10/24

Maxine Hong Kingston wrote:

And all the time I was having to turn myself American-feminine, or no dates.
There is a Chinese word for the female I--which is 'slave.' Break the women with their own tounges!
I refused to cook. When I had to wash dishes, I would crack one or two. "Bad girl," my mother yelled, and sometimes that made me gloat rather than cry. Isn't a bad girl almost a boy?

That's all for feminism for now, though I should have a predictable prompt for the next essay for you soon. For Monday, we begin our investigation into post-colonialism, and we'll begin with an exemplary debate over Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and Achebe's famous response. So, for Monday read the Conrad excerpt found to the right, which is the end of chapter one and the beginning of two, and the Achebe essay/lecture. On Monday I'm going to assume you know Heart well enough, as most of you probably have read it. If you haven't, try to read as much of it as you can, paying particular attention to the sections Achebe refers to and the beginning (in fact, if you know nothing about the book, read the excerpt then start at the beginning of the book). For that reason, I've also attached a full version of Heart.

After you've done the reading, answer the following question in a response: Is Conrad a 'bloody racist' (Achebe's original words)? More importantly, can you think of reasons why one might answer yes, and also reasons why one might answer no? Be sure to refer to specifically to Conrad's text more than once in your answer.

Also, remember you will need Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians for the following week.