Date: Sun, 08 Nov 1998 18:19:40 From: pons <pons-AT-univ-tlse2.fr> Subject: Re: Multiculturalism/Postcolonial Both terms may be relevant in certain contexts (Australia is both postcolonial and multicultural), but not in others. Spain is multicultural (what with the Catalans, Basques and other ethnic groups) but not postcolonial. Nauru is postcolonial but not multicultural. 'Postcolonial' refers to those societies which were once (usually fairly recently) the colonies of another power (though I'd argue for a wider definition, one applicable to such countries as the US or France, which are or were imperialistic powers, but colonialism works both ways and affects both colonisers and colonised, if only through the mergence of diasporas), while 'multicultural' applies to ethnically diverse societies - in practice, most societies (though in a more limited sense it means those countries such as Canada which grant official recognition to this diversity). There are clear practical connections between the two concepts, as colonialism often brought together, under the aegis of the colonising power, a variety of ethnic groups which after independence found themselves citizens of the one state (e.g. Nigeria). Colonialism led to transfers of populations, either from the metropolis to the colony (South Africa, New Caledonia, etc.) or from one colony to another (the Indian communities in Fiji or the West Indies). In both cases, this resulted in the emergence of multicultural societies. Conceptually, the connection is harder to grasp. To the extent that colonialism is the imposition of an alien culture on a given society, it does tend to produce culturally diverse or hybrid societies. But if this hybridity is the same for the whole society, I'm not sure this warrants the 'multicultural' label. Thus, I'd say India is multicultural because it is home to a variety of ethnic groups, rather than because the culture of most Indians reflects both their traditional heritage and the British heritage. In fact, the experience of colonisation has made a number of countries ill-disposed towards cultural pluralism, as they try to restore their traditional culture in all its original (and mythical) purity (cf. Hindu and Muslim fundamentalism in the Indian subcontinent). I'd like to hear more on this question. Prof. Xavier Pons Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail (France) pons-AT-univ-tlse2.fr --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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