After studying aspects of Post-Colonial Theory, brainstorm a list of questions to ask of our memoirs in order to apply a postcolonial theory to them. Share your top two questions. Make sure to read through all of the comments before you post so that you do not repeat questions. For your 2 comments, your job is to help each other refine the questions we plan to ask of our memoirs.
Examples:
- How does the text represent aspects of oppression similar to that of colonialism?
- What person(s) or group(s) does the work identify as "other" or stranger? How are such persons/groups described and treated?
- What does the text reveal about the politics and/or psychology of anti-colonialist resistance?
- What does the text reveal about the operations of cultural difference - the ways in which race, religion, class, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form individual identity - in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we live?
The main character from my memoir Brain on Fire, Susannah, is a victim of being the "other." However, she is not a victim of being the "other" by a colonizer. She is her own colonizer. She rejects and is in denial of everything that is happening to her. She is also not a victim of being the "other" within the listed categories. Susannah falls in the category of being the "other" due to her drastic behavioral changes, developing epilepsy, and psychosis. Is it possible for an individual to "other" him or herself? Does disability or illness qualify as an "othering" agent? Even if an individual does not tend to "other" their disabled child or loved one carrying a disease are they still doing so by showing an excess amount of sympathy, compassion, and or pity?
ReplyDeleteYour questions are really interesting, we didn't even talk about having an illness as an "other" in class. I think that having an illness can make one think of themselves as an "other" because they can isolate themselves and know that people look at them differently. You can refine the question by adding in some type of experience that Susannah had to make it more direct.
DeleteGreat questions Crystal!These questions can really get anyone thinking. I think you should just add a suggestion to the first question by asking if peoples idea of the other can make a person believe into those beliefs about themselves.Would they start accepting it?
DeleteWell, I can tell you from experience that when a person has a disease, it is easy to want to 'other' yourself. You are already different from other people which makes you look at yourself as not being normal. If your not like everyone else, then your the other.
DeleteSociety functions in such a complex way. Adding on to the idea Omi presented, as if in order for you to belong you need to be like "everyone else" or what is consider normal, or else you will be the 'other'. However, when you conform to society and act like everyon else, you are critized as someone who is losing their individuality. It's such a perplexing idea to me. Adding on to Crystal's second question, I would also ask, is it inevitable for a person to view someone with an illness as 'different'?
DeleteThe memoir I am reading is "Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison" by Piper Kerman. Since the central location of the memoir is in a women's prison, there is inevitably oppression everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen Kerman was incarcerated, she does not look like a criminal, or what we expect criminals to look like. Therefore, she definitely got stares from the other inmates, insinuating that Kerman is the "other". So, why is Piper looked at as the "other" while she committed a crime that landed her in prison just like the other inmates? She is capable of what the others committed but was looked at differently.
Another aspect of the book is that the women are oppressed. Just because someone made a mistake, such as involving themselves with the drug business, does it make them any less of a human? Why are these women degraded if they made a mistake and no one is perfect?
I really like your questions Cierra. I think that your first question is very interesting because I thought as though the inmates were the 'other' instead of her considering the fact that she looked like a normal person. I think you can redefine that question by saying how point of view relates to not whether who is the colonized and who is not.
DeleteYour questions are really good, but instead of Kerman being considered the "other" do you think she might see the inmates as the "other" since Kerman having drugs on her was something she was introduced to instead of something she constantly did?
DeleteIn class we learned about the post colonial theory and how it consists of ideas about what is accepted and normal versus what is different and unusual. The colonizer dehumanizes 'the other' because they are the standard of society and they serve as a precedents. The colonized are often isolated and referred to as strange.
ReplyDeleteIn my memoir, Piper, the protagonist is 'the other' because she is an inmate and she is being controlled by officers. So, how do people in different positions contribute to being colonizers and the colonized? Plus, does Piper being an inmate make her an 'other' from the rest of the world?
It is very interesting how this theory can be applied to a woman's prison when everyone in there has a commonality, they are all females and at some point int time were convicted of a crime. I suppose you can refine your question by evaluating who the actual colonizer in that situation is and if it is based on the conviction or crime not matching the person's outside appearance. This can relate to what we did in class about just because I'm blank, doesn't mean I'm blank. Just because I look a certain way doesn't mean I'm not capable of committing a crime.
