Postcolonial literary theory

Подписаться 16 тыс.

Просмотров 1,6 тыс.

50% 1

Postcolonial literary theory is one of the most influential but also heterogeneous of literary theories. It traces its view of human nature, which I argue is one of the key points of animus to its advocates, back to Hegel and his representation of human consciousness in terms of a "master-slave dialectic". This understanding underlies what to my mind is a defective view of human nature, and has led to the 'crisis of the human sciences', a crisis of self-legitimation. I speak of the Christian notion of personhood as a better solution to the problem of a dehumanizing portrait of human nature that 'Orientalists' like Edward Said locate (and I believe often misread) in writers like Goethe and Sir Walter Scott.
In the end, postcolonialism is inextricably linked with Cultural Marxism, and its devotees repeatedly cite the influence of writers like Antonio Gramsci, Georg Lukacs, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. But the dehumanizing notion of self-other that is foundational to the discourse of grievance of the left is less a historically-accurate portrait of Western culture than it is a feedback loop of discontent with a view of human nature from Hegel that would be overcome if it were discarded.
❤️ If you find my channel helpful, become a channel member: / drscottmasson

Опубликовано:

27 июл 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 26

@joeroganconnoisseur7364 3 года назад

You spoke the truth.

@n.p.k7977 2 года назад

After watching this video, the RU-vid algorithm accosted me with an advertisement for an app that promises to enable its costumers to master the American accent.

@LitProf 2 года назад

That is very funny

@yassineberguita1647 2 года назад

Hello Dr Scott, I would like first to thank you for your lectures which are really helpful and make me feel lucky to attend. However, I would be happy to comment on some misleading ideas you have uttered. As a starting point, defining Islam as supermacist is, incontrovertibly, supermacism per se. Defining a divine source as supermacist is absolutely unacceptable and I ask you sir to be more neutral and tolerant during your lectures, and if you wanted to utter a particular claim, please mention some examples or arguments. Furthermore, regarding slavery and subjugation, this, vividly, has nothing to do with Islam to stand on as an example of what so called supermacist. Very numerous civilizations had imposed slavery on people unlike Islam which basically appeared in a society full of enslavement, but it organized it through strict conditions among which the slave's rights were well established. Additionaly, we still employ maids even nowadays, is it slavery? I think you mix up between Islam and their adherents. I ask you sir to see what Islam had brought to the western society (Architecture, Law, Science, etc...) and how it took the western society from dust and dirt to the light and, literally, civilized it. Now, academically speaking, You are a scholar who is supposed to be before all a researcher, the words you said have two approaches: 1 You did not make enough research 2 you are biased with all matter of respect accept my comment!

@LitProf 2 года назад

I am not even sure why the statement about supremacism is even controversial. The Koran is written in Arabic and is not supposed to be translated. The Haddeeth have a similar standing. This has a cultural effect. Slavery has never been abolished and is regulated, as you say. Aren't you making the same point?

@kashifjamshaid2678 2 года назад

Islam is the religion which encouraged and emphasized on freeing slaves 1400 years ago when the world did not even have idea of human rights. How????? In Quran, the religious scripture of Islam, the punishment for many crimes was to free slaves. It was basically laying foundation towards slavery free world.

@mikekimveteran 3 года назад

You do not mention the marriage of colonizer and missionary. The colonization is part of the sinful history of European imperialist countries. The Postcolonialist thinker looks at many expressions of history. They seek to create meanings from history that explain how colonies influenced the colonized. So, the early texts in PostColonialism Albert Memmi Colonizer and Colonized (1957) . Fanon's great piece in the Black Skin White Masks (1952) was an important body of work. PC was not coming out in the 60s. It was already coming out in many expressions before the 60s. Know that Fanon was seeling a new humanism. He studied perception with Merleau Ponty... The understanding of self was coming from Sartre. So, also, personalism is a huge philosophy for Fanon. The basis for Postcolonialism is looking at meanings tied to Empire, conquest, living as a colonized in Empire. I was in Iraq, hmmm. Sunni and Shia sects of Islam are not just distinguished from language. Hmm, your generalizing of cultural Marxism is off. Gramsci was a reaction to Italian Fascism. It was meant to study the reasons, motivations for how fascism took over. You generalize about the Frankfurt School. These critical thinkers developed the New School of Social Research in NYC. Columbia was not the bastion of the critical thinkers Your use of Hegel is not clear. Hegel never uses thesis, antithesis, synthesis. I think Fichte frames the three movements. You have gone into another direction. These POCO thinkers are not caught up with Hegel. Derrida is questioning meaning. This is what inspires many PC thinkers. He even trashed his own teacher Levi Strauss... 1968. He does not look at master/slave...He is looking at how texts are written and what are they saying on many levels, not just in simple French Semiotics. Hmm, you could have said more on Sassaure and how Derrida breaks from structuralism and moves into post structuralism. Many of the PC thinkers look at Derrida and others. Not just Foucault and Lacan. Many of these folks are looking at texts from their own reality and histories. For example Guha , Nandy , Spivak are focusing lots on Indian politics. Hating the West is not an obsession. It is more of a thing of seeing how the West disrupted Indian life and tradition. It is more of a huge inductive project they are pursuing to also help improve lives. So, is it wrong to point out the oppression of the Brit East India Company on Indians esp in 1857 Sepoy Rebellion. Most of Brit troops were Indian were made to use ammunition that had the fat of pigs and cows. Hmmm, can see how that could affect the life of an Indian Muslim or Hindu soldier. Is it so bad to study these things? They point out how the Brits bought off local leaders to rule over the populace. Is that bad to explore? The PC thinkers blame the corrupt Indians and the Brit colonizer. Many issues to be studied. I was a Dominican Friar and I can tell you many things about the sin of slavery that was promoted by colonizer. You are looking at one type of Christian history. Marcuse looks more into Freud and yes Marx, but other thinkers. Marcuse studies American culture and yes, desire/sex are themes in his research. But, he looked at American entertainment culture and how it has been influential on the American mind. That commercial materialist mass fabricated mind focuses on the commodities of the 50s via the entertainment on sexual and fantasy messaging (to sell products )on many American televisions. Here, keeping Americans animated from looking at the acute realities of daily life and the important current events like McCarthyism, the.dangers of Cold War, etc. became lost priorities for most. So what is the problem of Marcuse? He escaped a totalitarian Fascist regime of cowards in Germany where the masses were under self control and mass ideology. Marcuse, Adorno, Horkheimer, escaped and saw some of the dangers of the masses here as it was in Germany.... Numbed out by tv, etc. May we let go of bias and look at the Gospel of love... This involves truth.

