Conrad, Jin, and Postcolonial Literature

After spending a few days reading and discussing Jin's work, it's clear to me now that he had something to say and used English as his means of saying it.  Had he chosen to write it in Chinese, he would have alienated the very audience for which (I believe) he intended his writing for.  That is to say that Jin wanted westerners to gain a better understanding of the political and cultural differences between the east and west.  What's interesting in his writing is that he is very careful and deliberate in painting a scene and telling a story without actually demonizing anyone. For example, in "Saboteur" he writes about the police have mistreated a Chiu.  Instead of going on and on about how EVIL the state is, he balances the story with Chiu later purposefully spreading his hepatitis.  In "Cowboy Chicken", he shows Mr. Shapiro as a greedy capitalist, but he then shows the Chinese actually doing the same things when they wanted to have Peter fired and his divided amongst them.  He has had his feet firmly planted in both worlds and uses that knowledge to tell creative stories that reflect the realities of life in China. 

Had Conrad written his novel in Polish there's almost every certainty that his writing would have fallen into that exclusive group of writers in Poland that had a lot to say, with no audience to read it.  All kidding aside, I believe that Conrad made a conscious choice in writing in English because he knew very well that the majority of the powers most involved in colonialism at the time were in fact Western Europeans and almost all, English speaking on some level.  Even the Americans were involved in colonialism (just ask the Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and almost everyone in Central and South America).  To make the greatest impact and reach the largest target audience, he made the only logical choice at the time.  Of course, we'll never really know what would have become of it if he had written in French or Spanish, but my guess is that it would have whithered on the vine.  He took advantage of a receptive audience and made the most of his it.

Was She Drugged?

Our classroom discussion have been pretty fascinating in the last few days.  Wide Sargasso Sea is turning out to be far more complex that it first appeared. We have learned that there's more than one meaning for creole and the "N" word, which totally depends on your point of view, whether it be British or Caribbean.

Furthermore, I think we all came to the conclusion that Rochester was dirty rotten scoundrel (for lack of a better description) and pretty much had his way with Antoinette.  By "had his way", I mean, he got his money and was able to essentially have her committed.

In doing a bit more thinking about this situation, it occurred to me that Antoinette was a wild and free spirit who loved the Caribbean.  It has been suggested that Antoinette didn't fit in, but I disagree with that.  While she might not have been loved by the locals, having come from a slave owning family, she definitely understood the people and fit in.

If you believe that she wasn't crazy, then it stands to reason she was drugged.  We know that she hated Rochester for what he had done and I just can't believe that she would willingly allow herself to be transported to England, away from everything she knew and loved, to be locked up in a room.

Just throwing that out there to see if anyone bites...

Changing connotation and meaning

So far, the Wide Sargasso Sea readings have not disappointed.  I have been surprised to learn quite a bit more about Caribbean history in addition to the fact of dual representations of how British colonial citizens viewed each other and their status.  Terms like "creole" and "nigger" have entirely new meanings to me now, especially in light of how their meanings are different in the story than they are in the present day U.S.

When I used to think of "creole", it conjured up images of African Americans living in Louisiana, cooking up some crawfish  with some red beans and rice.  Cajun and creole were very often intermixed in my mind's eye as one in the same.  However, thanks to the readings, I now see that in British Colonial times, "creole" actually meant someone who was born or native to the islands regardless of their skin color.  Wow, now I have to totally readjust my thinking...

Another interesting use of a word has been "nigger".  This word, not surprisingly is definitely a derogatory term, however, it's use and connotation have now changed for me (no, I don't use them in sentences to describe people regularly).  Wide Sargasso Sea clearly demonstrates the use of the word describing not only blacks but whites.  This, once again, is forcing me to readjust my definitions and think of the term more in relation to denigration of people in general, white or black.  It's interesting to read wikipedia and other definitions and note that they make no reference to this term used by anyone other than whites against blacks. Once again, my thinking has been readjusted...