The term 'hybrid' is used more and more nowadays in different contexts. For example, we have hybrid vegetables and plants that carry genetic characteristics of more than one plant variety or species, hybrid vehicles that use more than one type of power source, and now we have a hybrid work culture where you can work partially from home and the office.
The literary theorist and scholar Homi K. Bhabha (b. 1949) used the term hybridity to talk about something more nuanced: identity or subjectivity within colonial relations. Bhabha became a prominent name in postcolonial theory and criticism, culture theory, and cultural identity in the globalised world following the publication of his book The Location of Culture in 1994.
Homi K. Bhabha: biography
Homi Bhabha |
| Birth: | 1st November 1949 |
| Spouse/Partners | Jacqueline Bhabha |
| Children: | 3 |
| Famous Books: | - Nation and Narration
- The Location of Culture
- Negotiating Rapture: The Power of Art to Transform Lives
|
| Nationality: | Indian- British |
| Literary Ideas and Theories: | Postcolonialism, Poststructuralism, Hybridity, Mimicry |
Homi K. Bhabha was born in Mumbai, India. He comes from a Parsi heritage. He attended the University of Mumbai and completed his education at Oxford University. He has held teaching positions in universities such as the University of Sussex, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University College London and Princeton University. In 2001, he became the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University.
Bhabha received the Padma Bhushan award (the third-highest civilian award in India) in 2012. He is married to the British attorney and senior lecturer at Harvard Law School, Jacqueline Bhabha. Homi K. Bhabha's famous books includeThe Location of Culture (1994) and Our Neighbours, Ourselves: Contemporary Reflections on Survival (2011).
Homi J. Bhabha and Homi K. Bhabha:
Do not confuse the literary theorist and academic Homi K. Bhabha with Homi J. Bhabha (1909–1966), the nuclear physicist. Both of them were born in Mumbai and went on to make important contributions in their respective fields of work.
So, what is hybridity in Bhabha's theory? Let's have a look.
Homi K. Bhabha: postcolonial theory
Homi K. Bhabha's discussion of colonialism in his book The Location of Culture caught the attention of scholars around the world. It went on to become a cornerstone of postcolonial theory and criticism.
Postcolonial literary theory
The doctrine and discourse that focuses on literary works written by postcolonial writers and/or deals with postcolonial cultures and societies as well as the impact of colonialism in the world.
The important concepts Bhabha discusses in the book are hybridity, mimicry, third space and ambivalence. Let's look at these concepts in detail!
Fig. 1 - Homi K. Bhabha with the postcolonial writer Arundhati Roy
Homi Bhabha: The Location of Culture
Bhabha proposed the theory of hybridisation in his book The Location of Culture. It remains one of the most influential books in the study of postcolonial literature.
The antecedents of the theory of hybridity are found in the works of the French-West Indian psychiatrist and social philosopher Frantz Fanon (1925–1961). In The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Fanon argues that the colonial subject is fabricated by the coloniser, and in turn, the colonial subject assimilates the culture of the coloniser.
Bhabha's work supplements and develops Fanon's discussion of colonial identities, primarily in the context of colonial rule in India.
Bhabha relies on Edward Said's (1935–2003) work on Orientalism, which also discusses cultural encounters and intercultural relationships. Other writers and philosophers Bhabha discusses in the book include Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), Gayathri Chakravorty Spivak (b. 1942), Michel Foucault (1926–1984), and V.S. Naipul (1932–2018).
Hybridity: Homi Bhabha
Bhabha borrowed the term hybridity from biological science.
The scientific term 'hybrid' refers to an organism produced by a cross between different organisms or species.
Bhabha co-opted the term and concept to discuss the identities and subjectivities formed within the colonial master/subject relationship.
Hybridity and Hybridisation
Similar to the scientific concept, hybridisation in Bhabha's theory refers to the emergence of new mixed identities as a result of the intermingling of different cultures. The process of hybridisation can occur when two or more cultures operate in close proximity.
Although the concept of hybridity was proposed primarily within the colonial framework, it has since been adopted by cultural theorists and sociologists to discuss several issues, such as migration, globalisation, imperialism, and neocolonialism.
