Int roduct ory Notes

Postcolonialism, Children,
and their Literature
I cannot speak: for I am a child.
J E R E MI A H i:6
c
V ^ _ > HIL D REN ARE T H E subaltern and simply for me to speak of
them i n the context of postcol oni al i sm is to raise a contradi cti on:
postcolonialism and chi l dren. I f we thi nk of postcol oni al i sm as a
phenomenon of late twentieth-century pol i ti cal , economi c, and
cul tural real i tya l i berati ng from an outmoded paternalism
curtai l i ng a people's freedom of expression and movement
then chi l dren are to a great extent exempt from the benefits of
such postness. I t is true that chi l dren's rights interest us, and that,
as Gareth Matthews points out, "our society is movi ng slowly i n
the di recti on of assigning rights at an earlier and earlier age"
( 8 0 ) . Havi ng remarked this, I hasten to add that chi l dren remai n
the most col oni al i zed persons on the globe. Thi s is apparent
even i n the literature we label for them. As J acquel i ne Rose
poi nted out well over a decade ago i n a comment on J . M. Barrie's
The Little White Bird, the literature publ i shed for chi l dren is "a way
of col oni si ng (or wrecking) the chi l d" ( 27) . Perry Nodel man
argues somethi ng similar when he applies Edward Said's notions
of "Ori ental i sm" to the study of chi l dren and their literature, and
I suspect it is this col oni zi ng tendency of both the literature for
chi l dren and the adult cri ti ci smof that literature that Peter Hunt
opposes when he calls for a "childist" readi ng of chi l dren's
literature ( 1 9 2- 9 4 ) . So the first thi ng to be clear on is just how
deeply col oni zi ng are the activities of wri ti ng for chi l dren and
commenti ng on chi l dren's books.
ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature, 28 : 1, January 1997
8 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
These activities are so col oni zi ng that we mi ght say, as
Nodel man does, that noneof us can escape the roleof colonizer.
Speaki ng of his own "i mperi al tendencies," Nodel man admits:
"in order to combat col oni al i sm, I am recommendi ng a benevo-
lently hel pful col oni zi ng attitude towards chi l dren" ( 3 4 ) . I f we
concl ude with Nodel man and Rose that both the wri ti ng about
chi l dren's literature and the wri ti ng of it are colonialist, then we
mi ght have to say that no such thi ng as a postcol oni al chi l dren's
literature or a postcol oni al criticism of it exists. I f we assume that
the term "postcolonial" designates a time after i mperi al powers
have departed (in one way or another), and that the postcolonial
voice is a voice speaking its own authority and identity i n confi-
dence of that authority and identity, then chi l dren onl y express a
postcol oni al voice after they have ceased to be chi l dren. Adul ts
speak for and construct versions of chi l dren. Some evidence that
this situation is not permanent or given as part of nature exists i n
the juveni l i a of certain writers, i n works publ i shed by quite young
authors such as S. E. Hi nton, who publ i shed The Outsiders when
she was 1 6, or Gordon Korman who publ i shed his first novel at
1 4, and i n a number of Web sites whi ch feature the work and
opi ni ons of young people. On the whole, however, adults con-
tinue to "col oni ze" young readers.
Chi l dren, then, may not be i n the posi ti on of postcol oni al
subjects, speaking for themselves and taking responsibility for
their own actions. The literature whi ch they read may also partic-
ipate i n a col oni zi ng" enterprise i f we assume that it sets out to
draw its readers into the worl d as adults see it and construct it. On
the other hand, the postcolonial critic is not a quixote who sets
out to de-colonize chi l dren; rather she or he tries to clarify how
chi l dren's literature and the criticism of that literature manifest
the powerful force of Eurocentri c biases and i n doi ng so tries to
dismantle that powerful force.
And yet the contradi cti on I menti oned earlier takes another
twist: chi l dren and their literature are always postcol oni al , i f by
postcol oni al we mean that whi ch stands outside and i n opposi-
ti on to tradition and power. Al though chi l dren and their litera-
ture are not inevitably outside a Eurocentri c vi si on of things, they
do represent a challenge to the traditions of mainstream culture.