DeleteYour questions are very interesting because it makes me think about gender roles. Another lens that you can think about in post colonial theory is race. Does Piper's race have anything to do with her being an 'other'? Can there being discrimination between groups of individuals that are categorized as the same type of 'other'?
DeleteNice questions! I really found the second one to be very interesting, but you can even ask if by being an inmate, does she become "normal" in prison?
Delete-Omar Romero
I like your questions, but do you think the officers are the colonizers and Piper is the inmate?or is Piper consider the colonized to the other inmates as the colonizers? I think it can be different depending on the perspective of the person.
DeleteThe book I am reading is called "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong". There was a part in the introduction that really caught my attention. The author introduced Lady Hyegyong and compared her to another person that wrote memoirs. The difference between Lady Hyegyong and that other person is that Lady Hyegyong wrote about following the norms (roles of a woman during the ancient times, I'm sure we all know how the roles were), while the other writer wrote about opposing the norms. So my question is "Many writers write about trying to make a change by refusing to follow the norms. But what is so terrible about following how you were taught growing up?" and "
ReplyDeleteLady Hyegyong also talks about her family's entrance to politics. Her family went from being loved to being framed for crimes because her family was rising in power. So my question is "Why do people feel the need to bring another down when the other person is successful?"
This is a very interesting concept Jenny. I would refine and add more insight to your question by thinking about the false binary between the colonizer and the colonized. This means that if we have the ability and power to identify or define our own norms who decides which norm is incorrect and which norm is correct?
DeleteTo answer your second question Jenny, I think people feel the need to bring others down who are successful because they are not happy with their lives. I believe that all people have this innate trait in which we want to be better than someone else. We are not content with our lives unless we are successful in however which way we describe success.
DeleteI think that others feel the need to bring down people because they see the successful people as "other" and they've convinced themselves as "normal". This relates back to how the colonizer/bully is the "norm" and the colonized is the "other".
DeleteIn the memoir "About Alice" by Calvin Trillin, Alice confessed that when she was in high school, she wasn't popular for her beauty, but her intelligence. Because of this, she couldn't participate in cheerleading club. As Alice grew older, her beauty attracted men, including Calvin, who eventually became her husband. Can you say that Alice changed from being the colonized to being the colonizer? In addition, why couldn't Alice apply the double-consciousness theory during her high school years since she was both beautiful and intelligent? In other words, why couldn't she join the cheerleader club although she was pretty?
ReplyDeleteCalvin-I definitely agree with your ideas, as I too spoke about Alice's beauty. I think that there may be some false binary between her looks and her personality as although she is pretty, she is not less intelligent or caring. Calvin Trillin speaks to how Alice was never afraid to help others and how she was very smart, rather a nerd, in high school. So maybe we could ask are beauty and brains polarizing parts of a person. Can one be only pretty or only smart?
DeleteThe question of why Alice couldn't just merge her two qualities is a very interesting question. Sort of in the way that the colonizer dominates over its subordinates, society, in this case, the high school, dictated what traits were important. Being pretty wasn't a prerequisite to the cheerleading club and even though she did have it, is wasn't what mattered. This just shows how much of an influence the colonizers had over what was the social norm.
DeleteIn my memoir, Brain On Fire, by Susannah Cahalan, she stays in a hospital where she sees different types of patients with different symptoms. Some are worse than hers and some are better. However, even though she had a problem herself, she and her dad sees these other patients differently; they do not want Susannah to be in the same predicament as them.
ReplyDelete- She is already considered 'other' because of her illness. However, is it still possible to 'other' people that is going through the same thing as you?
- Is it possible to be the 'other' while also being a 'colonizer'?
In her memoir, she depicts descriptions of her being in the hospital room. It means that she had the opportunity to see herself in a weak and vulnerable state. She knows she was an 'other' due to her illness.
- Once Susannah realizes that she IS in fact an 'other', would she judge herself harsher than how society would judge her?
I like the second question, but you can be more general and use Susannah's reaction to see what seeing yourself as an 'other' would entail.
Delete-Omar Romero
i like both of your questions and i feel like they are a great perspective to read through
DeleteNice questions :) Has the illness taken control of her?
DeleteSo in my memoir, "The Last Lecture," the professor has pancreatic cancer. In a Postcolonial Theoretical lens, I'd be inclined to ask; is the professor's cancer something that creates a sense of 'otherness'? I'm also interested in whether or mot there are states of otherness that exist in the 'other.' For example, if someone isn't "normal," they are relegated to being "strange" - is there a group or area that is considered other to both "normal" and "strange" people?
