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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Colonial Elements In English Literature Syllabus At The Higher Education Level In Pakistan

Colonial Elements In English Literature Syllabus At The Higher Education Level In Pakistan

     The British came to India in early 1600s to establish trade relations with the East. The trading group came to be known as the British East India Company. They gradually set up trading posts in India. By the end of the 17th century the Company became strong militarily and took hold of administrative reins in the areas under their control. The Christian missionaries gradually started the process of religious expansion. Due to protests by the native Indians, English Parliament warned against the wide-scale conversion due to the work of the missionaries. Privately, though the British government had little qualms over this issue. The British used the tool of language to impose their superiority over the natives as English Literature was prescribed at the educational level in India in 1813 as a result of the passing of the Charter Act. The Charter stressed on the “charitable” nature of the British who were only working to promote the “interests and happiness of the natives” and were committed to the “moral and religious improvement” of the people. Significantly, the goal of “civilizing the natives” was hardly the motive behind these efforts at the academic and educational level. The British recognized the need of a discipline that would have a double stance toward knowledge and belief, empiricism and intuition, reason and faith. In that way, it would not be directly affiliated with Christianity and would also be catering to the ideals of modern education (1). The institutionalization of English soon developed into a tool of colonialism.
     One of the aims of introducing English Literature at the academic level was to develop an understanding of the Christian moral laws in the Indians. The British hoped that perhaps at some stage the native would question his own moral laws. English Literature became established as a discipline in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Due to the restrictions imposed on wide-scale conversion by the British Parliament, the missionaries were unable to carry on with their attempts of conversion of local people to Christianity openly. In the face of these restrictions, English Literature which was termed “liberal education” became the tool of control. Members of the Council on Education, Macaulay and his brother-in-law Charles Trevelyan who were required to prescribe the course chose texts that reflected the “benevolent” nature of Christianity. Gramsci argues that consent of the governed is secured primarily through the moral and intellectual suasion. This idea was at the centre of the British efforts to exercise control over the Indians. They believed that the colonized could either be subjugated by power or by the sense that the ruling power was superior to them and the welfare of the natives was at their heart. The British chose this non-violent way to colonize the Indians. The English literary text was believed to be perfect (2). The existing education system in the Indian sub-continent was dismissed and the British system of education was fully put into practice. All ancient Indian languages were deliberately ignored and kept under the shadow of English. The British wanted to mould the Indians in their culture-Indians who dressed like the British, spoke their language and agreed with their opinions. Yet they never for a moment forgot the racial differences which made the Indians infinitely inferior to them. Macaulay’s Minute dismisses the native education system present in India completely in favour of the British system of education (3).
     The British left their cultural mark in many of its former colonies. English Language has gained the status of a universal language, now spoken and read all over the world. This universality of English Language has made it a core part of curriculum in most educational institutions of the world. Although the English curriculum prescribed at most places in the world is hybrid in nature, the colonial nature of the language has not undergone much change. In many former colonies, the cohesive nature of English language has overshadowed the national and indigenous languages. National heritage of a country is very important and it is important that the people value it. National languages are a part of that national heritage. Historical values and attitudes are assimilated in the national languages. The national languages become a tool of passing those values to the people of a particular country (4). English literature is suffused with colonial elements. Many postcolonial countries where English is prescribed as a compulsory subject and is studied widely are at times confused regarding the interpretation of a text. This has led to the re-reading, re-interpretation and rewriting of texts. This is seen as the favoured form of resistance against imperialism by Edward W. Said. (5). Themes of suppression, subjugation and negation of rights are now being found in texts that have been read for years, but these issues have never been highlighted in their critical analyses. Different texts are now being read differently in various parts of the world. The interpretation of these texts is affected by the history, and cultural and religious beliefs of those places. For instance, Mill in his essay On Liberty does not condemn sexual acts as their condemnation will undermine a person’s freedom (6), but this is not the form of freedom that is desired by a conservative society like that in Pakistan where religious and moral laws are at the basis of everything. Shakespeare, who is considered the greatest playwright of all time and is known to have represented the English culture, is now seen as a person who was on the “civilizing” mission as well. Colonial and imperial elements have been discovered in plays by William Shakespeare, who is regarded as the greatest playwright of all time. Colonial attitudes are reflected in Antony and Cleopatra where East has been depicted as mysterious and unreasonable, and the West bound by the duty to enlighten it. The way The Tempest is read in Africa will be very different from its traditional English reading. The civilizing Prospero will be seen as a scheming, land-grabbing magician who robs Caliban off his right (7). How these texts are taught at different educational facilities in the world now depends on the historical and religious background of those places as well. Caliban will be seen as a victim who is robbed off of his land and forced to convert to Christianity by the African countries and other postcolonial countries.
     The nineteenth century English literary writings contain and convey imperial messages (8). Propagation of utilitarian aims is one aspect reflected in these writings. Imperialist nature and emphasis on Christian religion is found at the core of many writings of that period. In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill developed a theory of action which talked about relationship between inner freedom and political liberty. He favours intervention outside the empire. He puts England on a high pedestal and looks down upon countries like China which remained static for 5000 years. In fact the notion of “liberty” hardly appears favourable to him (9)(10). In Chartism, although Carlyle is talking about the English working class, his attitude is contemptuous towards them. He describes them as “dumb, deep”, and calls poverty “cancerous”, making the class divide obvious as he himself settled at a higher rung of the social ladder is unable to understand the working class. Carlyle looks down upon the working class and is unable to understand their problems. He is critical of the workhouses which provide free shelter and food to the poor. He feels they prevent them to go out and look for jobs. He does not take the possibility of lack of jobs and meager economic resources into account. He also fails to take into account the humanitarian aid that these workhouses are providing to the poor who would otherwise starve to death on the streets of London (11).
    The concept of a diasporic postcolonial subject can be seen in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. In the novel, Swift condemns the atrocities of the British against the Irish. The political set-up and the advancement claimed by the British has been satirized in the novel. Pride and arrogance are the dominant themes and Swift condemns them. Swift also throws light on the class divide that has occurred within the British society due to the political and scientific advancements. He feels that a great gulf has been created between the ruler and the ruled (12). Time and again, Gulliver reminds us that his is the voice of civilization (13). Gulliver is a true colonial at heart. Wherever he goes, he expects the locals to submit to him despite the fact that he is the ‘outsider’ there. There is only one instance where he is met with resistance and flees the land as a consequence. The desire to go back to his homelend England takes a backseat in the middle stages of the novel as all Gulliver is concerned with is gathering maximum resources and enjoy the sense of ruling over people who are weaker than him.   
     The tendency to be an imperialist is found in the unconscious of all societies. This idea is reiterated by George Orwell in his final work, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell believes that any society, even the British who are supposedly ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’, has the capacity to be an imperialist. He in fact recognizes the capability of the implementation of an advanced form of imperialism namely totalitarianism. In the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four one who can control a human being (usually by torture) is considered the most powerful. The image of a boot stamping upon a human face sends this message across in the most powerful way imaginable. Orwell believed that hope to relieve mankind of the cruelty of imperialism lay in the masses-“the Proletariat” as he calls them in the novel. He however does not talk about the need of power structures within the working class (14).
     In this analysis those texts have been used that are 


consciously or unconsciously propagating colonial aims. Despite 


having gained freedom from the colonial British rule 60 years 


ago, we have been unable to free ourselves from the imperialist

education that had been enforced upon us. The art of writing back 


is the best way to counter these colonial elements since that way 


the same story that has been told by the colonials is told by a 


local writer and the hidden imperialist agenda of the colonial 


“sympathizers” is revealed that way.

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