Jade Peony - Post Colonial Terms

3rd March 2015
Mrs. Filice
ENG4U
Dante Otobor, 2015010030

Jade Peony Essay – Post Colonial Terms
Post colonialism may be defined as the period following a state of colonialism, the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. There are many ways in which postcolonial terms can be applied to the novel Jade Peony by Wayson Choy. This can be seen in the form of Third Space, Feminism and Marginalization       .
To begin, Third Space, when an individual finds himself in between two cultures, belonging to neither. This is relevant and clearly shown in the novel Jade Peony by Wayson Choy, through the character Sekky. Sekky born in Canada, is of Chinese descent, but he associates himself towards Canada. He is poor with Chinese terms and titles, but is good with English, since he constantly reads magazines and books. Yet, he is not truly Canadian, since he is not a citizen, labelled a “resident alien” (Wayson Choy, Jade Peony, 158), and is very much visible to the whites. Another example of how postcolonial terms apply to the novel through third space, can clearly be shown when looking at the character Jook-Liang. In the novel Jook-Liang expresses her dreams and interests, through tap-dancing, and yearns to become a movie star. Jook Liang is again criticized by her grandmother, “This useless only-granddaughter wants to be Shir-lee Tem-po-lah.” (Choy, 37). This example illustrates third space, as Jook Liang is not comfortable being Chinese and wants to be white, furthermore she wants to dance like Shirley Temple. Therefore, it can be said that she is stuck between two cultures. Another example of how postcolonial terms apply to the novel through third space, can again be shown through the character Sekky. He struggles between following his grandmother’s old traditional ways, as she practically raised him, and following his families’ new modern ways of living. ....