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 9
Si mpl y to acknowledge chi l dren and their literature i n ajournai
such asARIEL is a postcol oni al act; it is a gesture toward recon-
ceiving the canon and toward redefi ni ng what academic and
professional criticism does and says. I n this sense, chi l dren's
literature benefits from the expanded field of i nqui ry that is an
aspect of cul tural studies. I f we arewi l l i ng to take certain genre
films or certain forms of graphic art such as the comi c book
seriously, then we can rest fairly easy taking books for chi l dren
seriously. I cannot, however, get away from contradi cti on: when
we take chi l dren's books seriously as an object of study, we
initiate the very col oni zi ng of thefield that that field had seemed
to resist. I n short, the noti on of "postcolonialism" i n relation to
chi l dren's books requires some organization. What do we mean
by "postcolonialism" i n rel ati on to chi l dren's literature?
Here's a vexed question. As others have noted, "postcolonial"
now serves to mean many things to many people. Postcolonial-
ism is a site of debate as much as it is anything else. Stephen
Sl emon, i n an earlier number of ARIEL, notes that "the attributes
of postcolonialism have become so widely contested i n contem-
porary usage, its strategies and sites so structurally dispersed, as
to render the term next to useless as a precise marker of intellec-
tual content, social constituency, or pol i ti cal commi tment" ( 8 ) .
More recently, Shaobo Xi e argues that no such a thi ng as an
"'uncontami nated' or 'i ndi genous' postcol oni al theory" exists
( 7) . What is of central i mportance Xi e finds i n Si mon Duri ng,
who writes: "post-colonialism is regarded as the need, i n nations
or groups whi ch have been victims of i mperi al i sm, to achieve an
identity uncontami nated by universalist or Eurocentri c concepts
and images" ( 1 25 ; or Xi e7) . Xi e, speaking i n a general sense,
remarks that "postcolonialism represents an urgent need and
determi nati on to dismantle i mperi al structures i n the real m of
culture" ( 1 5 ) . The tension here resides i n the inability of these
descriptions of postcol oni al i sm to account for chi l dren who are a
group well practised i n col oni al attitudes, and who hope to grow
out of their col oni al positions through accommodati on to their
col oni al "elders." Chi l dren are always marked by (contaminated
by) the attitudes of an ol der generation. As my epi graph i ndi -
cates, especially when the reader views the entire passage
10 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
verses 6-gthis ol der generation mi ght encourage chi l dren to
speak, but it does so expecting them to speak its words, to pass on
its wisdom, to perpetuate its vision of the worl d.
What does speak to the subject of chi l dren's literature i n the
passages from Duri ng and Xi e that I quote, is the noti on of
cul tural multiplicity. Chi l dren may not speak their own litera-
ture, but we can assure that the literature they read comes to
them i n the fullness of the cul tural situation of the late twentieth
century. We can, for example, acknowledge a novel such as
Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy ( 1 9 9 4 ) , set i n Sri Lanka, as a
"welcome contri buti on to [Canadian] literature" (the quotation
derives from the Globe and Mail and appears on the back cover of
Selvadurai's novel ). A similar example is Al thea Trotman's How
the East Pond Got its Flowers ( ggi ), a Canadi an picture book for
chi l dren, set i n Anti gua duri ng the time of slavery. I n other
words, we can i ntroduce our chi l dren to works of literature that
represent the range of cul tural experiences and histories that
make up the nati onal and international communi ti es that touch
all of us. Thi s is one aspect of postcolonial studies: breaki ng the
hol d of the great traditions that have domi nated the study of
Engl i sh literatures since the rise of Engl i sh studies duri ng the
heyday of Bri ti sh i mperi al i sm. We have arrived at a consciousness
that, as Charles Larson argues, "when we try to force the concept
of universality on someone who is not Western . . . we are
i mpl yi ng that our own culture shoul d be the standard of meas-
urement" ( 64 ) .
Heather Scutter's essay i n this issue, "Hunti ng for History:
Chi l dren's Literature Outside, Over There, and Down Under,"
points out how persistent is the tendency to see even the litera-
tures of such postcolonial countries as Canada and Austral i a i n
terms of Western European and Ameri can traditions. I ndigenous
voices and diasporic voices conti nue to speak from the periphery
of what Zohar Shavit refers to as the "literary polysystem." To see
just how inveterate is this focus on canoni cal "Western" texts, you
mi ght glance at the most recent history of chi l dren's books, J ohn
Goldthwaite's The Natural History of Make-Believe: A Guide to the
Principal Works of Britain, Europe, and America (i gg6). The essays
i n this issue of ARIEL are a gesture towards greater inclusivity.
