File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1998/postcolonial.9804, message 10


Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 18:59:31 -0500
From: Keith Alan Sprouse <kas3f-AT-virginia.edu>
Subject: Who is "us?" WAS: the enemy and they is us


Judith Tabron wrote:

>A potentially naive response, feel free to flame:
>
>I agree with you, Richard, that it's tough to figure out how we can be both the
>"enemy" and "us." Nonetheless, I can't question the fact that in all practical
>reality (such as reality may be,) I know perfectly well that I am the enemy and
>I know just as well that I am us.

This whole thread, to my mind, sums up the limits of the ability of
postcolonialism to serve as more than an incredibly vague and general
catch-all that usually means, in the US academy, literatures that aren't US
or European. Even the US part is up for grabs, as some argue that the US, as
a former colony of England, can be seen as being postcolonial. And in the
strictest defintion of the term, of course, they are correct. But once we
allow for that, it would seem that any possible attention to political
issues gets tossed out the window. And I, for one, think that's a bad thing.

No doubt Arif Dirlik puts it much better in the introduction to _The
Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism_: 
        "It is difficult to say where postcolonialism belongs on a global 
        map, since its proponents claim it to be applicable to all 
        societies that have experienced colonialism, that range from 
        the formerly colonial societies of Africa to the United States."
Unfortunately I have only had time to briefly look over the book, but I
can't wait until I can dig into it this summer.

At any rate, I just thought that I'd add my bit.

Keith

 
____________________________________________________

Keith Alan Sprouse		e-mail:  kas3f-AT-virginia.edu
New World Studies		office: 804.924.4626 
Department of French	fax:  804.924.7157
University of Virginia		home:  804.243.4306
Charlottesville, VA 22903	http://www.people.virginia.edu/~kas3f



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