Spain, spurred on
by their competitive desire to acquire new lands and resources, had colonized
the whole of Africa, America, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean Islands,
the Middle East and many parts of Asia. However, there was a revolt against
this inhuman and undue colonization and it ended during the first half of 20th
century.
Westerns found that the Easterns are savage and tribal people. They
thought about upgrading the natives. They rejected religion, culture, language
and the ways of life of the original natives. But the questions is, “How did they get to know that they are better?” They
came with “White Supremacy” Rudyard Kipling wrote
a poem ‘White Man’s Burden’. They thought that
they are “the whites” and God has given them duty to refine “the blacks” and
“the browns”. Hence they started controlling and commanding the natives. This
gave birth to Imperialism or “Samrajyavad”. (extending boundaries, extending
political power.)
As a result of the colonization and imperialism, we have three ‘Indias’
now. - India before 1498 (Vasco De Gama), India between 1498 and 1947 (the
period of colonization) and India after 1947 (after Independence).
“What colonization causes is the identity crisis about one’s own culture.”
– Lupita Niong’O
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF
COLONIALISM:
ADVANTAGES:
1.
During the British Rule the missionaries
introduced education in African and Asian subcontinents by establishing mission
schools to educate the local people and helped them to learn more about their
land and culture.
2.
The Europeans
brought new technology. The natives were provided with tools for farming and
introduced new crops like maize and manioc from the New World.
3.
They built
more infrastructures like medical facilities, transport and communication
network and
4.
The natives learned
the languages of their colonial masters like English, French and Portuguese
which has given them more advantage to be able to communicate in the present globalized world without any difficulties.
5.
Social evils
like Sati Pratha were abolished during the British rule.
DISADVANTAGES:
1.
Some of the
negative effects are that the Africans were taken as slaves to the new world
and forced to work on the plantations without pay.
2.
The culture
was diluted, traditions were taken away and their ways of life were destroyed.
3.
The Europeans
took away most of their resources especially gold, diamonds, ivory and
agricultural primary products.
4.
The natives occupied
only the inferior positions of the colonial administration and never had
a say in the government of their own countries. Those employed by the
colonial administration felt proud and more superior to the others and it
eventually led to social inequality in the colonies.
MAJOR WRITERS OF
COLONIAL LITERATURE:
· ‘Heart of Darkness’ (1902) by Joseph
Conrad
· ‘Things Fall Apart’ (1958) by Chinua Chinua Achebe (the father of
modern African literature)
· ‘Season of Migration to the North’ (1966) by Tayeb
Salih
· ‘Midnight’s Children’ (1981)by Salman
Rushdie (Satanic Verses)
· ‘God of Small Things’ (1997) by
Arundhati Roy
· ‘The Prisonwood Bible’ (1998) by
Barbara Kingsolver
CONCLUSION:
We may summarize the whole discussion
with the following points.
1.
Colonization began during the 15th century and ended in
the mid 20th century all around the world.
2.
Colonial and post colonial literature expressed nationalism and
patriotism and literature was used as a tool to fight against the colonizers
for independence.
3.
Colonization around the world had its positive as well as negative
impact on the society, culture, religion, language and identity.
“I would say colonialism is a wonderful thing. It spread civilization to Africa. Before it they had no written language, no wheel as we know it, no schools, no hospitals, not even normal clothing.”
– Ian Smith
– Sukarno (First President of Indonesia)
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