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 11
Here you wi l l read about works from Canada, Australia, South
Afri ca, Ni geri a, Sri Lanka, and the Uni ted States. I f we locate the
term "postcolonial" i n the peri od of national i ndependence
movements arising with greater urgency after Worl d War I I and
the Korean War than they di d pri or to these wars, then at least
one of the texts featured i n these pages wi l l appear anomalous:
Burnett's The Secret Garden, consi dered i n Mi chael Cadden's arti-
cle. Here is a deci dedl y "col oni al " book, but one we need to
examine from a postcolonial perspective. J ust as Said has taught
us to read early texts by the likes of J ane Austen or Charles
Dickens for their evocations of a col oni al mind-set, so Cadden
teaches us to l ook for a similar mind-set i n Burnett. J ohn Bal l
does the same for our understandi ng of Sendak's Where the Wild
Things Are, also noted as an "imperialist" text by Mi chael J oseph
i n his essay on Achebe, and J une Cummi ns does something
similar i n her treatment of the Curi ous George books.
Our current awareness of cul tural diversity wi thi n pol i ti cal and
economi c borders goes some way to readjusting the manner i n
whi ch we read such familiar texts as The Secret Garden or Where the
Wild Things Are or the books about Curi ous George. I want briefly
to give another example of how our readi ng of traditional (can-
onical) texts can grow, by drawing on the work of one of my
students. Lynn Braithwaite, a student i n a chi l dren's literature
class I teach this year, recently gave a presentation on E. B.
W/hite's Charlotte's Web. She began this way:
I n Charlotte's Web, the reader meets many animal groups on the
Zuckerman farm; the animals face other animals very different from
themselves. Each animal comes to recognize and accept the other
animals' cultures. The animals accept one another because they
acknowledge the others' perspective, habits, feelings. I n short, they
accept the "culture" of the other animals, and they attempt to under-
stand creatures different from themselves.
Because children identify with animals, this kind of literature (i.e.,
animal fantasy) can show that the different cultures in the animal's
world are similar to the different cultures in the humans' world. I n
education today, children are faced with classrooms full of children
from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Through
literature, we can introduce the concept of cultural diversity, and
facilitate an understanding and acceptance of this diversity.
12 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
I quote at some length to indicate how this student's focus on
Charlotte's Web derives from the perspective of our cul tural mo-
ment. She is, i n effect, using a postcolonial perspective to read
what I thi nk is a deeply colonialist book. I suspect that had I
turned my attention to the "cultural" i mpl i cati ons of Charlotte's
We before heari ng Lynn's presentation, and certainly before the
advent of postcolonial studies, I woul d have argued that the farm
with its various animals served as an allegoric remi nder of Amer-
ica's great mel ti ng pot. My argument woul d have attached this
book to the traditions of Ameri can popul i sm and agrarianism; it
presents an i dyl l i c vision of just how Ameri ca brings a disparate
group of people together and forges a homogeneous culture.
Lynn, however, sees another model at work i nCharlotte's Web, the
model of mul ti cul tural i sm. I f the book is mul ti cul tural , this does
not necessarily mean it is postcolonial. But Lynn's readi ng is itself
a sign of a ki nd of readi ng I thi nk we can call postcol oni al
because it partakes of the i deol ogi cal urge to read texts wi thi n
our cultural moment and to argue for the rights of diversity and
for what Charles Taylor calls "a regime of reci procal recogni ti on
among equals" ( 5 0 ) .
One aspect of postcolonialism, then, identifies a revisionar}'
readi ng of canoni cal texts that articulates how these texts
construct worlds. Graeme Harper, Cl are Bradford, and Robyn
McCal l um take up this subject i n their essays i n the pages that
follow. The books we read inevitably construct versions of the
worl d and its various peoples, and we need to understand just
how these constructions influence our notions of what we have
become accustomed to refer to as the "other." Difference, diver-
sity, othernessthese are watchwords when we come to examine
any worl d construction. Canoni cal textsworks such as The
Secret Garden or Where the Wild Things Are or Charlotte's Webtend
not to foreground issues of difference; rather the notions of
difference remai n a backdrop hardly i mpi ngi ng on our con-
sciousness. We tend to take difference and the pri vi l egi ng of one
group over another as natural. Postcol oni al readi ng uncovers the
constructedness of cul tural identity.