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the name given to the idea that some countries continue to assert influence and control over other (especially developing) countries through economic and diplomatic means.
It is also important to remember that cultural encounters predate colonialism, especially in culturally diverse communities like India and Africa.
Homi K. Bhabha: mimicry
Bhabha uses the term mimicry to talk about the way the colonial subject mirrors their colonial masters in cultural values, characteristics, and language. Bhabha traces the origins of mimicry back to the efforts by the colonial authorities to 'civilise' the indigenous communities, mainly through Western education. In the British empire, Thomas Babington Macaulay, who introduced the English Education act of 1835, wrote that the purpose of the proposed education was to create Enligh-Educated intermediaries between the Empire and the indigenous public.
Mimicry, however, becomes a double-edged sword for the coloniser. Bhabha argues that there is a risk of mockery in close mimicry, which unsettles colonial power. Colonial mimicry carries an undertone of mockery, and this creates an ambivalence in the relationship between the coloniser and the colonised.
Fig. 2 - British Indian officers from 1915 who look similar to Colonial British officers
Homi Bhabha: third space
Mimicry by the hybrid subject creates tension in the colonial power equation. Bhabha describes the space the hybridised colonial occupies as the third space. This space of 'being almost the same but not quite'1 created through mimicry is a space of ambivalence between the coloniser and the colonised, causing troubles in colonial power relations.
Ambivalence is anything of a contradictory nature or a situation that is characterised by contradiction.
Don't worry if you don't understand the nuances of Bhabha's theory yet. Bhabha's writing style is complex and filled with literary and philosophical jargon. Bhabha defended his writing style by arguing that philosophers and thinkers have the same right to use complex terms, just like scientists.
It might be a fun activity to read these Homi K. Bhabha quotes and see what you make of them. Most concepts in literary theory, like philosophy, warrant critical thinking and engagement from students to understand and advance these thoughts. The following quotes are taken from The Location of Culture, in which Bhabha discusses the concepts of hybridity and mimicry elaborately.
Hybridity is the sign of the productivity of colonial power, its shifting forces and fixities; it is the name for the strategic reversal of the process of domination through disavowal (that is, the production of discriminatory identities that secure the 'pure' and original identity of authority).
(p. 160)
When the colonial subject looks and behaves exactly like the colonial master, the assumption of authority is easier to question.
Colonial mimicry is the desire for a reformed, recognisable Other, as a subject of a difference that is almost the same, but not quite.
(p. 122)
The 'Other', also discussed by Edward Said, is an important concept in postcolonial criticism. Othering is based on social hierarchy and power.
What they all share is a discursive process by which the excess or slippage produced by the ambivalence of mimicry (almost the same, but not quite ) does not merely 'rupture' the discourse, but becomes transformed into an uncertainty which fixes the colonial subject as a 'partial' presence.
(p. 123)
The power relations of Othering is a delicate balance that can be upset when the subject mimics the master.
Bhabha's concepts surrounding hybridity and mimicry are criticised for not considering factors such as gender and class in an individual's experience of colonialism. The colonial subject in Bhabha's model is based on the upper-class male subject. The experiences of those who belong to other classes and gender are different. This is known in cultural studies and literary theory as intersectionality.
Intersectionality refers to the concept that there is a compounding effect of the various discriminations or inequalities faced by an individual. Intersectionality considers the overlaps between factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation and class in determining life experiences.
Homi Bhabha - Key takeaways
- Homi K. Bhabha is a literary scholar and theorist.
- Bhabha was born in Mumbai, from where he received his primary education.
- Bhabha later attended Oxford University and graduated with an M. A., M. Phil, and PhD in English literature.
- The Location of Culture, published in 1994, is among Bhabha's most notable works.
- Bhabha is recognised in postcolonial theory and cultural studies for concepts like hybridisation, mimicry, and the third space related to postcolonial identities and cultures.
References
- Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture, 1994
- Fig. 1 jeanbaptisteparis, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
- Fig. 2 The British Library, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
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