The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial ExperienceSouth End Press, 1996 - 223 pages In this book, acclaimed South Asian American poet and novelist Meena Alexander unleashes a fury of prose and poetry to confront the stereotypes and explore the challenges facing postcolonial immigrants in America. Commenting on the history of memory, language, shame, and exile, Alexander poignantly describes the wealth of experiences and imaginings that have shaped her life and writing. Her project: "to make space for what was crossed out in the decorum of femininity, in the high places of classical hierarchy, in the racism of a canonical knowledge, in the obliterations of a national memory ... all this is part of our task, part of the violent, fractured worlds that we must etch into beauty". |
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Page 65
... mean to pass in America ? For an Asian American to pass ? For some of us , it means making it in eco- nomic terms , assimilation translated into doing well , very well , not just making do . But the streets lined with gold are hard to ...
... mean to pass in America ? For an Asian American to pass ? For some of us , it means making it in eco- nomic terms , assimilation translated into doing well , very well , not just making do . But the streets lined with gold are hard to ...
Page 161
... mean to find one's place in America ? What does finding a place mean for an Asian - American artist who bears within him or her- self the marks of radical migrancy ? I think of the fragile boats made of wood and other substances by the ...
... mean to find one's place in America ? What does finding a place mean for an Asian - American artist who bears within him or her- self the marks of radical migrancy ? I think of the fragile boats made of wood and other substances by the ...
Page 196
... mean , so ? D : I mean what did he ask ? MA : ' What effect has colonialism had on your work ? ' D : What's that supposed to mean ? MA : He meant the British coming to India , ruling it for 250 years and more . Teaching us English . D ...
... mean , so ? D : I mean what did he ask ? MA : ' What effect has colonialism had on your work ? ' D : What's that supposed to mean ? MA : He meant the British coming to India , ruling it for 250 years and more . Teaching us English . D ...
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aesthetic America artist Ashtamudi Lake Asian Asian-American art Balamaniamma bits blood born breath British burning child cloth colonialism cried culture dance dark death decolonization Delhi dharma Draupadi dream earth edge English eyes face feminine fierce figure filled fire flesh forced Frantz Fanon Gandhi garden girl hair hands Hashmi head Hyderabad imagination India Kathakali Kerala Khartoum Lalithambika language light lines living Malayalam maternal Meena Alexander memory mother mouth Native American never painted Parasurama passion poem poet poetry political postcolonial published river rock Safdar Hashmi San Andreas Fault sari Sarojini Naidu sense sexual shock of arrival Sita skin Skin Song snow Song soul space speak speech stone street struggle tell Tethi Thankam things thought tion Tiruvella tongue torn trees turned Vasco da Gama violence voice walking wall window woman words writing young