More recent and directly postcolonial texts bri ng difference
into the foreground, and by doi ng so they remi nd us just how
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 13
unnatural the di vi si on of human beings into hi erarchi cal groups
is. Works such as Selvadurai's Funny Boy or Hi mani Bannerji's
Coloured Pictures confront us with racial diversity and the agony
that can accompany decol oni zati on. Speaki ng of her teachers
i n a Toronto (Canada) school, thirteen-year-old Sujata, i n
Bannerji's Coloured Pictures, remarks to a friend: "They don't hate
us or anything, they thi nk we are different from others but don't
much want to know what that means" ( 24 ) . As Raj Rao's article i n
this issue points out, Selvadurai illustrates just how the col oni al
mentality that often surfaces as racism works its way into gender
relations, both heterosexual and homosexual . Part of the post-
col oni al enterprise is a l i berati on from the di mi ni shi ng place-
ment of people accordi ng to their racial origins, their religious
beliefs, their gender, or their sexual preference. The relation-
ship of an i ndi vi dual to a group marks the begi nni ng of the
col oni al process, as the novels of Emecheta indicate. Rose Mezu's
schizoanalytic analysis of two of Emecheta's novels points up
this conti nui ng tension between i ndi vi dual desire and group
cohesion.
My menti on of fiction by Emecheta, Selvadurai, and Bannerjii
raises another probl em: the defi ni ti on of chi l dren's literature.
Clearly, the publ i shi ng and marketi ng of the books by Emecheta
and Selvadurai differ from the publ i shi ng and marketi ng of
Bannerji's Coloured Pictures. And a glance through the table of
contents to this issuewi l l indicate that the "children's literature"
exami ned i n these various articles comprises books clearly tar-
geted at a very young readership, at books for the "mi ddl e" years,
and at books accessible to adolescents. The most difficult area is
the last. Publishers now expl i ci tl y label certain books as "young
adult," and we have books pl aced i n such sections i n book stores.
But books such asFunny Boy or The Bride Price are not marked off
for such a specialized readership; somewi l l argue that they are
not what we mean when we refer to "children's literature." And
yet they not onl y concern chi l dhood and adolescence, they are
also i mportant for young readers. Thei r content (their diegesis, i f
you will) offers i mportant experience for young readers. They
deal with difficult issues both relevant and accessible to young
readers; I refer to such themes as social, national, and sexual
14 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
identity. I n short, a novel such asFunny Boy deals with growi ng up,
and the problems and anxieties attendant upon growi ng up that
this book presents are not i n any way inaccessible to an adoles-
cent readership.
The question as to what makes a work of literature suitable for
chi l dren remains vexed. And we continue the vexation i n our
choice of creative work for this issue. Clearly, a poem such as
Shirley Geok-Li n Li m's "Presumed Guilty," participates i n the
textual web of folklore and fairytale, but it does so i n the re-
visionar)' and haunti ng manner of Sexton's Transformations. And
Li m's "The Rebel " speaks from the poi nt of view of an adolescent
(like M. Nourbese Phi l i p's "The Bearded Queen," an extract
from her Y oung Adul t novel-in-progress), but it seeks an audi-
ence that crosses generations. Poems such as Ri enzi Crusz's
"Distant Rai n," Lynne Fairbridge's "I Do Not See Them Here,"
Cl ai re Harris's "Tower Power," Ri chard Harri son's "speaking of
voice (identity[politics])," and Ri chard Stevenson's "Homo Sa-
piens Strut" speak across age lines, but are clearly not inaccess-
ible to young readers. Some of these poems have strong pol i ti cal
voices; we mi ght argue that pol i ti cal work offers young readers an
i mportant perspective from whi ch to view the worl d into whi ch
they are growing. I n other pieces, we move into experiences that
depend upon age and maturity; but who is to say young readers
ought not read of an older person's comi ng into realization. The
experience of understandi ng knows no agel i mi t. What many of
the speakers of these poems confront is identity.
