Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Departamento de Filología Anglogermánica y Francesa

POSTCOLONIAL CULTURES

UNIT ONE: MAPPING THE GROUNDS

THE RACIAL RHETORIC OF EMPIRE

OED: Cannibal: “A man (esp. a savage) that eats human flesh; a man eater, an anthropophagite. Originally
proper name of the man-eating Caribs of the Antilles”.
th
Origin: mid-16 century; from Spanish Canibales (plural), variant (recorded by Columbus) of Caribes, the
name of a West Indian people reputed to eat humans.

Carib or Caribes: a fierce nation of the West Indies, who are recorded to have been anthropophagi, and from
whom the name was subsequently extended as a descriptive term.

Columbus Journal (23 November 1492): “[One of the Indians] said that this land was very extensive and that
in it were people who had one eye in the forehead, and others whom they called ‘cannibals’. Of these last,
they showed great fear, and when they saw that this course was being taken, they were speechless, he says,
because these people ate them and because they are very warlike.”

(11 December 1492): “[…] it appears likely that they are harassed by an intelligent race, all these islands living
in great fear of those of the Caniba. ‘And so I repeat what I have said on other occasions,’ he says, ‘the Caniba
are nothing else than the people of the Grand Khan [que Caniba no es otra cosa sino la gente del Grand Can],
who must be very near here and possess ships, and they must come to take them captive, and as prisoners do
not return, they believe that they have been eaten.”

[Cited Peter Hulme (1986) in The Post-colonial Studies Reader, p. 366]

THE WHITE MAN AND THE CANNIBALS

Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

When I was come down the hill to the end of the island, where, indeed, I had never been before, I was
presently convinced that the seeing the print of a man’s foot was not such a strange thing in the island as I
imagined: and but that it was a special providence that I was cast upon the side of the island where the savages
never came, I should easily have known that nothing was more frequent than for the canoes from the main,
when they happened to be a little too far out at sea, to shoot over to that side of the island for harbour:
likewise, as they often met and fought in their canoes, the victors, having taken any prisoners, would bring
them over to this shore, where, according to their dreadful customs, being all cannibals, they would kill and eat
them; of which hereafter.
When I was come down the hill to the shore, as I said above, being the SW. point of the island, I was perfectly
confounded and amazed; nor is it possible for me to express the horror of my mind at seeing the shore spread
with skulls, hands, feet, and other bones of human bodies; and particularly I observed a place where there had
been a fire made, and a circle dug in the earth, like a cockpit, where I supposed the savage wretches had sat
down to their human feastings upon the bodies of their fellow-creatures.
I was so astonished with the sight of these things, that I entertained no notions of any danger to myself from it
for a long while: all my apprehensions were buried in the thoughts of such a pitch of inhuman, hellish brutality,
and the horror of the degeneracy of human nature, which, though I had heard of it often, yet I never had so
near a view of before; in short, I turned away my face from the horrid spectacle; my stomach grew sick, and I
was just at the point of fainting, when nature discharged the disorder from my
stomach; and having vomited with uncommon violence, I was a little relieved, but
could not bear to stay in the place a moment; so I got up the hill again with all the
speed I could, and walked on towards my own habitation. (Chapter XII)
About a year and a half after I entertained these notions (and by long musing had, as
it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want of an occasion to put them into
execution), I was surprised one morning by seeing no less than five canoes all on
shore together on my side the island, and the people who belonged to them all landed
and out of my sight. The number of them broke all my measures; for seeing so many,
and knowing that they always came four or six, or sometimes more in a boat, I could
not tell what to think of it, or how to take my measures to attack twenty or thirty men
single-handed; so lay still in my castle, perplexed and discomforted. However, I put myself into the same
position for an attack that I had formerly provided, and was just ready for action, if anything had
presented. Having waited a good while, listening to hear if they made any noise, at length, being very
impatient, I set my guns at the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top of the hill, by my two stages, as
usual; standing so, however, that my head did not appear above the hill, so that they could not perceive me by
any means. Here I observed, by the help of my perspective glass, that they were no less than thirty in number;
that they had a fire kindled, and that they had meat dressed. How they had cooked it I knew not, or what it
was; but they were all dancing, in I know not how many barbarous gestures and figures, their own way, round
the fire.
While I was thus looking on them, I perceived, by my perspective, two miserable wretches dragged from the
boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, and were now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived one of
them immediately fall; being knocked down, I suppose, with a club or wooden sword, for that was their way;
and two or three others were at work immediately, cutting him open for their cookery, while the other victim
was left standing by himself, till they should be ready for him. In that very moment this poor wretch, seeing
himself a little at liberty and unbound, Nature inspired him with hopes of life, and he started away from them,
and ran with incredible swiftness along the sands, directly towards me; I mean towards that part of the coast
where my habitation was. I was dreadfully frightened, I must acknowledge, when I perceived him run my way;
and especially when, as I thought, I saw him pursued by the whole body: and now I expected that part of my
dream was coming to pass, and that he would certainly take shelter in my grove; but I could not depend, by any
means, upon my dream, that the other savages would not pursue him thither and find him there. However, I
kept my station, and my spirits began to recover when I found that there was not above three men that
followed him; and still more was I encouraged, when I found that he outstripped them exceedingly in running,
and gained ground on them; so that, if he could but hold out for half-an-hour, I saw easily he would fairly get
away from them all. […]
It came very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant, and,
perhaps, a companion or assistant; and that I was plainly called by Providence to save this poor creature’s
life. I immediately ran down the ladders with all possible expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were both
at the foot of the ladders, as I observed before, and getting up again with the same haste to the top of the hill, I
crossed towards the sea; and having a very short cut, and all down hill, placed myself in the way between the
pursuers and the pursued, hallowing aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at first perhaps as much
frightened at me as at them; but I beckoned with my hand to him to come back; and, in the meantime, I slowly
advanced towards the two that followed; then rushing at once upon the foremost, I knocked him down with
the stock of my piece. […]
I beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of encouragement that I could think of; and he
came nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for saving his
life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to come still nearer; at length he came close to
me; and then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and taking me by the
foot, set my foot upon his head; this, it seems, was in token of swearing to be my slave for ever. I took him up
and made much of him, and encouraged him all I could. (XIII)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/521/521-h/521-h.htm
 POSTCOLONIAL RESPONSES TO COLONIAL RHETORIC

