The Effects of Post-Colonialism and Hybridity in a Culture
Myles Martin
Post-Colonial Literature
March 5, 2014
Term Paper
The Effects of Post-Colonialism and Hybridity in a Culture Post-Colonialism is how a culture changes after ideas are dominated by new beliefs on how ways life should be. Hybridity, when talking about post-colonialism, can be described in two different ways. Hybridity can be viewed as a mixture of groups or cultures in which one then compliments the other so that a new group or culture is formed. Either group or culture will then practice with an understanding from both beliefs. In the other view of hybridity it shows the overall loss of identity, or the process of identifying oneself among a different culture. Each of these definitions of hybridity is expressed through the writings of Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace, Robert J.C. Young’s Postcolonialism, and Gandhi. Amitav Ghosh expresses hybridity in The Glass Palace through characters who adapt to the mixture of culture, and to those who experience the loss of their identity because of this mixture. In Robert J.C. Young’s Postcolonialism, the example of Algerian raï music is described as a hybrid genre. Hybridity can also be seen through the early writings of Gandhi according to the European education system and how it completely evolved from the previous form of education established in India. Each society is forced into an overlapping culture with their dominating colonial power, changing every aspect of their previously known lifestyle, thus having to adapt to the new style of living.
When talking about hybridity in the sense of mixture, The Glass Palace shows hybridity through the change of clothing styles. Saya John is normally dressed in the traditional “longyi” because of his country, but as colonial power it’s imposed on his lifestyle, he then begins to dress in more traditional European clothing. The transformation to the European style of clothing symbolizes his overall transition into a hybrid culture.
In Robert J.C. Young’s,
Post-Colonial Literature
March 5, 2014
Term Paper
The Effects of Post-Colonialism and Hybridity in a Culture Post-Colonialism is how a culture changes after ideas are dominated by new beliefs on how ways life should be. Hybridity, when talking about post-colonialism, can be described in two different ways. Hybridity can be viewed as a mixture of groups or cultures in which one then compliments the other so that a new group or culture is formed. Either group or culture will then practice with an understanding from both beliefs. In the other view of hybridity it shows the overall loss of identity, or the process of identifying oneself among a different culture. Each of these definitions of hybridity is expressed through the writings of Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace, Robert J.C. Young’s Postcolonialism, and Gandhi. Amitav Ghosh expresses hybridity in The Glass Palace through characters who adapt to the mixture of culture, and to those who experience the loss of their identity because of this mixture. In Robert J.C. Young’s Postcolonialism, the example of Algerian raï music is described as a hybrid genre. Hybridity can also be seen through the early writings of Gandhi according to the European education system and how it completely evolved from the previous form of education established in India. Each society is forced into an overlapping culture with their dominating colonial power, changing every aspect of their previously known lifestyle, thus having to adapt to the new style of living.
When talking about hybridity in the sense of mixture, The Glass Palace shows hybridity through the change of clothing styles. Saya John is normally dressed in the traditional “longyi” because of his country, but as colonial power it’s imposed on his lifestyle, he then begins to dress in more traditional European clothing. The transformation to the European style of clothing symbolizes his overall transition into a hybrid culture.
In Robert J.C. Young’s,