I dentity is at the heart of the matter. J ust what does this familiar
and over-worked word mean? I s "identity" some Keatsian afflatus
derived from an act of anti-self-consciousness? Do human beings
have an "identity" i n common? Does "identity" take shape from
social, cultural, and pol i ti cal realities? Does "identity" derive
from bl ood ties to specific groups? Can any "identity" follow
from an act of l i berati on untying the i ndi vi dual from i deol ogi cal
forces whi ch seek to corner hi m or her at every turn? Can such a
thi ng as a "postcolonial condi ti on" exist? The essays i n this issue
of ARIEL seek to investigate such questions. They provide i n-
tri gui ng forays into relatively new territory, but of course they do
not provide definitive answers. The best they can hope to do for
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 15
us is unbl i nd our ears to the gl obal reality i n whi ch that whi ch we
have taken for granted for so l ongthe Eurocentri c vision of
thi ngscan no l onger smugly assume primacy of valuei n the
human community. Postcol oni al i sm is a manifestation of the
desirefor the acceptanceand understandi ng of otherness, and
as such it has a l ogi cal affinity with chi l dren who seemto strive for
recogni ti on. The contradi cti on lies i n the desireof chi l dren to
j oi n the group that holds authority over them. The desire is
always and ever to become the other.
I wish to acknowledge my co-editor Meena Khorana whose
edi tori al acumen, timely reports, and emoti onal support were
invaluableto my work on this issue. I wish also to thank Vi ctor J .
Ramraj for his patience; and I ought to poi nt out that although
this issuehas co-editors, the editor, as always, does the l i on's share
of the work.
R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S
University of Calgary
WORKS CI T ED
B a n n e r j i , H i m a n i . Coloured Pictures. T o r o n t o : S i st er V i s i o n , 1 9 9 1 .
Br a i t h wa i t e , L y n n . " C h a r l o t t e ' s We b a n d M u l t i c u l t u r a l i s m . " U n p u b l i s h e d Pa per .
D u r i n g , S i m o n . " P o s t m o d e r n i s m o r P o s t - C o l o n i a l i s m T o da y . " The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader. E d . B i l l A s h c r o f t , G a r e t h G r i f f i t h s , a n d H e l e n T i f f i n . L o n d o n : R o u t -
l edg e, 1 9 9 5 . 1 25 - 29 .
G o l d t h w a i t e . J o h n . The Natural History of Make-Believe: A Guide to the Principal Works of
Britain, Europe, and America. Ne w Y o r k : O x f o r d U P , 1 9 9 6.
H u n t , Pet er . Criticism, Theory, & Children's Literature. O x f o r d : B a s i l B l a c k we l l , 1 9 9 1 .
L a r s o n , C h a r l e s . " H e r o i c E t h n o c e n t r i s m : T h e I de a o f U ni v e r s a l i t y i n L i t e r a t u r e . "
A s h c r o f t , G r i f f i t h s , a n d T i f f i n . 62- 65 .
M a t t h e ws , G a r e t h . The Philosophy of Childhood. C a m b r i d g e , M A : H a r v a r d U P , 1 9 9 4 .
No d e l m a n , Per r y. " T h e O t h e r : O r i e n t a l i s m , C o l o n i a l i s m , a n d C h i l d r e n ' s L i t e r a t u r e . "
ChLA hiarterly 17 ( i g g 2) : 29 - 3 5 .
R os e, J a c q u e l i n e . The Case of Peter Pan or the Impossibility of Children's Fiction. L o n d o n :
M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 8 4 .
S ha v i t , Z o h a r . Poetics of Children's Literature. A t h e n s , G A : U o f G e o r g i a P, i g 8 6.
S l e m o n , S t e p h e n . " I n t r o d u c t o r y No t e s : P o s t c o l o n i a l i s m a n d its D i s c o nt e nt s . " ARIEL
26- 1 ( 1 9 9 5 ) : 7 - n -
Ta yl or , C h a r l e s . Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition. E d . A m y
G u t m a n . P r i n c e t o n , NJ : P r i n c e t o n U P , 1 9 9 4 .
T r o t m a n , A l t h e a . How the East Pond Got its Flowers. I l l us. S asso. T o r o n t o : S i st er V i s i o n ,
1 9 9
1
-
X i e , S h a o b o . " R e t h i n k i n g t h e P r o b l e m o f P o s t c o l o n i a l i s m . " New Literary History 28
( 1 9 9 7) : 7- 1 9-
16 RODERICK MCGI LLI S, MEENA KHORANA
Postcolonial or Postindependence?
