Linked Histories: Post-Colonial Studies in a Globalized World

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom, Chile and the Nazis, and The Diplomacy of War: The Case of
Korea.

This collection of 11 essays on aspects of globalization has been drawn
from the journal Ariel (A Review of International Studies in English).
The editors begin with an anecdote about a golf course near Hanoi built
by South Korean entrepreneurs, whose members include Japanese,
Americans, French, and wealthy Vietnamese citizens. Golf, of course,
originated in Scotland. Contributor Rey Chow also provides an anecdote
about a fictitious person of colour who does no work and spouts whatever
comes into her head but is taken seriously by white people because of
her colour. Chow, who teaches in the United States, is critical of
liberal political correctness.

In his essay, Rob Cover, from New Zealand, deals with gays and
lesbians. Monika Fludernik, a German, writes of “imagological
research” and its “heterostereotypes”; her examples include “the
drunken German, the proud Spaniard, the stingy Scotsman.” First World
people, she says, tend to blame residents of the Third World for their
own problems. Revathi Krishnaswamy, another resident of the United
States, discusses novels written by Africans and Indians (especially
Salman Rushdie) who have moved elsewhere. Vijay Mishra, a resident of
Australia, also focuses on Salman Rushdie.

Kalpana Seshadri-Crooks, also a U.S. resident, discusses the literature
and the teaching challenges of Postcolonial Studies. Mary Lawlor, who
teaches American Studies in the United States, compares aspects of U.S.
history as seen by Euro-Americans and by North American Indians. Bill
Ashcroft, from Australia, discusses the psychological impact of
colonialism on Latin Americans. Victor Li, who teaches at the University
of Toronto, tells of an Inuit stone carving of Elvis Presley; one
non-Inuit specialist who thought Inuit carvers should limit themselves
to seals, polar bears, and hunters failed to realize, says Li, that
globalization had reached the Inuit. Finally, Wang Ning, a Chinese,
discusses Western influence on Chinese culture.

This book, perhaps, has something for everyone but not very much for
anyone. It is not easy reading, although the authors have read many
books and seen many films.