The term “postcolonial” brings with it many different meanings to both the colonized and the colonizer. The idea of being free from forced rule and ideologies is the immediate impact on the colonized peoples, while the colonizer has lost the ability to use their colonized people as they see fit for the greater colonial society. Yet, while it seems this to be the end result of the evolution from colonialism to post-colonialism it in turn is not. The continual use of the colonial institutions around the world extends the influence of colonialism throughout all cultures. The film Lost In Translation shows how the world is still colonized through a continual use of colonial institutions. The use of Marxist Theory, and Gender Studies also allow for a clearer understanding of the misrepresentations of cultures that still remains in the post-colonial world. With a closer look at post-colonialism one can see that it is only an altered form of colonialism that continues the use colonial institutions by forcing ideologies that shape cultures to fit in with westerns society.
westerns society.
With the wide-ranging areas of influence that colonialism had on the globe it comes across as difficult when trying to search for a specific example to show how colonial influence is still present in postcolonial times. Language is seemingly at the core of forcing one’s ideas on another. With the teaching of western language to colonized peoples it helps establish “a more literate, and one might argue, docile class of colonized subjects”(Rivkin 852), which in turn allows for a voice and creation of ideas among the colonized peoples that closely resembles that of the colonial rulers. With the continual use of the colonial language in a postcolonial society establishes the face that these people are still under the rule of their former conquerors. This continual use of a language forced upon them allows for colonialism to continue placing people into certain preconceived ideas that conform to western cultural beliefs.
Likewise, the idea of controlling another culture through such institutions as language is described in Edward Said’s Orientalism, which focuses on the West’s aim to control the Orient by “dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient”(Said 46). Taking Said’s idea and using it to view how the postcolonial cultures continue to operate under the aims of their former colonizers shows that post-colonialism is in fact colonialism at heart. Said shows how the West is able to control the development of a cultural identity by creating images of other cultures through the literature and art in western society. He does this by noting that Aeschylus’ play The Persians transforms the Orient, “from a very far distant and often threatening Otherness into figures that are relatively familiar”(Said 21). With the influence of ideas and culture from the West still permeating around the world it is placing a limitation to the formation of a sense of cultural identity. By not having a sense of identity it allows for the West to have a strong influence on how these cultures create their own identity.
Additionally, an example of how this altered form of colonialism exists today is captured in the 2003 film Lost In Translation. In various scenes Bill Murray’s character Bob Harris is faced with the conflict of communication between himself and the Japanese people. While there is a constant use and attempt to use English, Bob Harris makes no attempt to communicate in Japanese. The communication that does take place between him and the Japanese is either through a translator or in broken English by the Japanese. A better understanding of this is seen when a Japanese photographer tries to direct Bob for a photo shoot, but he cannot convey his ideas clearly. The direction “Can you put your hand close your face please?” (Lost In Translation) creates confusion between Bob and the photographer, but what this shows is how the use of colonial language reduces the ability to properly convey ones idea, thus limiting the freedom that come with postcolonial life.
Likewise with the continuation of underlying colonial influence in the post-colonial world can be seen how capitalism shaped the post-colonial identity by creating social divisions based solely on economic strength. With the departure of colonial rulers the people once enslaved by western ideas for so many years were now depending on them in order to attain their own identity. In Deniz Kandiyoti’s article Post-Colonialism Compared: Potentials and Limitations in the Middle East and Central Asia he describes the goal of the West in the post-colonial era as being aimed at, “ Practical concerns about promoting rapid economic growth” (Kandiyoti) in the former territories to help fuel economic gains of the West. By working to promote economic growth the West is “providing a supposedly universal set of ideas for proper living”(Rivkin 851), which creates a disparity between the economically strong West and the impoverished people in the post-colonial territories. Both Kandiyoti and Rivkin address the fact that colonialism had established a groundwork that would ensure the West’s continual influence over other cultures through economic might.
At closer look, this economic order that is being created is the same binary the Karl Marx describes between the bourgeoisie (colonizer) and the proletariat (colonized). Marx states of the bourgeoisie, “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere”(Marx). Like the bourgeoisie in Marx’s eyes the western colonial powers have established capitalist markets around the world that will continue to lift the West above other cultures while keeping these lesser poorer cultures in the same subservient position as the proletariat. With this hierarchy determined by tying down the post-colonial cultures to a capitalist economy limits the ability to determine the development of how they create a post-colonial culture. What this does is, “It compels all nations, on a pain of extinction to adopt the bourgeois mode of production”(Marx), and if a country is forced to adopt another’s ideas, either by physical force or by the illusion of choice, it remains the exploited and conquered culture that is shaped to fit the West’s economic hierarchy.
Going back to Lost In Translation, this same sense of identity loss through capitalism is seen with the importance placed on the image over the individual. Bob is seemingly devoid of all human worth and seen as a source of revenue by the Japanese. In the opening scene of the movie, Bob sees a billboard of himself advertising whiskey his reaction to this is one of bewilderment because it is not Bob the man, it is just another advertisement among many that serve one purpose, which is to serve the capitalist desires of the upper class. Even with his interaction with the representatives from the Japanese companies they remove any sense of identity his liaison, Ms. Kawasaki (Akikio Takeshita) quickly states after meeting Bob, “We will pick you up in the morning. See you tomorrow” to which Bob replies, “Okay, great, short and sweet. Very Japanese”(Lost In Translation). This short statement shows how capitalism, which is represented by Ms. Kawasaki, functions to reduce the lower classes to, “a class of laborers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labor increases capital”(Marx). By operating within the confines of capitalism, colonialism tightens its grasp on to the cultures of the former colonies and choking out any notion of having the freedom to develop any cultural identity.
