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 --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005