Postcolonial Ed Lit Education, Death, and Postcolonial

Postcolonial Ed Lit

Education, Death, and Postcolonial Literature

The peculiarities of the postcolonial struggle for identity and independence are entirely unique to the historical occupation and colonization that ended, at least ostensibly, in the middle of the twentieth century. Peoples that had full histories and rich cultures prior to the arrival of Europeans or European-descended individuals from the New World found themselves largely without the foundations of these cultures to support themselves once these Europeans had departed, yet also unable to achieve the promises of the Western cultures that had arrived on their shores. Former value systems and ways of life had been eradicated, and nothing substantial was put into place to subsidize what was lost. Instead, the indigenous peoples of the world had to find methods of combining the old and the new in attempts to carve out new identities and self-directed histories in a way that had never really been seen before.

Given the Western belief in rationalism and empiricism as well as the power that academic learning imparts, it is perhaps not surprising that formalized education was seen as a vital element in achieving a greater sense of equality in both the distribution of material wealth and access to power. Many post-colonial communities became entirely focused on the education of the younger generations, or at least of certain members of this generation, and this trend is clearly reflected in literature produced by many groups that could be labeled "post-colonial." At the same time, other nations experienced a greater degree of divisiveness and ongoing struggles for equality that overshadowed the issue of education with more dominant and pressing issues of sheer survival and the persistence of indigenous identities.

In Tsitsi Dangarembga's semi-autobiographical novel Nervous Conditions, the narrator and protagonist Tambu is ultimately more excited than saddened by the death of her brother as it means her family will be sending her to school in his stead. This is part of Dangarembga's commentary on the effects of colonialism on measures of success within Tambu's (and the author's own) African community: it is truly only at the expense of other members of that community, and even at the expense of family members, that one can achieve success, and thus families select individuals for advancement and sacrifice their own lives to make this advancement possible. The possible discontinuation of Tambu's education due to her uncle's displeasure also shows the tenuous nature of the relationship between the old and new ways; despite being educated in England, this uncle feels that Tambu should fulfill certain traditional roles, and his beliefs create tensions with numerous family members.

Ng-g? wa Thiong'o's Weep Not, Child tells a somewhat similar story of the coming of age of a Kenyan boy during the post-colonial period, when the country was rife with civil unrest and still struggling to gain its full independence from British rule. Njogore shows a great deal of academic promise and is even admitted to a High School, which is a significant accomplishment for someone in his state, but is and his family's drams for the future are shattered after an assassination is linked to Njogore's brothers, both of whom are killed as is his father in retribution. This demonstrates the constant working of the official system of government in destroying the potential for true individual and political freedom that keeps indigenous populations of the formerly colonized world in a state of economic subjugation as well.