Ashley Murphy, Blog 6

It seems ironic that a dominant group may be marginalized or excluded from an imagined community, but this is the case in many nations. Dominant groups must fight to institutionalize their beliefs and customs and gain power. We have discussed in class how groups invade countries and colonize not only land and resources, but also the minds and thoughts of natives living there.

The most striking example of this in our recent movie viewings was Amigo. I was unfamiliar with the Spanish-American War that also took place in the Philippines, as well as the history that preceded the American invasion of the islands.  Language plays a large role in shaping culture because it gives people a way to express themselves. The Spanish tried to assimilate the Filipinos by converting their language and transforming their dialect. Although Benedict talks about the spread of print capitalism in shaping a nation, I think that language is also a very important way to cultivate strong sentiments, negative or positive. If a group is oppressed, they are going to try to hold on to their values. The Spanish stripped the Filipinos of their identity before Americans arrived to try to take hold of any dignity that was left.

This leads me to ask the question: how can a minority dominant a much larger majority? We saw examples of this in the Roots clip - with all the slaves standing and watching at Toby was whipped while there was only several white men. What causes rebellion and is a rebellion a way for a subaltern to truly speak?