Postcolonial Feminist Criticism

4.4 Postcolonial Feminist Criticism

On one hand, feminist criticism provides a tool for critical thinking in terms of equality between men and women. On the other hand, this does not address women that affected by more than men and women relationships. Economic, racial, environmental factors also shape women‘s lives. Postcolonial feminism allows for an understanding of gender dynamics within those others spheres. As previously outlined, Malala‘s home country of Pakistan has been directly influenced by its postcolonial aftermath. Feminist postcolonial criticism will allow for further understanding of gender dynamics within a postcolonial sphere.

Rachel Bailey-Jones (2005) in Postcolonial Representations of Women: Critical Issues for Education revises the term ―postcolonial feminism‖. Bailey claims that critique from a postcolonial perspective exposes colonial hierarchies between dominant cultures such as Europe and United States and cultures that have been described as ―third world‖ or

―developing‖ (24). In other words, postcolonial feminism aims to deconstruct practices rooted in colonial thinking. Bailey further explains the positions postcolonial feminist thinkers approach their criticisms ―The metaphorical postcolonial writer, thinker, or artist is someone who develops an oppositional stance in the face of racist, elitist, Eurocentric ways of

thinking.‖ (24). From this, an analysis that takes a oppositional stance similar to Hall‘s (2007) theory of oppositional codes, concepts such as racism and elitism can be broken down. This is important for this thesis‘s study of narrative because it demonstrates how application

postcolonial criticism will break down narratives that reflect racist, elitist or Euro-centric thinking.

Postcolonial feminism has been critical over western feminist criticism as it fails to acknowledge that non-western woman face other challenges such as race, ethnicity, and beliefs than white privileged women ―Definitions of womanhood based in white middle-class values will not be meaningful for women whose identities are complicated by struggles against multiple barriers‖ (Bowden, Mummery: 159). Western feminists have undermined the and generalised the struggles of women from colonialized or post-colonised countries.

Postcolonial feminist Chandra Talpade Mohanty (2003) in Feminism Without Border:

Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity criticises re-presentations of women in Western culture compared to representations of women from the ―Third World‖. This creates a generalised misunderstanding of women from the ―Third World‘s‖ culture. For example Mohanty compares representations ―Third World Women‖ to white Western women:

―ignorant, poor, uneducated, tradition-bound, domestic, family-orientated, victimized, etc.).

This I suggest, is in contrast to the (implicit) self-representation of Western women as educated, as modern, as having control over their own bodes and sexualities and the freedom to make their own decisions.‖ (22). Comparisons can be made using Mohanty‘s claims as a guideline for practices that represent Malala as a caricature of previous representations of

―Third World Women‖. In this respect, an analysis of Malala‘s representation and the intended meaning behind the presentation of her postcolonial experience will provide an insight towards the intention of portraying ―Third World Women‖ with particular

characteristics. Although this is a vastly generalising term that bands together many countries, the narrative of I Am Malala can be considered presents a protagonist who from the ―Third World‖. The narrative portrays a girl who defies the traditional portrayal of ―Third World Women‖. For example, Malala is presented as an avid lover of both Pashtun and Western literature (Lamb and Yousafzai). If evident in the news media representing Malala,

consideration as to the purpose of asserting a generalised view of women and culture from the Pakistan allows for an understanding of the tool Western media filters that re-present colonial power, values and ideology.

Mohanty explains that within the field of feminism, western feminists have a tendency to aim their criticism towards the oppression of women from other poorer countries as a result of religious or cultural practices. There has been an assumption that all women suffer the same oppression and the western feminist takes on the role as speaker for the white non-European women. ―…in any given piece of feminist analysis, women are characterized as a

singular group on the basis of a shared oppression. What binds women together is a sociological notion of the ―sameness‖ of their oppression.‘ (Mohanty 22) In other words, Western feminists and society has failed to understand the implications of living in a society dictated by colonialism and imperialism. (Mohanty 21) Western figures and feminists have misunderstood the complex situation women in non-western cultures live in their cultural climate which creates generalised terms. Failure to incorporate the ways Western culture (from a colonial and imperialist perspective) has infiltrated and formed versions of oppression to women from post-colonised countries and their intricate cultural practices also leads to generalisation.

According to Mohanty, the notion that Western colonisers influence change in post-colonised countries is found lacking in feminist criticism. Mohanty also claims women from Arab and Muslim countries are assumed be victims of one patriarchal kinship ―Not only are all Arab and Muslim women seen to constitute a homogeneous oppressed group, but there no discussion of the specific practices within the family that constitute women as mothers, wives, sisters, and so on‖ (Mohanty 28). By defining Muslim and Arab women as subjects to one form of oppression it creates a sense they are powerless to possess their own identity that signifies the intricate varying factors that shape identity. In doing so, Western feminists assume the role as speakers for them.

This thesis will study the whether narratives in news media found to generalise the oppression of Muslim females from Pakistan by presenting their oppression is a result of one thing. A comparison between the language found and the reality will be achieved through the book I Am Malala. An analysis as to why narratives of this nature presented in Western news media will deconstruct their purpose.

Postcolonial theorist Gayatry Spivak‘s (2006) influential essay ―Can the Sulbatern Speak?‖ outlines the ways marginalised non-western women are presented as voiceless and have to use explanations of their situation from western or patriarchal perspectives to define their reality. For example, Spivak writes:

There is no such thing as a ‗class instinct‘ at work here. In fact, the collectivity of familial existence, which might be considered the arena of ‗instinct‘, is discontinuous with, though operated by, the differential isolation of classes. In this context, the formation of a class is artificial and economic, and the economic agency or interest is impersonal because it is systemic and heterogeneous (29)

Spivak‘s statement highlights that there is a history of practices that do not acknowledge a postcolonial effect. The artificial and economic factors that have led Malala to the events in her life will be of interest to this thesis. In particular, their re-presentation as this will show whether media puts forward the idea of ―class instinct‖ in the narratives the produce. Spivak also addresses the concept of ―the Other‖. Spivak highlights that the Other is a subjective identity placed upon colonised subjects. It is a subjective state that if redefined would obliterate ‗the West‘s‘ concept of truth. (31) The ideology secured by ‗the West‘ as superior would then be illegitimated if new narrative surrounding the Other were to arise. Perhaps, Malala‘s autobiography or the news media that follows her redefines the Other which will explored in this thesis being that is one of the main points of focus. Another key factor will be Malala‘s representation as a non-western feminist through the eyes of western feminists. The term ‗western‘ in each context refers to practices that vary on a cultural, social and ideological spectrum.