The Other and Post Colonial Theory

When first reading The Other I was thinking the concept was a basic thought about one needs the other to “be.” For example you can’t have darkness without light, good without bad, men without women, me without you and some even say gay without the straight.

Later it occurred to me that it’s just not that simple. It seems to me the Other is quite a heavy thought. It is also not a very positive one either. It is much closer to why we have imperialism, racism, colonialism, and even fascism. The Other is what many see in themselves as the weak part, what they wish they could be better at or nothing like at all. It is also the fear of the unknown, many times you will read about hate crimes and in those cases the perpetrator will say they did it because the Other person was different, or they didn’t like the way they looked or even behaved.

In some places where not much is known of the other, he one culture will make up what they do not understand causing stereotypes and soon hatred of the same. However, it is these differences that make up many cultures and countries. In the end, there will never be one without the Other.

As for the reading of Post Colonial Theory I see two sides, those for the integration of east and west and those who are not. Primarily many theatrical folks are for the two to be joined together as in Cesaire’s A Tempest and Sojinka’s The Bacchae of Euripides. However, it seems the problem lies more in the reception of the piece not just on the textual level. In Cesaire’s A Tempest the ending is changed, having Prospero remain on the island fighting with Caliban for control of the Island. He also bills the play as an “Adaptation for a black Theatre”, casting only black actors for the run. Doing so changed all original thought and percussions of the play which many were surely missed or even lost by the changes, but dually, new thoughts and struggles are brought to the surface.

A second thing I noticed is the theatre being used for teaching or in this case “pedagogy.” Augusto Boal applied what he learned from Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and used it with his work. His book breaks down many of Brecht’s “Aristotelian Theatre” concepts saying the audience should be able to think for itself. He even went so far as to lead actors in an “invisible theatre” where they would stage specific things in public to arouse a discussion from the crowds. For example, a loud person would order a meal in a busy restaurant then tell the waiter he could not pay for it, having other actors speak out for and against the customer, meanwhile gaining interest with the public speaking out on what they thought was right or wrong, not knowing the entire thing was staged just to elicit a response.

It can be said that the time we live in now is an exciting time to be in the theatre. You can do almost anything and be almost anyone. I believe without the Other or Colonization of many places (although I don’t believe in how many of these places were colonized) we would not have learned of the many cultures in this world. I am of the belief the more you know the richer you are.