This study presents the fact that the relationship between the white colonialists and the black indigenous population threw up a myriad of socio-political cross fertilization in Africa. The way and manner the Whites r...This study presents the fact that the relationship between the white colonialists and the black indigenous population threw up a myriad of socio-political cross fertilization in Africa. The way and manner the Whites related with the Black people, the levels of reactions and response of the black population to the invading socio-political values and standards during the colonial era has been the subject of interesting writings in Africa. Of significance in this class of writing in Kenya is Ngugi Wa Thiong＇O＇s works. His profound sympathy with his people in their weaknesses, their poverty in the socio-political development in Kenya, and particularly his hatred of exploitation, cruelty, and injustice are noteworthy. It is the thrust of this work to critically look at the socio-political change in postcolonial Kenya through the literary eyes of Ngugi in his remarkable and compelling work, Petals of Blood （1977）, with a view to establish the contributions of the work to real socio-political development in Kenya through the approaches of textual criticism, interpretation, and post-colonial theory. Thus, the study examines the socio-political development in postcolonial Kenyan society, the lifestyle of people, and the relationships that exist among Kenyan citizens, especially between the rich and the poor, the government （ruling class）, and the governed （masses）. It also establishes the basis for the continued prevalence of the themes of violence, corruption, injustice, disillusionment, decadence, and disintegration in contemporary Kenyan literature, in spite of the transformation and change in the socio-political setting of the State.展开更多
The tradition of the west defines its modernity as a radical rupture with endless possibilities for egalitarian futures; yet western modernity was rooted in the genocide of indigenous populations, transatlantic racial...The tradition of the west defines its modernity as a radical rupture with endless possibilities for egalitarian futures; yet western modernity was rooted in the genocide of indigenous populations, transatlantic racial slavery and colonialism. Moreover, as the war on terror demonstrates, racial/gender violence continues to be linked to the formation of western identity, culture and politics in the early twenty-first century. This paper examines how the histories of race and coloniality feature in the contemporary formation of the west, with a particular focus on US nationalism and Canadian multiculturalism. These nation-states are most often defined as antithetical, with the latter confirming that western society has transcended its originary racial/colonial politics. I begin with a brief discussion of the reformation of the west in the mid-twentieth century as the USA became the dominant western power. I then move to compare the contemporary national politics of the USA and Canada to highlight the divergence and convergence in their ddineation of their identity and values. My study demonstrates that although the white supremacist discourse that presently constitutes US nationalism is at variance with the multi- culturalism that shapes Canadian identity, these discourses can be defined as twin aspects of the racial/colonial politics that continue to give meaning to the idea of the west.展开更多
If the demise of the Soviet system allowed some to think of a global triumph of Western democracy and capitalism, as well as of an unchallenged American hegemony over the world, it became clear over the last decade th...If the demise of the Soviet system allowed some to think of a global triumph of Western democracy and capitalism, as well as of an unchallenged American hegemony over the world, it became clear over the last decade that not only were other nations beginning to have their say in international affairs, such as the BRICs and the IBAS, but, and most importantly, that other political cultures were also emerging, especially some from the Southern hemisphere. This paper examines, first, the possible contribution Brazil and other Latin American societies could give to the world, helping to shape an ideal of democracy more open to what we will call democratic affectivity, which would replace a too rational view of politics; and, then, the importance of China and other nations that due to their cultural identities, wealth, population, and territory, but above all their political will, can negotiate the terms of their globalization, fundamentally changing the ways it has been conceived of in the years after 1989.展开更多
文摘This study presents the fact that the relationship between the white colonialists and the black indigenous population threw up a myriad of socio-political cross fertilization in Africa. The way and manner the Whites related with the Black people, the levels of reactions and response of the black population to the invading socio-political values and standards during the colonial era has been the subject of interesting writings in Africa. Of significance in this class of writing in Kenya is Ngugi Wa Thiong＇O＇s works. His profound sympathy with his people in their weaknesses, their poverty in the socio-political development in Kenya, and particularly his hatred of exploitation, cruelty, and injustice are noteworthy. It is the thrust of this work to critically look at the socio-political change in postcolonial Kenya through the literary eyes of Ngugi in his remarkable and compelling work, Petals of Blood （1977）, with a view to establish the contributions of the work to real socio-political development in Kenya through the approaches of textual criticism, interpretation, and post-colonial theory. Thus, the study examines the socio-political development in postcolonial Kenyan society, the lifestyle of people, and the relationships that exist among Kenyan citizens, especially between the rich and the poor, the government （ruling class）, and the governed （masses）. It also establishes the basis for the continued prevalence of the themes of violence, corruption, injustice, disillusionment, decadence, and disintegration in contemporary Kenyan literature, in spite of the transformation and change in the socio-political setting of the State.
文摘The tradition of the west defines its modernity as a radical rupture with endless possibilities for egalitarian futures; yet western modernity was rooted in the genocide of indigenous populations, transatlantic racial slavery and colonialism. Moreover, as the war on terror demonstrates, racial/gender violence continues to be linked to the formation of western identity, culture and politics in the early twenty-first century. This paper examines how the histories of race and coloniality feature in the contemporary formation of the west, with a particular focus on US nationalism and Canadian multiculturalism. These nation-states are most often defined as antithetical, with the latter confirming that western society has transcended its originary racial/colonial politics. I begin with a brief discussion of the reformation of the west in the mid-twentieth century as the USA became the dominant western power. I then move to compare the contemporary national politics of the USA and Canada to highlight the divergence and convergence in their ddineation of their identity and values. My study demonstrates that although the white supremacist discourse that presently constitutes US nationalism is at variance with the multi- culturalism that shapes Canadian identity, these discourses can be defined as twin aspects of the racial/colonial politics that continue to give meaning to the idea of the west.
文摘If the demise of the Soviet system allowed some to think of a global triumph of Western democracy and capitalism, as well as of an unchallenged American hegemony over the world, it became clear over the last decade that not only were other nations beginning to have their say in international affairs, such as the BRICs and the IBAS, but, and most importantly, that other political cultures were also emerging, especially some from the Southern hemisphere. This paper examines, first, the possible contribution Brazil and other Latin American societies could give to the world, helping to shape an ideal of democracy more open to what we will call democratic affectivity, which would replace a too rational view of politics; and, then, the importance of China and other nations that due to their cultural identities, wealth, population, and territory, but above all their political will, can negotiate the terms of their globalization, fundamentally changing the ways it has been conceived of in the years after 1989.
