English Post Graduate Degree Programme(Cbcs) Semester-3 Optional Course 3 Postcolonial Literature and Theory

ENGLISH POST GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMME(CBCS) SEMESTER-3 OPTIONAL COURSE 3 POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE AND THEORY SELF LEARNING MATERIAL DIRECTORATE OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING UNIVERSITY OF KALYANI KALYANI- 741235, WEST BENGAL COURSE PREPARATION TEAM 1. Sudipta Chakraborty Assistant Professor (cont.) DODL, University of Kalyani, West Bengal 2. Sri Suman Banerjee Assistant Professor (cont.) DODL, University of Kalyani, West Bengal Director’s Message Satisfying the varied needs of distance learners, overcoming the obstacle of distance and reaching the unreached students are the threefold functions catered by Open and Distance Learning (ODL) systems. The onus lies on writers, editors, production professionals and other personnel involved in the process to overcome the challenges inherent to curriculum design and production of relevant Self Learning Materials (SLMs). At the University of Kalyani a dedicated team under the able guidance of the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor has invested its best efforts, professionally and in keeping with the demands of Post Graduate CBCS Programmes in Distance Mode to devise a self-sufficient curriculum for each course offered by the Directoate of Open and Distance Learning (DODL), University of Kalyani. Development of printed SLMs for students admitted to the DODL within a limited time to cater to the academic requirements of the Course as per standards set by Distance Education Bureau of the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India under Open and Distance Mode UGC Regulations, 2017 had been our endeavour. We are happy to have achieved our goal. Utmost care and precision have been ensured in the development of the SLMs, making them useful to the learners, besides avoiding errors as far as practicable. Further suggestions from the stakeholders in this would be welcome. During the production-process of the SLMs, the team continuously received positive stimulations and feedback from Professor (Dr.) Sankar Kumar Ghosh, Hon’ble Vice- Chancellor, University of Kalyani, who kindly accorded directions, encouragements and suggestions, offered constructive criticism to develop it within proper requirements. We gracefully, acknowledge his inspiration and guidance. Sincere gratitude is due to the respective chairpersons as well as each and every member of PGBOS (DODL), University of Kalyani. Heartfelt thanks is also due to the Course Writers-faculty members at the DODL, subject-experts serving at University Post Graduate departments and also to the authors and academicians whose academic contributions have enriched the SLMs. We humbly acknowledge their valuable academic contributions. I would especially like to convey gratitude to all other University dignitaries and personnel involved either at the conceptual or operational level of the DODL of University of Kalyani. Their persistent and co-ordinated efforts have resulted in the compilation of comprehensive, learner-friendly, flexible texts that meet the curriculum requirements of the Post Graduate Programme through Distance Mode. Self Learning Materials (SLMs) have been published by the Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, University of Kalyani, Kalyani-741235, West Bengal and all the copyright reserved for University of Kalyani. No part of this work should be reproduced in any from without permission in writing from the appropriate authority of the University of Kalyani. All the Self Learning Materials are self writing and collected from e-book, journals and websites. Director Directorate of Open and Distance Learning University of Kalyani Optional Course III Postcolonial Literature and Theory CONTENTS BLOCK UNIT TOPIC PAGE CONTENT NUMBER WRITER I 1 1(a):Postcolonial Sudipta Poetry Chakraborty 1 (b): Features of Assistant Postcolonial Professor of Poetry English, DODL, KU I 2 2 (a): Jayanta Mahapatra: Life and Poetry I 3 3 (a) “Myth” 3 (b):“Traveller” 3 (c): “Deaths in Orissa” I 4 4 (a): Rajagopal Parthasarathy: Life and Poetry “Exile” 4 (b):Homecoming” II 5 5 (a): Life and Sudipta Works of Romesh Chakraborty Gunesekera Assistant II 6 6(a): Role of Professor of Memory in English, DODL, Noontide Toll KU II 7 7 (a): Use of language in Noontide Toll II 8 8 (a):Symbolism in Noontide Toll III 9 9 (a): Introduction Sri Suman to the play Dream Banerjee on Monkey Mountain by Assistant Derek Walcott Professor of English, DODL, 9 (b): Brief KU Introduction to the Playwright Derek Walcott III 10 10 (a): Stage Direction and Costume 10 (b): Dream on Monkey Mountain: Plot Overview III 11 11 (a): Themes and Use of Language 11 (b): Hybridity and Caribbean Identity 11 (c ): Use of Creole III 12 12 (a): The Dream Narrative 12 (b): Reactionary Nativism and Return to the Roots 12 (c): Character Analysis of two of the principal Characters in Dream on Monkey Mountain IV 13 13 (a): Sri Suman Introducing Banerjee Ngugi Wa Thiong’ O and his Assistant Decolonizing the Professor of Mind English, DODL, KU 13 (b): Reading Decololonizing the mind: The Argument for an African Point of View