ReplyDelete-Omar Romero
Hey Omar! I think your questions are thought provoking and the situation in your book is similar to mine. I think that you can refine your questions by asking why would having an illness be considered an other? How is it different that being considered an 'other' due to social or identity issues? You can also ask if the professor considers himself as an 'other'.
DeleteI agree with Bao, your questions are definitely very though provoking and interesting. Adding on to Bao, you can also ask if people (students, neighbors, etc) around the professor treat him any different.
DeleteBoth your questions are really good Omar. I especially like the second one. I suggest that you refine your first question by asking if people with other illnesses can consider people with different illnesses the other as well, like depending on the severity of the illness.
DeleteI really like your questions Omar!!! You can refine these questions by adding in experiences of the professor or adding in what his doctors and students think of him.
DeleteHA! That was nice.. Maybe describe the different potential "others"?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to Crystal, I believe that Susannah, from the memoir Brain on Fire, colonizes herself as the other . However, I believe she does this in fear of being colonized by society. In other words, sometimes we would rather isolate ourselves from society, before society isolates us. I do think illness can serve as 'othering' agent, especially because Susannah's illness is so strange that she can't understand it herself. Is as if what society can't understand or brings upon this feeling of 'awkwardness' or 'weirdness' because of someone being 'different' forces society to isolate these people in this category of 'other'. Also, personally, I believe bullies practice this technique of 'othering' because they know they are imperfect beings themselves, therefore, by signaling someone else imperfections they are able to hide their own by placing the focus on someone else. Is as if, isolating someone as 'other' or different, helps the person's 'ego', by pointing the finger at someone else's imperfections. So, my question is, how does this idea of 'othering' plays a role society in terms of how we format stereotypes (how does it serve as an 'othering' agent )? How does the way society perceive certain groups (ex. whether through cultural beliefs, racial identification, sexual preference) contributes to this idea of 'othering'?
ReplyDeleteWhen society perceives a certain a group as "other", it tends to treat it condescendingly and disassociate themselves with them. The "normal" people exclude the "outsiders" from regular activities and usually turn to bullying them.
DeleteToday's class was about the Post Colonial Theory which is the categorization people fall under when viewed by society. Those who follow the "norm" are considered to be normal and those who have "extraordinary" traits are seen as the "other". In my memoir "Orange is the new black", Piper the protagonist has been convicted and was sentenced to a women prison, therefore she is a criminal. Criminals are one form of classifying the so called "others" because committing a crime is considered to be something out of the norm in most cases.
ReplyDelete1.Does being a female criminal make you more "other" than a male criminal? (Is it more "normal" for a criminal to bee a man?)
2.Criminals are usually associated with being bad, so in prison who do the prisoners consider to be the other besides the correction officers?
This is a very interesting social problem. I would also ask if female criminals get more advantages than male criminals.
DeleteI think society would think that being a female criminal makes you more "other" than a male because females are suppose to be loving and caring people. Also, most people don't believe that women can be capable of doing a terrible act because they suppose to be the ones who nurture others not harm others. But as for a male, it is a bit different because males are perceived as dangerous. So for a male, it is like a normal thing according to society.
DeleteI thin your first question is very interesting and controversial and that makes it a good lens to see it through, but the second one might be too specific to read the book through
DeletePrison is basically like another society by itself.Therefore, what is the hierachy in a prison? Who is the colonizer and the colonized? Yes the officers are in power but what about the prisoner to prisoner relationship?
DeleteIn the book, "Positive", the author talks about how HIV can be seen as the colonizer because the virus invades her cells and need up making her white blood cells (T cells) and other cells the colonized. Since the virus cannot be killed off only thing it can do is continue to take down all the good cells and infect them causing her immune system to be stronger than others. So in a way Paige's body is being invaded by a virus that does not benefit her but instead harms her.
ReplyDelete1. Do we as humans have others come into ourselves and just let them destroy who we are?
2. If you were in Paige's shoes, would you let the an illness oppress you or not?
When another human influences us, they can either do us good or harm.
DeleteBeing different should make one feel special but it all depends on how the society sees you because your image is usually what society sees in you, just as stated in Lacan's Mirror Stage Theory.
