"A Tempest as a Postcolonial Text" - By Aime Cesaire

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Name: Zarna Bhatti

Roll No.: 5

Sem: 3

Email Id: zarnabhatti10@gmail.com

Paper Name: Postcolonial Literature

Assignment Topic: “A Tempest” as a Postcolonial Text.

Year: 2015 to 1017

Enrollment No.: PG15101005

Submitted : S.B.Gardi Department of English MKBU.

Introduction about Author:

Aime Cesaire was born in 26^th June, 1913. Aime Cesaire was a

 Francophone and French poet. He was “One of the founders of the

negritude movement in works as Une Tempete, a response to

 Shakespeare's play The Tempest, and Discours sur le colonialism 

an essay descring the strife between the colonized. His works have

 been translated into many languages.

First of all let's we will understand Introduction of Colonialism.

 Colonialism means The policy or practice of equiring full or partial

political control over another country, exploding it economically.

Colonialism: Conquest + Control.

Postcolonial Literature:

Is a study on the effect of colonialism on cultures and societies. 

Concerned with both how European nations conquered and 

controlled.

“Third Word” Culture and how these Europeans have since 

responded to resisted those encroachments. 

 

The Meaning of The Third World:

Third World: The countries of Africa, Asia and South America are 

some times reffered to all together as The Third World, especially 

those parts that are poor do not have much power and are not 

considered to be highly development compare First World.

Defination of post colonialism:

 Post colonialism is the study of the legacy of the era of European, and sometimes 

American, direct global domination, which ended roughly in the mid-20th century, and 

the residual political, socio-economic, and psychological effects of that colonial history. 

Post colonialism examines the manner in which emerging societies grapple with the 

challenges of self-determination and how they incorporate or reject the Western norms 

and conventions, such as legal or political systems, left in place after direct 

administration by colonial powers ended. Ironically, much early post colonial theory, 

with its emphasis on overt rejection of imposed Western norms, was tied to Marxist 

theory, which also originated in Europe. Contemporary studies focus more on the effects 

of postcolonial globalization and the development of indigenous solutions to local needs.

The rise of modernism in the late nine-tenth century concided with

 the dawn of what way called the “New Imperialism” from the 

1880s onwards.

We cannot dismiss either the importance of formal decolonisation or 

the fact that unequal relations of colonial rule are renscribed in the

 contemporary imbalances between 'first' and 'third' word nations.

 The new global order does not depend upon direct rule. However, it 

does allow the economic, cultural and political penetration of some

countries by others. This  makes it debatable whether once-

colonised countries can be seen as properly 'Postcolonial'.

“A Tempest as a Postcolonial Text”

A Tempest by Aime Cesaire was originally 

published in 1969 in French by editions du seuil in Paris. A Tempest

 is the third play in a trilogy aimed at advancing the tenets of the 

negritude movement.

It is written as a postcolonial response to The Tempest by William

 Shakespeare. The Tempest by William Shakespeare. The story is

 the same:

- a big storm,

- an angry Duke who has been usurped by his brother.

- all the devoted courtesans,

- and the natives.

This play deals mostly with the natives, Ariel and Caliban.

It is Cesair's common on the colonization of the “New World”. He

has many of the same ideas are C.L.R. James and Franz Fanon, and

 he has inspired newer Caribbean writing like Michelle Cliff.

A Tempest is a postcolonial revision of Shakespeare's The Tempest

 and it draws heavily on original play:The cost of character is for the

most part, the same , and the foundation of the plot follows the

 same basic premise.

• Prospero has been exiled and lives on a secluded island, and he 
  
  
  drumsup a violent storm to drive his daughter's ship
  
  
   ashore.The island,however is some where in the caribbean ,
  
  
   Ariel is Mulatto slave and Caliban is a black slave.
  
  
  A Tempest focuses on the plight of Ariel and caliban-the never 
  
  
  ending quest to gain freedom from prospero and his rule over
  
  
  the island. 
  
  
   
  Ariel, dutiful to prospero, follows all orders given to him and 
  
  
  sincerlly believes emancipation. Caliban, on the other hand,
  
  
  slights prospero at every opportunity.
  
  

In the first act:

“ Caliban greets prospero by saying “Uhuru!”, the Swahili word for

 “Freedom”. Prospero complains that Caliban often speaks in his 

native language which prospero has forbidden.

