Voice of the Oppressed in the Language of the Oppressor: A Discussion of Selected Postcolonial Literature from Ireland, Africa and America

by Daniels,Patsy J.

• ISBN13: 9780415936910
• ISBN10: 0415936918
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book examines works from twelve authors from colonized cultures who write in English: William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, Chinua Achebe, Maxine Hong Kinston, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Daniels argues that the thinkers and writers of a colonized culture must learn the language of the colonizer and take it back to their own community thus making themselves translators who occupy a manufactured, hybrid space between two cultures.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Preface	ix
Introduction: Making Connections	3	(24)
Ireland	15	(3)
Africa	18	(4)
America	22	(5)
Yeats: Recovering History	27	(12)
Joyce: Voicing Paralysis	39	(12)
Conrad: Questioning The Empire	51	(16)
Achebe: Revising History	67	(12)
Kingston And Tan: Inventing One's Own Culture, Making One's Own Luck	79	(16)
Morrison And Walker: Imposing Silence, Writing A Voice	95	(22)
Cisneros And Castillo: Resisting The Oppressor, Writing A Liberation	117	(22)
Erdrich And Silko: Joining Heaven And Earth, Changing The Ceremony	139	(26)
Conclusion: Slicing The Pie	165	(12)
The Construction Of Identity	167	(3)
A New Model	170	(2)
The Role Of Language And Literature	172	(1)
The Role Of The Reader	173	(4)
Works Cited	177	(10)
Index	187