P OST COLONIAL? Why not postindependence?" asked
Prabhat K . Singh, a colleague i n I ndia, when I told hi m about this
special issue of ARIEL on postcolonial perspectives on Chi l -
dren's and Y oung Adul t literature. He argues that the term
postcolonlal places emphasis on the political, economic, social,
and cultural subjugation of a nation's spirit of nationalism,
freedom, and heroic struggle against foreign oppression. Rod
McGi l l i s i n his editorial note looks at the relationship between
postcolonialism and children's literature and children's litera-
ture i n postcolonial societies. I want to address briefly some
aspects of the "postcolonial," this contentious term that Singh
and many others in "postcolonial" societies find troubling.
Singh's comments makes me reflect on my recent editorial for
the postcolonial issue of Bookbird, i n which I trace my colonial
heritagemy British-style schooling, the conflict between West-
ern and I ndian values, the clash between school and home. Had
the term "postcolonial," which leads to "colonial constructs" and
"imperial nostalgia," according to Singh, prompted me to focus
on my experiences at Auckl and House School, i n Simla? Would
the term "postindependence" have made me stress my nation-
alistic side, my fierce pride in being the first member of my family
to be born i n a free I ndiaone of Rushdie's "midnight's chil-
dren"? Woul d I then have focused on my enjoyment as a child
i n reading the biographies of freedom fighters like the Rani
of J hansi, Bhagat Sing, Gandhiji, Subhash Chandra Bose, and
J awaharlal Nehru? This aspect of my upbringing infused i n me
no confusion of values, no contradiction of loyalties and motives;
rather, it was an empowering moment to grow up i n the "new"
India. The message of our leaders was that the young (women in
particular) needed to throw off the shackles of the past, to
become educated and forward-looking, to seize the untold op-
portunities i n this new reality.
However, my ambivalence should not be mistaken for inse-
curity or disharmony. What I find lively about postcolonial dis-
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 17
course (whether of children's or adult literature) is that it is
no longer a confrontation between colonial versus nationalistic."
A blurring of boundaries is occurring as writers and scholars
both Western and non-Westernexplore the contradictions
and complexities of the postcolonial global situation. This has
come about through changes i n global politics, economy, trade,
cultural exchange, and immigration policies.
Postcolonial literature covers a vast canvas and is essentially
idealistic i n nature as it attempts to right the wrongs of the past.
If colonial literature was characterized by imperial propagation
of the ideology of supremacy over the colonized races, post-
colonial literature re-evaluates colonialism for its hypocrisy and
self-serving racist attitudes. If colonial literature perpetuated
stereotypes of backwardness, of barbaric and uncivilized peoples
through narrative, characterization, and themes, postcolonial
discourse counters this by recognizing achievements in the arts
and sciences and contributions to technology and culture. It is
the story of the "other." Postcolonial literature speaks i n multiple
voices; it gives agency to and embraces all hitherto marginalized
segments of the populationchildren, women, untouchables,
and ethnic and racial minorities.
Decolonization has led also to forms of liberation of children,
not least of whom are the children of colonial officials, mission-
aries, and traders who were colonized through their upbringing,
education, and leisure reading. As Argentinean author Graciela
Montes states, adults colonize children by "granting" the "gift" of
language to them: "words name things and, when they name,
they inevitably carry with them a huge cultural load, a way of
looking at, of feeling, and of dealing with the world" (22).
Whether Portuguese, British, French, or Spanish, colonial chil-
dren were exploited as historical "objects" to perpetuate their
"empires." Colonial literature dictated how they should perceive
the land of their birth and childhood. Yet the words, the charac-
ters, and situations i n these stereotypical, derogatory books often
contradicted the experiences that surrounded them. As adults,
many of these colonial children have written about their lives in
the colonies, rejecting the dissociation and rootlessness of their
colonial life by l i nki ng their emotional and psychological well-
18 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
being with their rich experiences of indigenous cultures. Iris
MacEarlane, Rumer Godden, Manuela Gerqueira, and Alberto
Oliveira Pinto, to name a few, have tried to relive their isolation,
redefine race relations, and integrate their dual identities. To
Godden, who grew up i n Bengal, the British viere a "society of
exiles"; they were "rootless" as "cut flowers" (qtd. i n Macmillan
4 4 ) . As Edward Said states in Culture and Imperialism, we are just
becoming aware of "how oddly hybrid historical and cultural
experiences are, of how they partakeof many often contradictory
experiences and domains, cross national boundaries, defy the
police action of simple dogma and l oud patriotism" (15).
