In chapter six Appleman says that Postcolonialism, “recognizes
the differences that give people their identities, their uniqueness, and their
histories.” (p.89) She then says that, “The aim of postcolonial study, then, is
to restore the history, dignity, validity, cultural contributions, and global
significance of those whose experiences have been represented within a
worldview that provided no way to include “the Other” except through direct
contrast with itself” (p.90).
I chose to add these two passages from the text because it
highlights the element of History in this lens. Although I think it is
important to include history in all literary lens’, it is in this chapter that
Appleman seems to include History the most. Here we aim to recognize people’s
histories and to restore it. I believe that novels and shorter works of
literature cannot fully teach history by itself and that it needs to be
accompanied by objective well planned historical teachings. By connecting
History to English students are more likely to gain an understanding of the context
of the literature and are increasingly able to see why it matters.
Using literature and discussions that reflect colonialism gives
English teachers a chance to provide students with knowledge about countries
darker histories that they may or may not be learning in their history classes.
This area of study also can give teachers the opportunity to question
historical teachings. I envision a lesson where an English class might read an outdated
“history” from the colonizers view and then challenge this work with their
knowledge received from literature from the colonized view. Then provide
students with a more inclusive history that incorporates both views. I would
hope that this activity would get student to question what they hear and read
in history text books and to value literature from multiple perspectives.
No comments:
Post a Comment