-Rangon Islam
Other people definitely do influence who we are. However, like Rangon said, they don't have to necessarily destroy us. They could also build us up. In this sense, Paige's HIV could be considered another person. Her illness affects many aspects of her life and personally, if I were her, I wouldn't want to let the illness oppress me, but I know that eventually it would. Everyone has a limit, but I know that even the terrible disease would help me to grow as a person.
DeleteMaybe for number one you can say "Do we ,as humans,allow others to enter our lives and destory our identity?"
DeleteIn the memoir, About Alice, Calvin Trillin recalls his time with his wife, Alice, before she passed away. Alice was always very beautiful and often got away with speeding tickets and breaking the law because of her looks. When Calvin speaks to her beauty, he would often be in amazement as to how he “got her”. With this, he also talks about when Alice was with another woman, or group of women, he would get a sense of resentment from the other lady or ladies. Therefore, I would like to ask how does appearance play into effect when it comes to relationships? Are the better looking people superior to those who are not deemed to be as beautiful? This ties into the Post-Colonial Theory as those considered to be better looking might be seen as a bully or superior, and therefore, can be traced through Alice’s behavior with other people as well as how others behave around her.
ReplyDeleteMost people in society, tend to want someone who is like drop dead gorgeous so that others could be jealous. But the worst part about that is that the person can be very mean on the inside. As for a person, who isn't as good look they can be very loving. But how would we know that if we never take the time to acknowledge their presence or be so quick to judging them based on their external appearance instead of their internal appearance?
DeleteOoh. You're raising a super interesting point! I have a question, though. Are there any other characteristics that might be considered those of a "colonizer" throughout the book (and those of the colonized for that matter)?
DeleteYass. I love your questions and I would even go on to ask, "For a guy like Calvin, does "having" Alice make him feell safe from the "colonizer?"
DeleteIn the memoir I am reading, Girl Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen begins the novel by talking about the concept of a parallel universe and how easy it is to slip into one. For people with mental illnesses are they concerned as the 'others' because they are not what society deems to be 'sane?' Kaysen also talks about how some people gradually fall into insanity while others just snap. For those that snap, are they dangerous to society? Do they need to be separated from the rest of society (force them into mental institutions) as to not affect the 'sane' population?
ReplyDeleteThe memoir you're reading already sounds SO interesting! Maybe you can distinguish between people who gradually fall into insanity and people who just snap. Although these people might be considered at the 'others,' do you think one group is better than the other? Do you think that people who gradually go insane is the colonizer because they are viewed as more composed in the society?
DeleteI would even go on to ask, "Institutions" that are suppose to house "others" such as jails, mental institution exist because of society post-colonial attitude about some groups of people?
DeleteI think that these institutions differ from the general theory of post-colonialism because there is a BIOLOGICAL difference between the two groups (normal and mentally ill). Because of this biological difference, and the potential for dangerous behavior because of neurological differences, than it is logical to some degree to separate the mentally ill, even though this doesn't justify treating them in certain ways that are overly discriminative.
DeleteIn our memoir, Positive, the main character frequently takes medication and goes to the hospital, getting acquainted with her doctor. This is all to help her cope with the fact that she is HIV Positive. However, this is all natural to her, so when she is about to go off to middle school, her mother is fearful to let her out of her sight. She's scared that the other kids will bully Paige because of her illness. In bullying Paige, isn't this 'othering' Paige? They are singling her out and attacking her illness. The desire to sort and categorize is natural, however, is doing so in this way natural? Is there a different reasoning to bullying someone because of an illness- something dangerous and strange to those around her?
ReplyDeleteBelle- you're questions raise interesting points. Maybe you could also look into the opposite, as your protagonist, Paige, has to learn to go to school with kids who may never know her struggle with this illness. Does Paige 'other' them by playing a victim role or maybe viewing herself as superior because she is battling a disease?
DeleteLady Hyeyeong in "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong" is forced to live up to other’s expectations as the crown prince’s wife. She cannot be seen as an “other” or else her family would be put to shame. She must be an obedient member to the traditions of the royal family. But if she was to reject that, she would have had more freedom to do certain things. How will the story play our if she becomes the “other”? Will it cause her more harm than good?
ReplyDelete-Rangon Islam
Great questions Rangon,
DeleteBut what if you were to other the family because from the way you describe the story, it sounds like they are superior to norms, so if thats the case wouldn't the story workout as Lady Hyeyeong becoming the norm and rejecting the other?
