The Dilemma Of The Mimic Men

The interest in the postcolonial studies has become more prominent since the late 1970s with the publication of Orientalism by Said. We cannot deny that "Postcolonial literature"is essentially a political category and is mostly written by people from formerly colonized countries focusing on tensions between the indigenous culture and that of the late colonizers. The Mimic Men (1967) is a masterpiece of this respect. It examines the embarrassing dilemma of ex-colonials in the age of independence. ...the desire for a reformed, recognizable Other, as a subject of a difference that is almost the same, but not quite. Which is to say, that the discourse of mimicry is constructed around an ambivalence; in order to be effective, mimicry must continually produce its slippage, its excess, its difference. (Bhabha, 1994, 85) The line of words is not only Homi Bhabha's famous and strong "mimicry"theory from his article "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse"(first published in October 28,1984: 125-33) in The Location of Culture, but also the framework of my essay. Besides the inescapable identity as mimic men, I intend to seek and detect the menace element against the colonization from them. My attempt to find some rebellious voice and subversive power from them hopes to be my contribution about The Mimic Men. Chapter one contains the discussion of the embarrassing dilemma as the mimic men. The identity as the mimic men is inevitable outcome after long process of colonization. The ambivalent relations between colonizers and the colonized reflected in this part are that the subjugated people are driven to mimic at first and then change to be content to mimic the colonizer. Then I explore the deeper source of the mimicry. It is the "self-hate"and the desire for the order and power of their superiors that enable them to involve into it. Chapter two follows the other side of the ambivalent relations with the colonizer. The mimic men hate the oppressor and hope to threaten the colonial power in their own way. The political and psychological activities of Singh are the thread of the developmental process of both the protagonist and the novel. And in my opinion these activities could be roughly divided into two parts from the temporal definition; one is the experience of Singh's youth, the other is period of his returning to London as an adult. Therefore, I try to examine the rebellious reactions of the people on Isabella from the two temporal scopes. It is the menace that offers the people there the possibility of the complete freedom from the colonial control. In chapter three, I set forth the use of language and the writing as the quest for the personal dignity and freedom from the yoke of the colonial control. Furthermore, the strong subversive power is found from them. The writing of his memoirs not only helps Singh discover himself, but also helps to extend himself. It is the way that they gain the authentic existence and achieve the measure of fulfillment. Therefore, what Singh does is also the intention of most of them. That means many people in the ex-colonies are undergoing the process of embarrassing mimicry and we can also hear the rebellious voice during the...