decolonization of Indian mind by namwar singh
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Decolonising the Indian Mind
Decolonising the Indian Mind Namvar Singh:
THE greatest event of world history in the twentieth century has been decolonisation. The
century may not have yet ended but the hegemony in literature of Europe and America has
certainly come to an end. At the centre of literary creation we have now not Europe and
America but the nations of Latin America, Africa and Asia. It is from these countries that works
which are creatively exciting and stimulating are coming out, and the initiative lies with the
writers of these countries. Whereas the writers of Latin America and Africa are mounting a
challenge to the literature of Europe and America in the very languages of Europe, it is mainly
in our own non-European languages that the writers of an Asian country like India are hastening
the process of decolonization.
While this process had started with the beginning of the century in Latin America,
Africa and Asia, it was accelerated after the Second World War. In order to annex this new
literary groundswell, the literary theorists of Europe and America have from time to time come
up with various theoretical formulations, calling it now "Commonwealth Literature", now
"New Literatures in English", and now "Post-colonial Literature." The newest such formulation
is "Third World Literature." In one sense, the concept of "Third World Literature" may be seen
as a new variation on Goethe's old concept of "World Literature", but it is not quite so innocent.
It is in fact but a devious device to maintain the hegemony of "First World Literature," and if
we look at it carefully, the formulation "Third World Literature" is nothing but neo-
"orientalism" of the post-colonial age. Apparently, in order to define themselves, Europe and
America still need some entity "other" than themselves. It is implicit in this Western conception
that the Third World too must need some "other" in order to define itself, and who could this
"other" be, of course, but the West! To my mind, this is the true perspective in which to evaluate
Indian Literature of the twentieth century.
Whether the issue is that of tradition and modernity, or of regional and national identity,
or the aesthetic one of experimentalism and the assimilation of indigenous forms, it is hardly
possible to look for a resolution except in the perspective of decolonization. Therefore, the very
first question to ask is; how aware and active are the Indian writers today so far as the process
of decolonization is concerned? Nor is this question one of mere academic interest, as is often
the case in our seminars and conferences.
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