Abstract
This paper argues the construction of the other in literary discourses by analyzing C. P. Cavafy’s poem "Waiting for the Barbarians." Using textual analysis and postcolonial rhetoric, it shows that the other is a convenient myth created and maintained to justify the privileged existence of the self. Since one of the essential functions of postcolonial literature is to offer a counter discourse that undermines colonial and imperial master narratives, Cavafy’s poem, I argue, is itself a discursive means of resistance that exposes the falsity of the exclusive, binary foundations of western imperialism and, in the process, the mechanism through which colonialist ideologies function. Hence, the response to the negative construction/representation of the other in literature, which is itself a discourse, is another deconstructive discourse.
Highlights
This paper argues the construction of the other in literary discourses by analyzing C
Despite the scarcity of substantial readings or interpretations of “Waiting for the Barbarians,” there are numerous secondary texts that deal in one way or another with the cultural construction of the other as a counter to the positive depiction of the self
Culler hints at the idea that the postcolonial subject is constructed via language and culture and their interaction, his comment undermines the monodimensional attitudes of colonialist ideologies
Summary
This paper argues the construction of the other in literary discourses by analyzing C. A Greek Alexandrian poet, uses a literary discourse in the form of a poem to expose the falsity and dangers inherent in imperial logic He exposes the self-justifying myth making that colonialism and imperialism found themselves on. Drawing on his 1904 poem “Waiting for the Barbarians,” I use postcolonial theory and employ textual analysis to prove this thesis that the poem exposes colonialist ideologies and shows the role of language and metaphor in reinforcing binary logic. The imperial subjects in Cavafy’s poem define themselves in contrast to the barbarian other Since this other is most probably their creation with no objective reality, it fails to show up and disproves their privileged status and even very existence. Cavafy treats the same idea but via the literary genre of the poem rather than the theoretical essay as Spivak does in her article
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