Victoria Olayiwola Blog #6: Must salvation come at such a high price?

Steven Biko-the finest example of one who refused to be oppressed and lost his life for it. The perfect Subaltern, for he lives on through the lives of his black brothers and sisters. Those of his time. Those after his time. And those who are to come.

In class we focused on hegemony. Hegemony can be described as the act of an individual, a group or party forcefully controlling a weaker individual, a group or a party. Hegemony can also be described as the concentration of power in the hands of one person or a group or a party.

Gramsci (1891-1937), an Italian philosopher who wrote whilst in prison was mentioned as was Marxism. Marx’s view, evidently expressed through the ideology of Communism, was that the working class will one day rise above the ruling bourgeoisie class and govern their respective states. This he described as the dictatorship of the proletariat. The process of getting there would include a class struggle between the two entities- the proletariat and the elite.

But who were/are the proletariat? In Russia the proletariat included the peasants, for Lenin knew that the working class working in factories and manning the machines of the elite would not be enough to effect change so the peasants included the proletariat. Uniting the two entities would, in the eyes of Lenin, bring about a new hegemony one, in which all strove and worked for the betterment of society. 

There are two examples of where hegemony was exercised ruthlessly. The first can be found in Ousmane Sembène’s Black Girl film. A film which charts the life of Diouana, a Senegalese girl, who left her homeland to become a maid in France.

Not only was she far away from home in the home of stranger, not doing the work she was told she will be doing when before she left Senegal  (she thought she was going to France to look after children) but she, being the weaker vessel was overpowered by her Madam. She was forced to cook for strangers, harassed and insulted. 

She was considered the “responsibility” of the Madame, she was bullied (she is called “lazy” and considered to be like “an animal”, she is stereotyped: they say “Africans only eat rice” thus she fits the preconceived notions, the social and racial strata, black people were categorized by in that day) and constrained by their instructions. Unfortunately she could very little about it given that she was in a foreign land among foreign people who did not have the best views and opinions on black people/ Africans.

Life proved unbearable for Diouana as the Madame’s rantings and shoutings intensified (at one point Diouana says “Why does the mistress shout at me? I’m no cook, I’m no cleaner!”). Diouana admits she has no life. For her France is a big hole. She wants to join their discourse, she wants to be a part of their lives and enjoy what they enjoy as members of France’s affluent class. But the family she is working for provides her no chance of doing so; rather they make her nostalgic and miserable.

The only thing she can do to fight her hegemonic opponent, is pack her things-including her much beloved mask (the only symbol of her past, her home), without money and without anything from them or of them.

Her ultimate triumph comes when she takes her own life in the bath tub of the family she is working for. One would think she would slit her wrist but she instead cut her tongue out, her own form of “immolation”. For they, the family she worked for chose to silence her both socially and by taking her personal rights. She used her tongue to show them what they had done to her, a piercing feeling her boss could not atone for by trying to compensate her mother with money or by returning Diouana’s things.

Even in her death, Diouana’s mother keeps fighting her daughter’s hegemonic opponent. When Diouana’s boss went to Africa thinking he would be able to make amends and cement the cracks over with money but Diouana’s mother in no uncertain terms made it clear that she does not want his “blood money”. This act alone showed how dignified Diouana’s mother is and how in the face of poverty would not allow her moral compass and her self-respect cower in. Her mother chose not to submit to the tempting forces of the hegemon. Thus Diouana’s death will continue to haunt the family she worked for.

Again we are made aware of the forces and overpowering ability of the hegemon in the film “Amigo” by John Sayles, for the American troops, like a flood, come rushing in and dent and damage the Filipino’s way of life and customs. This act is not only shocking but scandalous.

The Americans with their weapons and equipment overpower the Filipino’s, who are now the weaker vessels. The Americans force the Kapitan of the barrio of San Isidro (the Cabeza de Barungay-a Creole pioneer), Rafael Dacanay, to move out of his home in 5 minutes. His home then becomes the home of the captain of the American troops.

Religion here is used as a civilizing tool and instrument, which help the Filipino’s especially the women come to terms with the drastic changes in their lives and the atrocities and rules the American impose on them all.

The Priest, the go between, is no different than the Americans. He is a constant shape-shifter, siding with the Americans and telling the Filipinos what they can and what they cannot say to the Americans and then he is there to administer religious rites and encourage the people of the barrio. Thus he cannot be trusted. Rafael even says to his wife that she should forget the Friar and talk only to God.

The Americans being the hegemonic power, when settled beginning setting their own laws and rules and thus controlling the people of the barrio like a true hegemonic unit. For example the people needed to have passes to pass certain areas and a curfew was set. The Americans also played mind games with the people by killing their oxen, even though they knew they had some cultural meaning the Filipinos. If the Filipinos broke any of the American’s rules then they could expect to be hung or shot mercilessly.