@mikekimveteran 3 года назад

Many Post Colonial POCO or PC thinkers renounce Hegel. Spivak focuses more on the Subaltern not speaking for self. Said values the many European classics but he adds to the classics via using history to point out realities left out by European authors. He mentions colonies, slavery, and European empire building. The reality and themes of the Colonized's daily life is shared by Said. It is just a another way to look at the text. Many other points you make lose me. I mean, don't we like truth over hidden fantasy. I mean when engaging books about the military and war, served my country US 4 times, I like to get truth in fiction and play with imagination as it comes out in the story, not honoring hidden things or things left out due to disregard. I like to read about the cooks making chow and their lives in their service in a military book as I am intrigued by combat missions that go South because of a bad radio and the implications of such a disaster in the soldier or Marine carrying that radio. I want to know more , not just the John Wayne stuff. I think someone like Edward Said was able to point out what was left out in many European Classics. I think he adds other realities and truths. I think if you look at the Gospels, you will see each having truth, but written differently for an audience. Yes, the Gospel message for all. But, we must recognize nuances in the texts we read. Thus, we have hermeneutics, and no it was not started in England. As you know, this tradition goes make to Judaism , not Christianity. We need to recognize others in this world. War taught me that... May we recognize the sin that imperialists and colonizers , old and new , have committed in the Middle East. It is easy for you to incompletely scrutize Said and postcolonialism theory. But, know their are many lifeworlds outside of your own. Peterson never read any of the literature of POCO. He just trashes it. He does not quote any thinkers tied to POCO. Check out Peterson debating Zizek, he gets owned. You truly see how Peterson cannot even get specific about texts to defend his positions. It is all about blaming Communists and Marxists, etc. Instead of looking at the reality of certain young broken Western White males. That reality is one that only has less than 1 percent serving in the military. It is a reality of kids living at home with an easy life. It is a reality where you blame it on people like immigrants like my parents and dark people like me. Instead of going out and just making things happen. What Peterson really teach in his book, hahhaha about personal development? Clean your room, hahhaha. Even the lowest private in the military can do that... I grew up fearing Christ and my family never took a short cut. We are Americans like others who claim the title and we have seen the horrors of colonialism. My dad was born into it. If you lived that life, I wonder if you would still present your understanding PoCo as did in this video? Willing to have dialogue. All apologies if I have been a thorn to you. Deep respect...

@LitProf 3 года назад

Thanks for the thoughtful and it appears informed reply. I am not defending Peterson in this video. It was a single lecture on quite a broad phenomenon.

@LitProf 3 года назад

I am not going to complain about being charged with being superficial - for what I didn't say - this was a lecture on postcolonialism, not a course. That means that my critique was sweeping and to some extent superficial. I think that the tenor of Hegel's master-slave dialectic is more influential than you have made out. Even if Hegel is ultimately rejected, he forms a potent backdrop for everyone from Marx to Marcuse.

