Browsing by Author "ABDUR REHMAN QADEER"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Revisiting (anti) colonial tropes in the mimic men and a bend in the river through dabashi’s perspective
    (UMT Lahore, 2023) ABDUR REHMAN QADEER
    This thesis analyses V.S. Naipaul's The Mimic Men and A Bend in the River employing Hamid Dabashi's (anti)colonial paradigm, emphasizing the ideas of intellectual exile, comprador intellectuals, native informers, neocolonialism, and the colonial gaze. Colonialism continues after independence and adopts the form of neocolonialism that consists of local elites continuing to uphold the same structures of power under a new guise. The comprador intellectual is an agent of this system that is torn between preserving the remnants of colonial power while advocating for the postcolonial state. This dichotomy is personified by Ralph Singh in The Mimic Men, as his role as a political figure reflects the very persecution his country seeks to escape. His state is indicative of the mental and emotional upheaval reflecting the state of intellectual exile. In the postcolonial condition, the intellectual exile navigates a fractured identity, continuously resisting the pressures of both the colonial legacy and the postcolonial state apparatus. Salim in A Bend in the River, on the contrary, stands in for the native informer____ the colonial intermediaries who negotiate the space between the colonizers and the colonized, always reflecting the ideology of colonialism while claiming to represent the voice of the native. His involvement in trade and affiliations to the postcolonial elite serve as an example of the manipulation and dependence that are essential to neocolonial tactics. By enforcing external judgments and sustaining self surveillance, Dabashi emphasizes the colonial gaze as a constant force that molds postcolonial subjects. Ralph Singh struggles with the obligations placed on him by his Rajput heritage and frequently returns to his colonial childhood. Salim's views of power dynamics and his own alienation also highlights colonial ideologies that continue to influence postcolonial identities. The transfer of colonial hierarchies to local elites is highlighted by neocolonialism; comprador intellectuals and native informers are instruments of this process, sustaining alienation and dependency. By forcing individuals to define themselves within the parameters set by colonial power, the colonial gaze ensures that these processes continue to be internalized. This thesis viii supports Dabashi's claim that postcolonial cultures are places of continuous battles for sovereignty and self-definition as the effects of colonialism continue to exist in subtle ways.