File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1996/96-07-14.151, message 210


From: TABRON-AT-BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 22:55:57 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Masculinity


Frank Njubi writes:

Julian:
>
>way to go dude! 
>i see you've discovered the extreme intolerance of some 
>of the "postcolonials" on this list. the creed here is: thou shalt not 
>critique the gurus esp. spivak & rushdie; whatever they say/write is 
>sacred esp. if it's in the holy gibberish code. you made the error of 
>unmasking (brilliantly) both of them and you are now paying the dues. 

>peace 

Are Spivak and Rushdie really nothing but gibberish? (I think you forgot Said,
who forms the third of the holy trinity. Probably something imperialistic about
the fact that it's a trinity.) I think there is a tendency for postcolonialists
currently to sort of worship these writers -- on one side that seems only
reasonable, since they founded a certain postcolonial sensibility, but on the
other hand it seems _un_reasonable when it's pursued to the exclusion of all
other thinkers in the field.

I for one have found this list very interesting because it DOESN'T confine
itself to those writers -- I've learned a lot about theorists that I find
extremely interesting (like Mohanty) and writers I would never have otherwise
been introduced to (my university only recently acquired a "postcolonial"
literature specialist, and that unfortunately after my class-taking days were
over.) 

I thought Julian raised some interesting issues (about Rushdie, anyway) but
didn't think that anyone was particularly "unmasked". Is there something about
Spivak I don't know? Does she really purport that she herself is the
incarnation of postcolonial theory, bar all others? 

Meanwhile, I'm looking for discussion on Patrick White and happily skimming
along.

Judith Tabron
Brandeis University
tabron-AT-binah.cc.brandeis.edu


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