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Postcolonial Resistance and Representation - Coggle Diagram
Postcolonial Resistance and Representation
Colonial Power & Violence
The Act of Killing
The film shows how those in power manipulate narratives to normalize and justify mass violence.
Perpetrators maintain control not just through past violence but by controlling how that violence is remembered.
This demonstrates that colonial-style power extends beyond physical harm into memory and storytelling, reinforcing systems of control.
“We were told to hate communists”
power controls narrative
The Peshawar Express – Chander
Illustrates how political decisions tied to colonial rule create widespread, uncontrollable violence among ordinary people.
The train becomes a symbol of how individuals are caught in systems of power they cannot escape.
This reflects how violence is not random but produced by larger colonial structures of control.
Death and the King’s Horseman – Soyinka
Shows how colonial authority disrupts established cultural systems by imposing its own understanding of order and morality.
The colonizers’ interference reveals a deeper desire to control not just land but belief systems.
This aligns with the branch by showing that colonial power operates through cultural domination as well as force.
“The world is not a constant honey-flow”
cultural control beyond violence
Bandung Conference
Represents formerly colonized nations rejecting Western dominance and forming their own political alliances.
Shifts the idea of power from colonial control to collective resistance.
This shows how control can be challenged through unity rather than domination, expanding the meaning of resistance.
“Let a new Asia and Africa be born”
Concerning Violence – Fanon
Colonial systems are built on physical and psychological violence that strip colonized people of agency and humanity.
Fanon argues that violence becomes a necessary response because it is the only language the colonizer understands.
This directly reflects how power is maintained through force and only challenged through equally forceful resistance, aligning with the branch’s focus on control.
“Colonialism is violence in its natural state”
Hala Halim – Afro-Asian Nexus
Highlights how anti-colonial struggles are interconnected across regions, not isolated events.
Emphasizes intellectual and political collaboration as a response to global systems of control.
Reinforces that colonial power is global, so resistance must also operate across borders.
Migration, Diaspora & Survival
Zong! – M. NourbeSe Philip
Reconstructs voices erased by slavery through fragmented language.
Highlights how displacement leads to loss of identity and history.
This reflects the branch by showing survival through remembering what was meant to be erased.
“water / bodies / lost”
voice vs silence
The Cow of the Barricades – Raja Rao
Uses cultural symbols to represent resistance during political struggle.
Shows how tradition can unite people in times of conflict.
This connects to the branch by showing survival through cultural identity and collective resistance.
“The cow became a symbol”
I, Rigoberta Menchú
Uses personal testimony to represent collective Indigenous struggle.
Storytelling becomes a way to resist erasure and assert identity.
This aligns with the branch by showing survival through voice and shared memory.
“My story is the story of my people”
collective resistance
collective political resistance
Men in the Sun – Kanafani
Depicts displacement as a condition of silence and invisibility.
The characters’ deaths symbolize the consequences of not being heard.
This reflects how migration without agency leads to loss and erasure.
“Why didn’t you knock?”
Gender, Body & Exploitation
Draupadi – Mahasweta Devi
Portrays the female body as a site of both violence and resistance.
Draupadi rejects shame and reclaims control over her own body.
This shows how the body becomes a space where systems of power are both enforced and challenged.
“There isn’t a man here I should be ashamed of”
violence as resistance
The Coming of the Christ-Child – Bessie Head
Explores how colonial religion influences gender roles and social expectations.
Blends spiritual and cultural change to show shifting identities.
This demonstrates that control over belief systems also impacts gender and the body.
“They had forgotten their own ways”
Under Western Eyes – Mohanty
Critiques how Western frameworks define and limit the identities of Third World women.
Shows that representation itself can be a form of control and exploitation.
This aligns with the branch by demonstrating that gender oppression is reinforced through global power structures.
“Third World woman as a singular figure”
Western construction of identity
Our Sister Killjoy – Aidoo
Critiques how colonial influence shapes perceptions of gender and identity in diaspora.
Challenges the idea that Western culture is superior or liberating.
This connects to the branch by showing how gender identity is shaped by both colonial and cultural pressures.
“Been-to”
Breast-Giver – Mahasweta Devi
Depicts how a woman’s body is turned into a source of labor and economic survival.
Highlights the intersection of gender, class, and exploitation.
This reinforces that colonial and capitalist systems exploit the body as a resource.
“Her breasts were her livelihood”
Identity, Language & Cultural Removal
Language of African Literature – Ngũgĩ
Argues that colonialism erases identity by replacing native languages with colonial ones.
Language becomes a tool of domination because it shapes how people think and understand themselves.
This connects directly to the branch by showing that cultural erasure begins with control over language and expression.
“Language carries culture”
language restores identity
The Cobbler and the Machine – Anand
Illustrates how industrialization tied to colonial systems replaces traditional crafts and identities.
The machine symbolizes loss of individuality and cultural value.
This connects to the branch by showing economic systems as a force of cultural erasure.
“The machine had no pity”
exploitation of labor/body
The First Party – Hosain
Shows how colonial influence creates internal conflict within individuals trying to balance tradition and modernity.
Identity becomes unstable as people navigate competing cultural expectations.
This reflects how colonialism reshapes identity from within, not just from external control.
internal identity conflict
Orientalism – Edward Said
Explains how Western narratives create simplified and false identities for non-Western societies.
These representations justify domination by making the “other” seem inferior or exotic.
This shows that identity is not just lost but actively constructed by those in power, reinforcing cultural erasure.
“The Orient was almost a European invention”
The Sacrificial Egg – Achebe
Depicts the weakening of traditional beliefs under colonial influence.
The silence of the gods represents the loss of cultural authority.
This aligns with the branch by showing how colonialism replaces indigenous identity with uncertainty and fragmentation.
“The gods were silent”
A Horse and Two Goats – Narayan
Highlights how language barriers prevent true understanding between cultures.
The colonizer’s inability to understand reflects deeper disregard for local identity.
This demonstrates that language differences reinforce unequal power and contribute to cultural erasure.
“He understood no English”
lack of voice = invisibility