Mutabaruka’s response from the Caribbean:

Mutabaruka is, with Linton Kwesi Johnson, the best known of the Dub
poets. The term “dub poetry” is thought to have been invented by the
Jamaican poet Oku Onuora to describe a form of oral art developing in
Jamaica since the early 1970’s. According to him, a dub poem is a poem
that relies on a reggae rhythm that can be felt/heard even when there is
no musical accompaniment. As with reggae lyrics, these poems always
carry a strong political message. The poets themselves were never fully
comfortable with the lable and, by the mid-1980’s, the term lost its popularity. Jamaican poet Jean
Binta Breeze, for one, pleaded in her poem “Dubbed Out” for a type of poetry that would not
“break” words but let them live

“Columbus Ghost”
i am Christopher Columbus now you may ask what was
just call me cris blacks doin there
i am de who did miss the land but they ruled us for over 700
india years
i thought i'd discover they made a great mistake then
that which was never instead of enslavin us they made us
how clever of me to see the land their friend
beyond some survived
i came to tame stayed alive
and claim fought the invasion
in the name of spain european division
i am cris english agression
dont dis the fight between europe and
my his-story european expansion
i inspired hawkins livingston i wrote your history for you
musolini botha did not tell you true
bush not all blackmen came as slaves
i exterminated listen you will know the truth in
perpetuated the waves
hatred that brought the ships
lips lie
against redmen yellowmen
with blackmen i make no friend to keep intact
i attack arawak oppression of black skin
cut off their head a sin
wrote instead a myth
that the caribs ate them like bread i am cris
i never told you this before
but my chief navigator was a the church perch on the
MOOR opportunity to spread
you know the moors the religion of the dead
they discovered spain through misconception
those blacks who came from the the assumption
afrikan terrain that this world was new
the idea that the world was round the wind blew us to save the
i got from these same blacks in earth
some little spanish town from beast like men
friend i am not your children praise me
blot out the spot i am their only history
that claim they are men like us i am Christopher columbus
i am Christopher columbus i died
i gave europe power over all the but you made me live
earth give me the sea once more
500 years of your blood sweat let me discover you again
and tears the stain
now you celebrate my fathers sons rule
recreate your death fool
let the glasses touch you celebrate my comin
with the blood of your fathers and i will not go
mothers not from your mind
give a toast restore me for all to see
HOST my arrival keepers of life
your dyin shepherds of my people
my survival lead them to the altar of lies
your ancestors cries will not be
the land is sti I mine heard
the pope is still the divine word after word
yes pages of history written
drink your own blood the victims are once more bitten
call it wine
1492 to you the beginnin of
nothin in the pages of my history western world democracy
will blot out your misery 1492 to me the beginnin of white
you shall celebrate my victory supremacy

