Concerns of Post-Colonial Narratives - Research Paper

Introduction

At the end of the 19th century, Africa became the new playground on which European powers would exert their influence over each other and the rest of the world. Political, economic and social factors motivated the scramble and partition for Africa. The three powers of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain viewed the acquisition of foreign territories as a way of expanding their influence on the world stage (Iweriebor n.p). Europe was undergoing the industrial revolution at the time and the individual countries needed raw materials to supply their industries. Africa was the obvious target as a rich source of raw materials. It was also convenient for agricultural productivity to feed the expanding population in Europe. However, the population was more of a social factor than an economic factor. The European powers colonized Africa so that they could export some of the people to occupy these African lands and reduce congestion in Europe. The locals lost their space and place in the world, when the European powers entered their territories. Post-colonial literature tells the stories of dehumanization as a way to reclaim what was lost during the colonization of the African continent.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Reclaiming the Space Through Literature

Chinua Achebe is one of the writers of African stories that was determined to tell the story from an African perspective. Many stories were conjured by people who were non-Africans and lacked the knowledge of African tradition and culture. Post-Colonial narratives were seeking to claim the African space in the world of literature. The lack of African literature prevented the rest of the world from getting a grasp of the links that exist between historical experiences and dehumanization. Eze in his Research on African literature says that tradition has been damaged in an irreversible manner(26). The notions that preconceive African culture, are based on a skewed understanding of the continent and the same notion is the basis for discrimination against the African people. Works of literature have spent decades depicting the African people as uncivilized. Their culture was viewed as primitive and unable to hold social order. Chinua Achebe's Morning yet on creation spends a great deal of time deconstructing some of these African practices and showing how applicable they were.

There is a close relation between historical experiences and dehumanization of the African people. The dehumanization did not begin with the European settlers they began when the African's were abducted and shipped to foreign lands to work on cotton farms. That was when slavery was still legal. The abolition of slavery in the 19th century coincided with the rise of industry in Europe and the rest of the world. Machines were replacing human labor and the slaves were seen as inefficient. The decision to get rid of slavery was an economic decision. It was expensive and time-consuming to ship slaves to Europe. Machines were also more efficient and required no supervision. It would be cheaper to invade the African lands and export raw materials instead of exporting labor. Cotton, Copper, Rubber and tea were some of the raw materials that Europeans needed for their industries (New World Encyclopedia n.p). The abolition of slavery did not signify the end of discrimination. It marked the beginning of colonization as a new way through which Africans would experience discrimination as a form dehumanization. Discrimination therefore forms the link between historical experiences and dehumanization.

The post-colonial narratives carry many instances of dehumanization. The conditions and treatment that the colonizers subjected the indigenous people to were similar to those of slavery. The post-colonial literature narrates the ordeal of the African people in the hands of European settlers as a way of showing how they lost their dignity. When the European colonizers entered Africa they did not just strip the locals of their land, they stripped them of their dignity as well. As Chinua Achebe describes in Things Fall Apart," They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms" (72). The quote was referring to men who previously occupied a high position in African society now reduced to slaves in the new European society. They were clearing the government compound fetching firewood for their European masters (72). The author uses narration to show the ordeal that the locals had to undergo in the hands of their new colonial masters.

Post-colonial narratives try to redefine the place of the African people. Think of the concept of dehumanization that had existed before colonization. The colonizers had a definition of what they termed as human and inhuman. In their language and culture, it appeared Africans did not fit within that definition of humanity. Their view of the local Africans as non-humans is what fueled their colonization of the African lands. The local inhabitants did not appear as people. Therefore, the lands they occupied were free for the taking. According to the Europeans, the African people lacked the fundamental structures that create humanity. The truth is that most African cultures were already in possession of the concepts of humanity. Chinua Achebe in his book, Morning yet on creation day, says that the Igbo had a belief in the self-worth and independence of every man and his right to speak on matters of concern to him and rejection of things that may threaten those values (174). According to the author, the principle of self-worth present is the Igbo people is what makes them so difficult to govern. However, the author goes ahead and says that the Igbo held discussions and consensus at the highest ideals of political processes (174). That statement means the Igbo were a democratic society. However, Achebe in Thing Fall Apart describes the process of colonization as a dictatorial process that did not take into account the views and preferences of the indigenous people. They used force and prevented them from accessing the necessities. "Soon after, the women who had gone for red earth returned with empty baskets. Some of them had been heavily whipped," (70). The settlers had taken control of the stream without consultation the locals and the white settlers had punished those who had attempted to fetch water.

Conclusion

The narrative by authors such as Chinua Achebe tries to reclaim African space by telling the African stories from the African perspective. In a culture that has been corrupted and damaged by years of dehumanization, it is easy for the stories to get lost. Post-colonial narratives tell stories of the history of oppression of the indigenous people. The concerns of post-colonial narratives are that these narratives might never be told. The authors see the need to tell the stories as the first step of reclaiming the African space. Telling the African stories helps the world see what was lost in the entry of colonization and marks the first step in reclaiming the culture that had lost its space.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. "Chi in Igbo Cosmology." Achebe, Chinua. Morning yet on creation day: essays. New York: Garden City, 1975. 159-175. Print. 16 October 2018.

Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1958. PDF.

Eze, Emmanuel Chukwudi. "Language and Time in Postcolonial Experience." Research in African Literatures 39 (2008): 24-47. e-copy. <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/231523>.

Iweriebor, Ehiedu E. G. The Colonization of Africa. 2011. Internet. 16 October 2018. <http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html>.

New World Encyclopedia. Scramble for Africa. 11 May 2015. Internet. 16 October 2018. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Scramble_for_Africa>.