Colonialism, Imperialism and postcoloniality

As a prelude to a series of columns on post colonial literary theory and its impact on Sri Lankan literature both in Sinhalese and English, in this column, I will briefly examine the backdrop which eventually led to the birth of post colonial literature. It is imperative that any meaningful discussion on post colonial literature should commence with the historical context of colonialism and its overarching influence on multiplicity of spheres of human activities in the colonised lands. One of the important aspects of such an inquiry is to focus on the postcolonial influences on literature and culture of the colonised people.

Colonialism and imperialism

Like in many other Asian or African countries, the phenomenon of colonialism is not uncommon to Sri Lanka which had been under colonial rule not only by the British but also by the Portuguese and Dutch although their colonial rule by and large was confined to coastal areas.

Colonialism is a practice of domination which involves the subjugation of one people to another. Undoubtedly, it is an exploitation of a weaker country by a stronger one, using the weaker country's resources to strengthen and enrich the stronger nation. Thus, the term 'colonialism' assumes broader meaning which is synonymous with oppression, inequality, racism and exploitation. In essence, it does not mean the just political control of Asia, Africa, Australia or South American continents by British, French or any other dominant nations but the exploitation of resources, people and culture.

The important aspect of colonialism other than the political control was that it destroyed modified or 'disciplined' indigenous cultures and knowledge by colonial rulers or their agents. Against this backdrop, it is obvious that colonialism can no longer be considered as a mere political or economic 'condition'. In fact, it was a powerful cultural and epistemological conquest of the native population. The existing indigenous knowledge bases in colonised lands were acquired through translations, commentaries and academic studies before they were totally destroyed or modified.

India is a classic case in point. In India, colonial administrators such as Warren Hasting, T.B Macaulay, academics like William Jones and commentators such as James Mill meticulously studied Indian languages and translated texts into English. Then they announced that these Indian texts and cultures were primitive, irrelevant and absolutely out of date. They postulated the argument that these indigenous knowledge bases are anti-development and that India could never progress with such knowledge systems. The same approach was adapted by the colonial administrators in other countries including Sri Lanka. The next logical step was to substitute English as the medium of instruction, a language of knowledge, arguing that English and European culture alone could ensure equality, liberty, 'development' and 'modernisation'.

Another important aspect of colonialism is that it offered a vital site for race encounters. It was at this site that European and non-European races met. On the other hand, the heyday of European empires was also the period in which race theories were formulated. In the fields of science, medicine, anthropology and a host of other disciplines, race theories were formalised, ideologically justifying imperial or colonial presence in conquered lands. One good example is the work English anthropologist Edward B Tylor who is regarded as the pioneer of cultural anthropology. Tylor's landmark, two-volume work Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom (1871) was influenced by Darwin's theory of biological evolution. He proposed the theory of an evolutionary and progressive relationship from primitive to modern cultures.

The avowed aims of such theories seemed to postulate and 'prove' that the non-European (primitive) nations were at the lower end of the spectrum of human development. The model of 'development' was measured through the criteria created by Europeans. Accordingly, the native races were primitive, effeminate, irrational and irreligious, criminal and unreliable. The theory was postulated since it was assumed that the native races could not take care of their affairs, it was incumbent upon Europeans to take care of natives. Similar thinking had led to create a Stolen Generation in Australia.

The colonisation and colonialism has three predominant characteristics: the governance of non-European lands by European administrators and rulers through economic, political and military modes; studying non-European cultures, religions by European academics, scholars and scientists focusing on anthropology, literature and allied areas and the gradual transformation of native societies through religious missions, systems of English or European Education and the European prototype of bureaucracy totally disregarding local cultures and mores.

Imperialism

'Imperialism' could be defined as the policy of extending a "superior" nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony. In another words, imperialism means the establishment of activities in Asia, Africa, Australia or South American nations by metropolitan European or American powers through financial, cultural and political authority. At another level, imperialism is driven by the ideology of expansion of one nation's power through another. Though the word 'imperialism' became a key terms in the latter part of the nineteenth century, in modern context, it means a system of economic domination and exploitation through political and military domination, sometimes, concurrently focusing economic power through acquisition of local resources. Marxist ideologues always argue that imperialism was driven by economic requirements of the European nations. For instance, V.I Lenin in 'Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism' (1916), points out that the imperialism is rooted in the rise of Western Capitalism.

A fundamental difference between colonialism and imperialism is that 'imperialism' is the ideology and the 'colonialism' is the practice. In other words, imperialism is the ideology of colonialism. If the colonialism was driven by the desire to conquest non-European lands for settlements, imperialism was by the need to acquire wealth. Imperialism is a process of deliberate expansion of European powers into non-European geo-natural spaces. However, the fact that should be borne in mind is that the nature of imperialism is not one and the same. Considerable differences can be observed in French and British imperialism in the nineteenth century and in the American imperialism of the Twentieth century.