CANNIBALS FROM THE SOUTH SEAS

Background reading:
http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao36TeA/c29.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/cultures/news/article.cfm?c_id=105&objectid=10462390
http://www.stuff.co.nz/archived-stuff-sections/archived-national-sections/korero/565552
Witi Ihimaera’s response from New Zealand:

“Dinner with the Cannibal

Of course I should have realized, at dinner
That he would be a man of special tastes
His mordant wit and intellect proclaimed him bon vivant
I suppose I was bedazzled by it all
The chandelier, the red roses like stigmata
Too flattered by the invitation
To notice that the table was laid only for hors d’oeuvres

It was understood of course that I was privileged to be there

With him in dinner jacket and black bow tie
The fact that he drank claret should have made me realize
That he liked his meat rare yet, even so
I was take aback when, all of a sudden
he reached across the table to snap off both my legs
As if I was a crisp brown Maori-bread man
Saying, “You won’t need these, will you”

The snap and wrench of bone from socket

Sounded louder than I expected, but, the agony was slight
(I’ve always had a high pain threshold)
What alarmed me more was that my silk trousers were forever ruined
“After all,” he said, “a landless man may just as well be limbless”
“And just in case,” he added, breaking both my arms,
“This will prevent any further throwing of wet black T-shirts
At Her Majesty”

What could I do? I watched him

Suck the marrow of my bones and tear the meat
That once had made me mobile
I was pleased his manners were impeccable
Not one sweet morsel of me dropped
From his lips – I loved the way
He cracked my toes and fingers open with his teeth
To work the fine gristle for its flavour

He was a gourmet of impeccable sophistication

“That was much better than Aboriginal or Red Indian”
He said, “And I have never liked the taste of Hindu or Pakistani
Too much curry in their diet taints the flesh
You are a repast quite delicious
Almost like Samoan, less fatty than Tongan”
So saying, he proceeded to the main course -

This was my stomach, heart and ribs

Not exactly in that order, for I could not see
What he ate first as he leant forward
With silver knife and fork
To slice the cavity of my breast open
Like a crisp golden chicken
My thoughts were entertained in fact by the memory
Of Noel Coward’s witticism about Salote
At the Queen’s Coronation in 1953 -
Mister Coward was wise never to visit Tonga -
“Ah, there it is,” he said, impaling my heart with his fork
And lifting it from its protective cage
I wept to see its pulsing beauty
But thought – This is only to be expected really
From people who eat and drink the body and blood
Of Christ every Sunday
“Best to rid yourself of this, old chap,” he added
“Your Maori yearnings are excessive, you agree?”

I wondered if he was right, after all why yearn

For language and culture already taken, why fight it?
Where does Maoritanga fit in this world of teenage mutant Ninja turtles?
Yet I did protest and fight as he cut through the middle
Of my heart and, seeing that rich blood flow red as a river
Wondered if there was time to escape this dinner

“Oh no you don’t” he said, as he began dessert

Dishing the sweetmeats of my body onto a crystal plate
My liver, kidneys and tongue
and last of all, my eyes
Smothering them with strawberries and rich cream
by then, without eyes, I could no longer see
The relish of his enjoyment
Cruelly, he left my brain intact to wonder
Why I had ever accepted his invitation to dine
150 years ago —