Abstract
This paper examines Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Telling (2000) , her last novel in the Hainish Cycle, which addresses intercultural communications among her imagined worlds. These relationships, which resemble those of our globalizing world, are analyzed in the light of Homi Bhabha’s theories of mimicry, hybridity and the Third Space. It is suggested that in this novel, Le Guin criticizes cultural imperialism and rejects both conservative and assimilative attitudes toward the other; instead, she praises hybridity as the culture of our globalizing world. Besides warning against the hegemony of the West in international relationships, through analogy, The Telling highlights the ways the developing countries could be responsible for their own colonialism and the annihilation of their own culture. In this context, this paper proposes that the Dovzans, lured by Hain’s advanced technology, as an act of self-colonization, impoverish their lives and deny their entire culture by criminalizing the Telling. The article further argues that indigenous peoples and groups of minorities, through hybridity and focus on their difference, not only can survive and conserve their local heritage and identity in the face of intense globalization pressures but also affect the dominant power. Accordingly, Sutty and the people of Okzat-Ozkat are introduced as courageous hybrid characters who finally succeed in asserting their voice in the third space. The article concludes that through bargaining with the Ekumen and remaining faithful to their own culture, the people of Okzat-Ozkat can save the Telling from extermination.
Highlights
As immigration, tourism, global market, and global consumer culture continue to define our contemporary society, globalizing forces present us with a series of urgent challenges
Compressing the space and shortening the distance in terms of culture, politics, economics, and movement. 2- “Globalization needs to be globally inclusive in inputs as well as reach.”
As The Telling progresses, the reader becomes familiar with four groups of people in this story: the Ekumenical envoys from both Hain and Terra, the Unists, who lived on Terra for some time before their collapse, the producer-consumers of the Corporation State in Aka and the people of Okzat-Ozkat, who preserved their old culture despite all the obstacles
Summary
Tourism, global market, and global consumer culture continue to define our contemporary society, globalizing forces present us with a series of urgent challenges. We underline the importance of cross-cultural interactions in The Telling and argue that this novel furthers the theme of globalization and communication in the Hainish cycle. The idea that this phenomenon in the current situation has shrunk the world into a single place, where people in different parts are drawn close to each other by the advanced media communication, immigration, tourism, the growth of multinational enterprises, and the like, links globalization to the study of The Telling. With regard to the Wadandi people of Southwestern Australia, Guilfoyle, Mitchell and Webb (2015, pp. 86) contend that these marginalized people by emphasizing on their difference and employing “culturally defined methods of adaptation” (CDMA), namely hybridity, can actively control the pace and the direction of change and maintain a strong sense of identity in the face of massive social upheaval
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
