File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2000/postcolonial.0007, message 115


Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 17:36:33 -0400
Subject: Re: East is east
From: "Lisa Anne McNee" <lm23-AT-qsilver.queensu.ca>


I haven't seen the film, so my response to this discussion might be a bit
off. However, what I notice is that everyone seems to agree that it is
"wrong" for the playwright to criticize Pakistani patriarchy, although it is
"right" for him to criticize British racism. Why is one culture above
criticism? Should we like everything about a particular culture, or can we
assume that, as with most things, there are flaws as well as virtues in both
Pakistani culture(s) and British culture(s)?
Furthermore, must we assume that the characters in the movie are nothing but
symbolic representatives of their respective cultures? Is it possible for us
to see them as people caught up in personal dramas as well? Lisa


----------
>From: Priti Joshi <pjoshi-AT-ups.edu>
>To: postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
>Subject: Re: East is east
>Date: Fri, Jul 14, 2000, 4:44 PM
>

>Salil wrote: 
>>
>>East is East is written by a Bangladeshi-British playwright, Ayub Khan Din. 
>>He was born in the UK, and is in his 30s. And no, he is not white. The play 
>>was produced first; the film followed. So how th Spivakism, of white men and 
>>brown men and women apply here, is a mystery to me. But then I am not an 
>>academic.
>>
>
>The best non-academic explanation I can provide is: many in the South Asian
>community speak disparagingly of others in their community as "cocconuts:
>brown on the outside, white on the inside."  
>
>More "academic" explanations are provided by Fanon among many others....
>
>Priti Joshi
>Department of English
>University of Puget Sound
>1500 North Warner St.
>Tacoma, WA 98416
>Ph: (253) 879-3286
>Fax: (253) 879-3500
>email: pjoshi-AT-ups.edu
>
>
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>


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