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/8/Lost-in-Translation-Lost-Dialogue-with-English-S-349241.html
The post-colonial identity is shaped greatly by the confines of language and the way it is connected to the machine of capitalism. Likewise the West’s superiority over other cultures in colonial times could be viewed as a patriarchal hierarchy. The West resides in the dominant male position, while the East or other cultures are forced into a subservient feminine position. A culture forced in to this binary relationship with the West not only has the cultural identity taken away from it, but also the gender identity in said culture. The function of this relationship seems to echo Michel Foucault’s reasoning for a discourse on sexuality in The History of Sexuality. Foucault states that distinguishing proper sexual behavior is, “to ensure population, to reproduce labor capacity, to perpetuate the form of social relations: in short, to constitute a sexuality that is economically useful and politically conservative”(Foucault 683), which resembles the same aims of the colonial powers when they expanded their influence over the “other” cultures around the globe. The subordinate relationship to the West automatically turns everything female in postcolonial cultures, thus depriving the male voice from helping the formation of a unifying cultural identity.
Moreover, this complex issue of the feminization of cultures deemed lower than the West is discussed in David Eng’s book Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America. Eng speaks of the Asian American male and how, “the U.S. cultural imagery typically results in his figuration as feminized, emasculated, or homosexualized”(Eng 16). An example of how the West views other cultures such as this shows how the West readily and easily formulates a cultural identity that does not allow any room for the culture to define itself. This notion of male supremacy ties in to Said’s view of the binary between the West and East. He states, “There are Westerners, and there are Orientals. The former dominate; the latter must be dominated”(Said 36), and views like this work to justify the use of the male/female binary relationship between the West and other cultures. If the West continues to place an effeminate stigmatism or continue the practice of this masculine/feminine binary when dealing with other cultures, then there is no possible way for postcolonial theory to properly locate and distinguish a cultural identity in the cultures that have been impacted by this western way of thinking.
Consequently, we find this practice of the dominant male western society being tended to by the lower feminine East in Lost In Translation. The situation between Bob and the female escort sent to his room by one of the representatives of the Suntory Corporation shows how other cultures are in a position where they wish to serve and please their western superiors. We can see Bob as being in the position of the dominant male while “Mr. Kazo” is in the lower female position in their relationship. Knowing that he cannot bring physical pleasure to Bob, he has instead enlisted the use of an escort to do so. The actions of “Mr. Kazo” enforce the western ideas that there is a sense that the other cultures beside the West in this binary relationship feel the need to bring pleasure to their superiors. Even upon the insistence of the escort to give Bob a “premium fantasy” this shows that pleasing the West is the only role for what are considered to be subservient cultures in the West. So with the continuing view by the West in this manner changes the identity of not only the culture itself but also that of the sexual identity of the culture.
Yet, with all these influences on other cultures by the West there is still an impact within western culture. The West begins to develop through these ideas of other cultures that are familiarized and made less hostile or foreign to westerners. This formation of acceptable perceptions of other cultures in the West can be seen in the lyrics to the America Fu*k Yeah. The song captures the elements of American culture, which seem to imply why it is great to be from America or the West. We can see how the West makes other cultures acceptable by accepting certain cultural imports while rejecting others. We see the song promoting sushi and Taco Bell, which are two ethnic food types that are seemingly on every other street corner in America. The West has come to accept and slightly alter Mexican and Japanese food that is more likable by westerners and this creates an image of other cultures in the West that is not entirely correct. The distorted truth that the West has of other cultures does nothing to help with the development of a cultural voice that will give people their true ethnic identity.
Looking back, the postcolonial world brings the idea that there is finally an equal representation of all cultures and peoples on the planet. With the lasting affects of colonial influence still maintaining their hold over the former subjects of imperial rule, this idea of freedom is nothing but an illusion created by the strength of the West. While post-colonialism is believed to finally bring freedom to colonized people it in fact continues to strengthen the western influence over the globe. In order to reach a sense of freedom to define one’s cultural identity the only options seem to be the rejection of all influences from the West, or to make the West step down from its throne on the world stage and humble themselves by actively learning and understanding the cultures that they presume to be below them.
Works Cited
Rivkin, Julie and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing. Malden, MA, 1998. (851-855).
Lost In Translation. Dir. Sofia Coppola. Perf. Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson. Focus Features, 2003. Film.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/23219/lost-in-translation-photo-shoot#s-p1-so-i0
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/8/Lost-in-Translation-Lost-Dialogue-with-English-S-349241.html
http://www.hulu.com/watch/23221/lost-in-translation-my-stockings#s-p1-so-i0
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Vintage Books. New York, NY, 1978.
Kandiyoti, Deniz. Post-Colonialism Compared: Potentials and Limitations in the Middle East and Central Asia. International Journal of Middle East Studies
Marx, Karl. The Manifesto of the Communist Party. London 1848. 10 August, 2009.
Foucault, Michel. "Literary Theory: An Anthology." Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. Maldon, Ma,, 1998. (683-691).
Eng, David L. Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity In Asian America. Duke University Press. Durham, NC,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M
very nicely done! a tough act to follow!
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