@mikekimveteran 3 года назад

@@LitProf ahh , but Hegel was influenced by Adam Smith, not just an econ theorist , but an ordained Presbyterian minister. Also, Hegel was influenced by Luther as far as claiming Love over law. Remember, Luther was an Augustinian friar monk and was influenced by Augustine and Aquinas. So the attacks on Hegel w Must be revisited. Dialectics goes back to Socrates and other great ancient thinkers. So, Hegel did not just have a demonic encounter to form his theory. As you know the nation-state was the new promise at the time. Much like Trumpism is a preoccupation of this age. So, the context is important to consider when looking at Hegel. Also, a famous conservative figure, Francis Fukayama, held by many to be an esteemed scholar, uses Hegel in his thinking to discuss US Democracy and Capitalism. He like Derrida, his academic foe, use Hegel. So Hegel is to be reassessed. Marx. Marx, used dialectic in a utopian manner. He was wrong there. It gave room for unnecessary violence to happen. Let us not be biased! Violence was happening with unbrideled capitalism. Marx was right critiquing slavery, human trafficking, and labor abuse, and child labor. Remember child exploitation was happening back than and the unethical ways of capitalism would ignore truly anti-gospel business sinful practices. We must face truth. It was Marx's critique that caused great changes with capitalism. Marcuse. Again, someone else who challenged the system of mass culture. He might have been some free love philosopher, but unethical capitalism gave rise to television immorality and violence we still have today without Marcuse and Columbia. You say that your vid is not a course. I accept , I just think you miss important points in critical theory and POCO. You do a good job in providing part of the story, but then you go into rhetoric. I seek no fame but only truth and am willing to describe the major key points of critical theory and poco. Peace to you

@mikekimveteran 3 года назад

@@LitProf I get it. Just that these thinkers have major points uncovered that truly describe their present academic identity. Not trashing you, just feel that more could be said of them in the spirit if their work in the academic world and less on how they have shaken the academic world.

@Ryyahy-27 4 года назад

You are wrong .. in Islam there is no slavery .. there is no sexism nor racism like in other religions.

@LitProf 4 года назад

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_on_slavery

@juliamalik9852 4 года назад

@@LitProf I think it would be useful for you to check on the reasons and purposes of such called "slavery in Islam". I am a Muslim woman and I would admit there are concepts about women in my religion I still do not understand. Overall, I feel safe, valued, and respected thanks to Islam. Of course, as in every religion, a patriarchal discourse would use these concepts to control and shift the focus into shaming. Naturally, when we rely on institutions to interpret the words of God, (which are reflected in mainstream writings such as Wikipedia) we become easily drawn into feeling guilty and thus obey these interpretations out of fear of "disobeying" the words of God. Anyway as a Muslim woman I agree by 98% with the Islamic view of women, and I want to stress that Islam not only protects woman but also give them the freedom that Christianity, for example, does not. Women in Islam enjoy economical freedom, marital freedom, and most of all the well-being of women is regarded as a responsibility of the community. AS FOR SLAVERY!!!!! Tunisia is the very first country in the world to legally end slavery. Now the reality is slavery has always existed and with slavery comes racism. The Coran treats this issue as a reality. BUT we have to understand that the aim of admitting this, is to eventually end slavery. The belief is when you sin, one of the ways to ask for forgiveness is to free a slave. More importantly, Islam states in many instances in all clarity that all humans are equal, and that nothing makes one better than the other but the strength of our faith; and that only God knows what is in our hearts. It is chocking that an analysis of postcolonial literary theory still holds such views. It is contradictory. I know that women in Christianity, do not have the right to inheritance and if so it is the husband who takes it. A working woman has to give her money to her husband. Divorce is almost a sin.This has been a truth until 100 years ago. There are endless examples of Western communities (Amish and others) that are as repressive and backwards, yet the west is still using the colonial discourse. I invite you to visit Tunisia. I invite you to check the numbers on donations Muslims make each year out of faith. One of the great scholars of Islam, Omar Ibn Khatab, who lived in the same Era as Prophet Mohamed PBUH and who is in our culture promised paradise, he is one of the most important followers of our prophet and second ruled after him said: "WHEN DID YOU ENSLAVE PEOPLE, WHEREAS THEIR MOTHERS GAVE BIRTH TO THEM AS FREE". The western discourse is destructive and leaves no place for cultural exchange. There is an inherited sense of superiority and dominance that is criticized by its most infamous figures like Derrida and Foucault. I value your content. Yet such criticism should first be directed to your own communities. Last week in Tunisia we were protesting Black Lives Matter, not because we suffer racism in our country, but because we feel for the suffering of our brothers in the Western countries. Do you have female figures on your bills in the USA, maybe in England because its the queen: no you don't we do. You know who was the first one to call for prayer in Islam: a black "slave". Who asked him to do so? Prophet Mohamed PBUH.

@jaulyyadav3855 4 года назад

@@juliamalik9852 I wanna ask one does slavery exist in Islam if exist then how and where who are the victims of slavery? I just wanna know I didn't understand this.

@juliamalik9852 4 года назад

@@jaulyyadav3855hey, slavery does not exist in islam, the idea that exists is to free slaves. You see in the Arabic peninsula before islam slavery existed, what the Coran did is encourage people to free slaves, when you sin, when you want to do good deeds, when you want to help people.... Slavery is not stated as a concept in the Coran, what is stated is the concept of freeing people. So if I understood your question right, Islam never ever called to enslave people, it did the exact opposite. So yes slavery existed in the arab culture, black people most of all, people who did not have homes, people who were taken in war, all of them were enslaved. It is a sad truth that we as humans do such things. I hope i answeres your question.

@jaulyyadav3855 4 года назад

@@juliamalik9852 I have asked about the same to my friend and he told me that curan doesn't allow slavery and Kings who have tried to expand religion through slavery that was against curan.