Welcome Readers,
This blog tries to deal with key arguments in Shashi Tharoor's book - An Era of Darkness, presents a critique on both the films as mentioned below with reference to postcolonial insights. And brings to light Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's views in 'Introduction: Towards the Universal Language of Struggle' - from 'Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'.
Shashi Tharoor's book - An Era of Darkness
A diplomat, politician and an accomplished intellectual writer who writes faster than most of us read and the one among the twenty-three writers selected for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, Dr Shashi Tharoor, purely represents India and the varied history on various international platforms by authoring more than 15 books. Tharoor is also a globally recognized elocutionist, columnist, and human rights activist. His hold on articulation is always alluringly witty and convincingly true. Click on the link to read more on Shashi Tharoor's postcolonial work-
The study of the African realities has for too long been seen in terms of tribes. Even literature is sometimes evaluated in terms of the `tribal' origins of the authors or the `tribal' origins and composition of the characters in a given novel or play. This misleading stock interpretation of the African realities has been popularised by the western media which likes to deflect people from seeing that imperialism is still the root cause of many problems in Africa. (Thiong'o)
Kenyan novelist and post-colonial theorist, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o have in his collection of essays brought to light how language has played a vital role in the culture, history, societal modes. No man or woman chooses his/her biological identity, it is natural, the race is also biological but the colonialism has impacted the race in the mental process of the subjects. So Ngugi Wa Thiong'o explains that there can never be any solution to social conflicts except through a change in the way of perceiving others.
Screen reading of 'The Black Prince'
'The Black Prince' is the tale of subjugation of the last Sikh king of Punjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh directed by Kavi Raaz. The dilemma in the entire film is over identity. The identity crises, the belongingness, the religious conflicts play a very vital role in shaping the future coarse of the black prince who has been giving the throne at the age of five upon the death of the father and has been abducted by the British government at the age of fifteen.
"What you seek is all gone now, my black Prince"
This is a chronicle surrounded over the identity and the fate of the last king of Punjab who loosens the throne and was never allowed to return. It is surrounded around the kingdom exploring relations with Queen Victoria. It is about the story lost in history and the colonial rule have never narrated it, the postcolonial way of looking to the subjects is the narration of the film. It unveils the whole new chapter of Indian History - from the prince's lost kingdom to his journey of being converted to Christianity. Hence, the narrative highlights the things and oppressions which the British have done to the subjects.
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