• Caliban, generally viewed as an almost archetypal 
  
  
  represntation of the third world colonized subject originated in
  
  
   Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Despite the character's minor role in the play, Caliban has gained

 critics
interest due to his subsequent re- contextualize within

postcolonial contexts.

Initially, the figure of Caliban was read as the symbol of primitive 

humanity, a degenerated character exhibiting greed, lawlessness 

and lust. In his development up to mid 20^th century, Caliban

symbolized the Third world as imagined by Europe to justify 

colonialism.

Conversely, in third world countries, this character has developed 

into a positive symbol of the Third World a view that high lights the

 implacable spirit of Caliban against Prospero's subjugation.

The reiterations of Caliban as a symbol of the Third World can be 

found not only in a dramatic work, such as in Aime Cesare's A 

Tempest but also in psychological and political treatises, such as

those written by Octavio Mannoni and Fernando Retamar. It is 

interesting to situate the proces of Caliban's surrogation within the 

realm of postcolonial theory.

• Postcolonial theory has raised some problematical definitions 
  
  
  and articutions due to the ambiguities of the term itself.
  
  

Taken literally, the term may mean theory after colonialism, 

culterally and economically varous forms of neocolonialism

. 

Secondly, if postcolonial theory is understood as theory written

 after colonialism, it contradicts the fact that many postcolonial

works were written during the colonial period.

• Bill Ashcroft defines postcolonial theory as; “That dynamic of 
  
  
  opposition, the discourse of resistance to colonialism which
  
  
   begins from the first moment of colonization.
  
  

I most definitely do not mean after colonialism because that would

be to suppose an end to the imperial process”.(163)

Ashcroft's definition of postcolonial theory anticipates the above

reductive meaning and generally accepted since it denotes that

colonialism is still at work and that postcolonial theory has been 

written in resistance to colonialism. One key postcolonial issue

 concerns the matter of identity. These various concepts of identity

 indicate that, like the Caliban figure, the formulation of identity in

 postcolonial theory cannot escape from the process of surrogation.

During their argument, (between Caliban and Prospero), Caliban

tells Prospero that he no longer wants to be called Caliban;

Caliban: Put it this way: I'm telling you that from now on I won't 

answer to the name Caliban.

Prospero: What put that notion into your head?

Caliban: Well, Caliban isn't my name. It's as simple as that.

Prospero: It's mine, I suppose!

Caliban: It's the name give me by hatred and every time it's spoken

 it's an insult.

Prospero: My, how sensitive we're getting to be! All right, suggest 

something else, I've got to call you something what will it be? 

Cannibal would suit you, but I'm sure you would not like that, 

would  you?

Let's see, what about Hannibal? That fits. And why not.......they all

 seem to like historical names.

These conversaton between Caliban and Prospero is very important

 for postcolonial aspect,also shows postcolonial issue of identity,

 Caliban's character which also shows relationship between master 

slave almost same way like in; Colonialism: Colonizers and 

Colonized.

Cesaire very beautifully described colonial-postcolonial situation 

through text. Especially conversation between Caliban and

 Prospero; through them Cesaire gave us point of view about

colonial- postcolonial situation. Here, these dialogue shows us that

 type of situation which accrue in that prove this point.

Caliban: And that's why you will stay just like those guys who 

founded the colonies and now can't live anywhere else.

You're just an old colonial addict, that's what you are!

Near the end of the play, Prospero sends all the lieutenants off the

island to procure a place in Naples for his daughter Miranda and

her husband Ferdinand. When the fleet begs him to Prospero 

refuses and claims that the island cannot stand without him; in the

 end, only he and Caliban remain.

Conclusion:

We would critically analyze Caliban as a character not as a class of 

slaves, we therefore argue that who feel marginalized the play from

 Feminist critics the character of Miranda and from the perspective

 of postcolonial critics the character of Caliban. But the loophole is

 that just to quote Miranda and her speeches or a faulty perception

 of Caliban’s character in order to acclimatize with the feminist or 

post-colonial theory kills the beauty of totality of the play.

“The real tragedy of our postcolonial world is not that the majority 

of people had no say in whether or not they wanted this new world 

rather it is that the majority have not been given the tools to 

negotiate this new world”.

Thank You...

http://drashtidave1315.blogspot.in/2014/10/a-tempest-as-post-colonial-text.html

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