Westernization and Colonization of the Mind in Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path”

Maria Regina Anna Hadi Kusumawardani

doi:10.19105/ojbs.v15i2.5168

Maria Regina Anna Hadi Kusumawardani English Language Studies, Postgraduate Program, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta 55281

https://doi.org/10.19105/ojbs.v15i2.5168

Abstract views: 2549 ,

PDF downloads: 1398

Keywords: Dead Men's Path, British colonialism, Westernization, Colonization of the mind

Abstract

British occupation in Nigeria has brought several impacts to the native land and also the indigenous people. Westernization and colonization of the mind are two inseparable effects of colonialism. These two issues are oftentimes depicted in literary works focusing on colonialism as their theme. The aim of this study is to analyze the issues of westernization and colonization of the mind raised in Chinua Achebe's "Dead Men's Path." The data were taken from quotes that prove the existence of these issues from a short story entitled “Dead Men’s Path” by Chinua Achebe and analyzed them using Homi Bhabha’s theory of mimicry and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s theory of colonization of the mind. The results showed that westernization and colonization of the mind have affected Michael Obi, the main character in the story. Westernization influences Obi to adopt modern life and Western thoughts that show the process of mimicry, while colonization of the mind makes Obi downgrades Nigerian cultures. The issue of the management of land was also found in the story as a continuation of the previous problems. “Dead Men’s Path” by Chinua Achebe reveals that British colonialism has changed the perspectives of Nigerian elites, as seen in Michael Obi’s story.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Achebe, Chinua. “Dead Men’s Path.” In Girls at War and Other Stories. New York: Anchor Books, 1973.

Bala, Umaru Abubakar. “Colonialism and the Development in Nigeria: Effects and Challenges.” International Affairs and Global Strategy 70 (2019): 9–20.

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994.

Casimir, Komenan. “Promotion of Igbo Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Girls at War and Other Stories.” Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 6, no. 9 (2018): 26–41.

Duke II, Joe. “The Impact of Colonialism on the Development of Management in Nigeria.” International Journal of Business and Management 5, no. 8 (2010): 65–75. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v5n8p65.

Garuba, Harry. “Chinua Achebe and the Struggle for Discursive Authority in the Postcolonial World.” PMLA 129, no. 2 (2014): 246–48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24769453.

Nensilianti, Sy. Fatma Al-Khiyyed, and Hasvivi Tri Anjarsari Fahrir. “Colonial Racial Ethnocentrism Towards Indigenous People in a Short Story Collection ‘Semua Untuk Hindia’ by Iksaka Banu (A Postcolonial Study).” OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra 15, no. 1 (2021): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.19105/ojbs.v15i1.3982.

Nwinya, Stephen Chijioke. “The Conflate of Modernization and Westernization and Africa’s Quest for Authentic Civilization and Development.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 24, no. 10 (2019): 59–65.

Ocheni, Stephen, and Basil C. Nwankwo. “Analysis of Colonialism and Its Impact in Africa.” Cross-Cultural Communication 8, no. 3 (2012): 46–54. https://doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020120803.1189.

Overbey, Karen Eileen. “Postcolonial.” Studies in Iconography 33 (2012): 145–56. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23924279.

Prianti, Desi Dwi. “Towards the Westernized Body: A Popular Narrative Reinforced by Men’s Lifestyle Magazines in Indonesia.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 19, no. 1 (2018): 103–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2018.1422351.

Putri, Liza, and Katherine Clayton. “The Identity Issue of the Colonized and the Colonizer in Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill.” International Journal of Cultural and Art Studies 4, no. 1 (2020): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.32734/ijcas.v4i1.3620.

Ress, David. Deeds, Titles, and Changing Concepts of Land Rights: Colonial Innovations and Their Impact on Social Thought. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage, 1994.

Sairin, Sjafri. “Modernization and Westernization: A Never-Ending Discourse in Indonesia.” Journal of Governance and Development 7 (2011): 1–7.

Seth, Sanjay. “Postcolonial Theory and the Critique of International Relations.” Millennium 40, no. 1 (2011): 167–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829811412325.

Sibani, Clifford Meesua. “Impact of Western Culture on Traditional African Society: Problems and Prospects.” International Journal of Religion and Human Relations 10, no. 1 (2018): 56–72.

Souad, Merah, and Tahraoui Ramdane. “Learning English in the 21st Century: For Globalization or Westernization?” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 9, no. 6 (2019): 165–72. https://doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.v9n6p20.

Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” In Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, edited by Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988.

Steinmetz, George. “The Sociology of Empires, Colonies, and Postcolonialism.” Annual Review of Sociology 40, no. 1 (2014): 77–103. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043131.

Sulistyaningsih, Sulistyaningsih, and Dina Merris Maya Sari. “The Ideological Reflection in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Novel, The Great Gatsby, (Post-Colonial Literature).” ATAVISME 21, no. 1 (2018): 121–32. https://doi.org/10.24257/atavisme.v21i1.439.121-132.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. “Chinua Achebe: Nigerian Author.” In Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chinua-Achebe.

Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ wa. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data, 1986.

Uysal, Nuriye Degirmenci. “Teaching English to Very Young Learners.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197, no. 2 (2015): 19–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.042.

Young, Robert JC. “Postcolonial Remains.” New Literary History 43, no. 1 (2012): 19–42. https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.2012.0009.