Hybridity, a major theme in postcolonial literature

Having dealt with the theme of gender (in a limited scope), in this week's column, I wish to explore the spacious concept of hybridity in relation to postcolonial literature. In essence, hybridity is an every day reality that we encounter in an increasingly multi ethnic and pluralistic society. !ommon heritage of most of the "sian and "frican nations is that the heritage of colonialism. !olonialism, without doubt, is an encounter between cultures, languages, people and system of thought within the ambit in which the power is vested with the white colonial masters. !olonial administration in "sian, "frican and #outh "merican regions infused $uropean form of thinking, $uropean languages, culture, education and way of life from food to sports into a native 'context'. "s theorised by postcolonial critic Homi % &habha Hybridity is a creation of a new cultural forms and realities resulting from colonial encounter. In colonial societies, Hybridity may be in the form of retrival or the revival of the pre colonial past. 'his can be in either reviving folk or tribal cultural forms or conventions or adapting contemporary artistic and social productions to suit the present day conditions of globalisation, multiculturalism and transnationalism. (hat is significant in the process of colonialism is that it was not a mere 'civilising mission' in which $uropeans introduced languages such as $nglish, )rench and #panish but a process of creating '$uropeanised ' natives. 'his process has been theorised by leading postcolonial theorists such as Homi % &habha as the 'hybrid' colonised native. *ramod % +ayar observes, ,'he colonial 'plan' for such as hybrid native is clearly described in '.& -acaulay's (in)famous '-inutes' of ./01 where he described the creation of $uropeanised native as the creation of 'a class of persons', Indian in blood and colour, but $nglish in taste , in opinion, in morals, and in intellect. 2.# +aipaul in a description of contemporary !aribbean society captures this hybridised3 half native3 half (esternised, unsatisfactory identity of diasporic, once colonised communities4 " peasant minded, money minded community spiritually cut off from its roots, its religion reduced to rites without philosophy set in a materialistic colonial society4 a combination of historical accidents and national temperament has turned the 'rinidad Indians into a complete colonial, even more philistine that white. ('he -iddle *assage) +aipaul describing a !aribbean identity in which 'roots' have been erased and new ideas and ideologies planted.,
Diasporic writings

5ne of the prominent areas where the Hybridity is captured is the diasporic writings. "lthough many assume that the diaspora is a novel concept, it was in latter half of the 67th century, that in the writings of diasporic translated authors such as &harati -ukher8ee, &uchi $mecheta, 9avid 9abydeen, !aryl *hilips, and Hanif %ureishi have captured the diasporic, hybridised state of migrant communities. !ommenting on diasporic writings, +ayar states, , 9iaspora is simply the displacement of a community3culture into another geographical and cultural region. #uch movements

were common during colonialism. ..."s communities settled down, they ac:uired certain traditions and belief systems. However, it is important to distinguish between kind of migration and diaspora refugees, asylum seekers, illegal migrants, voluntary migrants and 8ob seekers constitute different forms of diasporic existence. $uropeans moved all over the world, leading to colonial settlements (!anada, "ustralia, the "mericas). 'hey also transported "fricans to colonies for slave labour, leading to yet another diaspora. !uriously, 'diasporic' writing today has come to signify the recent phenomenon of ''hird world' writers in (estern metropolises., "ccording to ;oger &romley that every narrative in diasporic writing is 'both an individual story and, explicitly, a cultural narrative'. 'he statement is closed to <ameson's claim3prescription that all ''hird world' literature 'functions as national allegory'. 'o a greater extent, it is true that diasporic writing is autobiographical, individual, communal and cultural. It is a fact that most of the writers who codify diasporic experiences are themselves diasporic in their real life.
Dislocation

!iting -axine Hong %ingston's 'he (oman (arrior (./=1), +ayar observes the undecidable nature of diasporic writings. Hong %ingston's book can be considered as ethnic biography, fiction and documentary. 'he experiences of unsettlement, adaptation, language and longing depicted in diasporic literature may be drawn from the author's own experience of dislocation. 'hough individualistic in character, diasporic writing at the same time, maps out an experience which is shared by many if they have a voice. 'herefore, one may argue that diasporic author can be seen as metonym, one who stands for the entire community. +ayar suggest that diasporic literature deals more with a 'problematic collective situation' than with a 'problematic hero3ine'. *rimarily diasporic writings deal with experiences of exile and homeland. +ayar observes these polarities as 4 , "ll diasporic literature is an attempt to negotiate between these two polarities. 'he writings of exiled3 immigrant writers undertakes two moves, one temporal, and other special. It is, as -eena "lexander puts it, 'writing in search of homeland'. , However, this movement is not merely physical displacement on the part of new migrants. It amounts to reconfiguration of the new reality in the diaspora. +ayar describes this phenomenon as4 ,'he temporary move is a looking back at the past (analepsis) and looking forward at the future (*rolepsis). "nalepsis involves a negotiations with a retreating history, past, traditions and customs. It produces nostalgia, memory, and reclamation as literary themes. *rolepsis involves a different treatment of time, where the writer looks forward at the future, seeking new vistas, new chances. 'his produces themes of ethic of work, survival and cultural assimilation. 'he proleptic narrative is agenda driven as the characters seek to survive hostility, adapt new circumstances and ga>e upon the future., 5ne of the significant features of the spatial move is the process of a de territorialisation and a re territorialisation. 'he loss of territory (9e territorialisation)

involves not only the loss of geographical territory, the homeland but also cultural territory. "s pointed out by +ayar, 'what is significant is that the loss of territory is almost accompanied by gain of a new one. 9islocation from is followed by re location to. '. In this manner, diasporic literature deals with space between 'home' and 'foreign country'. &ut there are some first generation diasporic writers who have manifestly failed to integrate into the adapted country and its pluralistic culture. "gonies of inability to integrate into adapted country are, sometimes, manifested in eternal lament expressed through diasporic writings in general and in poetry in particular.