I think that to go even further into your questions, identifying exactly what her family's ideas of "normal" are would help with seeing how Lady Hyeyeong is literally becoming the "other".
DeleteExcellent question.. It elicits thought. Is it sometimes easier to be the "other"?
DeleteMy book is called "The Last Lecture" and its about a guy that has little time to live and is giving one more lecture for his kids after his death.
ReplyDelete1- Is he working so hard for his lecture because he fears his kids will be others?
2- Would a man be seen as an other compared to a woman losing her husband?
Hey Jeudy,
DeleteI like your questions but, why not question the motive of the guy and also identify who is the colonized and who is the colonizer?
I think you could clarify your questions by asking what would make his kids be perceived as others. For the second question, I think what you're trying to say is would a man be seen as other if he loses his wife as opposed to a woman losing her husband.
Delete1. According to WEB Du Bois's double consciousness, a person may identify him or herself with more than one thing and wants society to accept this fact rather than having it looked down upon or labeled as "other" and "different", which happens more often than times. Since the setting of my book, Girl Interrupted, is in a psychiatric hospital where the main character, Susanna, is a patient, how would Susanna's acceptance of herself and her personality disorder differ from how society, those who are deemed "normal", such as the staff, would accept Susanna and her disorder?
ReplyDelete2. Moreover, how does Susanna view other patients in the hospital, those who have a more severe mental disorder than she does? Does she see them as "normal" or "other"?
In my memoir,Positive, the narrator,Paige,was diagnosed with HIV when she was 3 years old. Her father infected Paige and her mother with the virus. My question is does her father serve as the colonizer because he caused Paige and her mother to become "others" since they are infected,but can he also be considered a colonizer and the colonized because, like his family, he is also infected and is deemed "other" due to to his health status?
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting because usually when someone is categorized as other it's because something like not following a social trend so if a health status can be an other is intriguing but I don't think it should be
DeleteThe concept of someone being both the colonizer and colonized is very interesting. It may be possible based on the environment because I've seen cases where the bully attacks his victim because he needs to release the stress he get from his parents. In this case, the bully is both the colonized and colonizer.
Delete-Rangon Islam
I agree with Rangon there are situations in which a person can be both the colonized and colonizer and it all depends on the experiences that this person has endured.
DeleteBecause our character is under supervision in mental hospital and since a mental hospital is for those deemed as other is she the one that's being colonized?
ReplyDeleteIf there is a whole system in a mental hospital, as in a world or hierarchy, would there be colonizers and colonized in this world?
Is my character one of them? (the colonizer)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to ask, if one is being colonized, and then stands up and fights back, eventually becoming the colonizer. Can that individual be blamed for becoming something they were forced into?
ReplyDeleteAnother one, if in our society were being treated to social pressure, and we pressure each other, is any one really ever innocently the colonized?
In the review of "Running with Scissors", the person responsible for raising the narrator is described as an "unorthodox psychiatrist". What qualities about her would classify her as an outsider, rather than a normal human being?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the standards of being normal differ per person? Could it be that she is normal to another culture or society's standards?
In the book "About Alice"
ReplyDelete1).Due to the post-colonial theory, why is it that in relationships, the women has more pressure to have the "looks."
2).Also, why are is there such a thing like "nice-looking" couple and "bad-looking" couple?
In some instance's people tend to act differently mainly when they are around different people. In other words, people change their behavior or actions depending on who they are around. So does this mean that they have two separate identities? Does it classify as “other” if you act accordingly to the people in your surroundings?
ReplyDeleteAnother question I have relates to my memoir, so Augusten has some peculiar hobbies such as dressing up in his mother's clothing. He also lives near the woods and pretends it’s like a movie set. So does his peculiar hobbies and his creative imagination define as “other”?
I would also ask, how do stereotypes apply to this idea of the "better"verses the "other"?
ReplyDeleteMy Memoir is "Orange is the New Black," and Piper is the main character who gets caught with drugs on her so is she the "other" in terms of the society for going to prison? or is the inmates the "other" compared to her?
ReplyDeleteIs there ever an instance in which we desire to be the "other", rather than the "I"? Why?
ReplyDeleteIf so, does this procede that we, at times, persist in attempts to become, or even convince ourselves that we are the "other"?