Homi Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse" (Summary)

 The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse: Mimicry and Man

Mimicry as a Technique in Colonial Discourse
• Mimicry, a technique similar to camouflage, is used to stand out against a mottled background.
• The British Empire initially aimed to mimic the British Constitution in all its colonies, but this policy has become outdated.
• The principle of colonial dependence undermines the idea of granting colonies independence.

Post-Enlightenment English Colonialism
• English colonialism often uses duplicitous language to assert authority through satire and farce.
• The civilizing mission produces texts rich in irony, mimicry, and repetition.
• Mimicry becomes a complex and effective strategy within the colonial power structure.

Impact of Mimicry on Colonial Discourse
• Mimicry normalizes colonial subjects or states, undermining the language of liberty and producing alternative norms.
• The success of colonial appropriation relies on the proliferation of inappropriate objects, ensuring its strategic failure.

Mimicry's Role in Colonial Textuality
• Mimicry operates without revealing a clear identity behind its mask, disrupting dominant discourses by presenting colonial subjects as "inappropriate."
• The act of surveillance becomes a reciprocal gaze, where the observer becomes the observed.

Colonial Mimicry and Metonymy
• Colonial mimicry seeks to resist signification and strategically manipulate presence through metonymy.
• It operates along the axis of metonymy, resembling camouflage in its defense of presence by displaying it only partially.

The Ambivalence of Mimicry as a Tool of Colonial Subjection
• Mimicry undermines narcissistic authority by highlighting differences and challenges the authorization of colonial representations.
• The encounter between white presence and black resemblance raises questions about the ambivalence of mimicry as a tool of colonial subjection.