IV 14 14 (a): Doing Literature in the African Languages: The Afro-European challenges 14 (b): The Storytelling Tradition and the onslaught of Imperialism 14 (c): Theatrical Language and the African mind 14 (d): Writing Fiction in Africa: Problems and Possibilities IV 15 15 (a): Introduction to Franz Fanon: The Wretched of the Earth 15 (b): The Colonial World, Violence and Political Responsiveness IV 16 16 (a): The Marks of the Nation: Principles and Reality 16 (b): National Culture and Roadmap to Civilization OPTIONAL COURSE: 3 BLOCK I UNIT 1 (a) Postcolonial Poetry What does postcolonialism signify? Is it a kind of aesthetic and theoretical response that opposes and counters the discourse inherent in colonialism? Or is it a completely new discourse whose root is extremely grounded in the assertive ideology of Colonialism? The simply answer to all these questions is difficult to address without a proper understanding of the concept of colonialism. Like janus faced statue both the discourses and praxis of colonialism and postcolonialism are inextricably mingled with one another. Therefore I think it is important to grasp the concept of colonialism very well before beginning any further discussion on Postcolonialism. As a theory colonialism implies the discourse of the colonizer. The politics of expansion of colonies power structure and an unquenchable thirst for expanding the domination over other races or ethic identities can be generally called the quintessence of colonial discourse. The concept of power and the concept of “docile subject” both are integral part of the colonialist discourse. The concept of “docile subject” is being propounded by Michael Foucault. Foucault is a French theorist. By the term “docile subject” he implies the subject who is very submissive, meek, docile to the rules of the colonizers. It is the psychology of the colonizer to rule his kingdom where all his subjects are docile. Docility appears to be the key element of a colonized subject. In fact, docility turns out to be the integral part of power structure in the colony. As a counter discourse of the power the docility is needed to continue the reign of the colonial master. Postcolonial responses emerge with the intention of re writing the ideological moorings of the colonial master. The colonial master imagines himself as the embodiment of civility. He takes upon himself “the white man’s burden” to educate and civilize the barbaric natives. According to the perspective of the colonizer before the arrival of them in the native land history was non existent. It is stereotypical colonial assumption to perceive the pre-colonial era in a native land as a time devoid of history. Postcolonial response generates when the colonized subjects after long years silence re-writes back to the empire their stories of suffering, victimization, struggle and survival. Postcolonialism celebrates the individual identity and the struggle of each and every indigenous people who suffered much during the reigning time of the colonial master. As a theoretical practice, colonialism operates on several binaries. One of the remarkable binaries is master slave binary. The colonial master is powerful authority and his subjects, that is, the colonized subjects are slaves. There is a gendered reading nascent in postcolonial and colonial discourse. In colonial discourse, the colonizer is the masculine subject who asserts his authority and influence and all these shape and affect the lives of the colonized subjects to a large extent. The colonized subjects are being viewed from this gendered lens as feminine subjects. They need to be docile and submissive to each and every whim of the colonizer. The postcolonial writing appears as a kind of counter discourse of colonialism. It reinforces the potentials, possibilities and the power that are nascent in the postcolonial discourse. It is a vindication of rights on part of the victimized subjects who remain under the colonial power for a long time. In this module we are going to read five poems from Indian poets’ perception of postcoloniality. There before any further discussion about the poems specific reference should be mentioned about the features of postcolonial writing in general for a better understanding of the poems in your syllabus. UNIT 1 (b) Features of Postcolonial Poetry Postcolonial poetry that you have in your syllabus gives you the essence of postcolonial response which comes from two notable poets from India. They are R. Parthasarathi and Jayanta Mahapatra. Both of them are postcolonial poets whose writings give expression and voice to the repressed thoughts on behalf of the postcolonial subjects. Their poetry talks about nostalgia. The postcolonial subjects are nostalgic when they reminisce back their days of the pre colonial era. When the diasporic consciousness comes in the consciousness of the postcolonial subjects it becomes a prominent feature. They are nostalgic about their homeland. In the diasporic consciousness a sense of abjection works continuously. Eminent French Feminist Julia Kriesteva uses the “Theory of abjection” where one self abjects another self. It is really complicated to decide who abjects whom.

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