Critics level charges of reverse e l i t i s m and exclusion against
postcolonial discourse. Russell J acoby, for instance, while ap-
plauding it for opening up new areas of study beyond traditional
Western literature, censures postcolonial theorists for being con-
tradictory, obscure, undefined, confused, and e l i t i s t . He raises
the question of whether Western writing about postcolonial/
postindependence societies should be construed as the appro-
priation of the voice of the other and as a form of domina-
tion. This attitude has led to debates concerning such works as
Susanne Fisher Staples's Shabanu. Is Staples, an American, ste-
reotyping Pakistani culture by focusing on one small group, the
camel herders of the Cholistan desert? Can she write authen-
tically of Pakistani culture? Is she not indulging in cultural appro-
priation. Other issues emerge i n this debate: Who speaks for
whom? Can Western writers/ theorists speak for non-Western
subjects? Whose voice is legitimate? Are such questions valid?
Many feel that postcolonial scholars have marginalized certain
groups by not including them i n the discourse. I n 1995, at
the Mid-Atlantic Writers Association Conference in Baltimore,
one participant observed that postcolonial works routinely ex-
clude diaspora Africans and the experience of slavery from their
studies. Are postcolonial studies strictly a matter of history, or is it
a modern all-embracing concept that brings all marginalized
groups to the centre of the debate? The experiences of the
enslaved and the distortions and omissions of their history have
parallels in postcoloniality. For instance, J ames Berry's Ajeemah
and His Sort fictionalize the thoughts and feelings of two enslaved
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S 19
Africans uprooted from their home in Ghana. The postcolonial
aspects of subalternity can be found i n their stories: their inter-
nalized rebellion, their sense of outrage at being denied free-
dom, and their helplessness i n the face of crushingly superior
often militaryforces. Despite these dehumanizing conditions,
they maintained their pride and dignity and safeguard them-
selves against the demoralizing impact of slavery by retaining
something of their former lives.
Widespread immigration from the former colonies to Western
countries (to find better economic opportunities, to flee political
oppression i n some instances, and to seek freedom from the
constraints of traditional cultures) has created what could be
seen as another form of postcolonial literature, a literature of
exile characterized by conflict between Western and traditional
values, by cultural marginalization, by racial conflicts, by pres-
sures to assimilate or integrate. Lesley Beake's A Cageful of But-
terflies ( 1989), Ramabai Espinet's The Princess of Spadina; A Tale of
Toronto (1992), Rosa Guy's The Friends (1973), M . Nourbese
Philip's Harriet's Daughter (1988), I ndi Rana's The Roller Bird of
Rampur (1993), Nazneen Sadiq's Camels Can Make You Homesick
( 1985), Bipsi Sidhwa'sAn American Brat ( 1993), and Rukshana
Smith's Sumintra Story (1982)works on which we would have
liked to receive articlesare all powerful narratives of children
and adolescents trying to negotiate between their former and
adopted societies.
Perhaps Prahbat K . Singh is right in stating that this preoc-
cupation with a hybrid identity and the crisis of a split identity is
relevant only to those living abroad in adopted Western homes
and not to those i n the newly independent nation, who are
developing national indentities, free of the ambivalences of the
colonial period. They can do this despite the inescapable West-
ern impact on their lives for they have integrated the English
language, Hollywood films, Western medicine and technology,
clothing and music, i n their overarching "postindependence"
culture.
This special issue is not as representative of what is happening
creatively, critically, and theoreticaly in postcolonial children's
and young adult literature as we would have liked it to be. But as
20 R O D E R I C K M C G I L L I S , M E E N A K H O R A N A
Victor J . Ramraj, the editor of ARIEL (whose editorial contribu-
tion to this issue was indispensable and very much appreciated),
assures us, it is difficult with ajournai operating on deadlines to
wait for all the promised submissions; a published book can, but
not ajournai. What we have included here, however, does pro-
vide an interim report on some current areas of and approaches
to the field. I would like to thank Rod McGi l l i s, with whomit as a
pleasure to work and who, I must acknowlege, di d much of the
work on this issue.
M E E N A K H O R A N A
Morgan State University
WORKS CI T E D
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