Comparative Colonial Historiography

In her talk Dr. Taymima Zaman discussed her experiences studying the colonization of Mexico with her unique academic background. She mentioned a trend amongst the South Asians studying South American colonization. We first feel connected to the South American who, like us, had the colonizer destroy their culture, steal their riches, and force them to speak a new language. We relate to their experience as a brown person, however a deeper delve into their past changes our allegiance. When learning about the human sacrifices we start to think "at least Christianity stopped that".

This discussion reminded me of our class discussion regarding Kenyatta's views of the significance of female genital mutilation (FGM) in his culture and his support for the practice. We have to acknowledge that some changes that came with colonization were not bad, such as the condemning of FGM and human sacrifices and in our case sati. Another potential positive was the introduction of schools as an institution. This recognition brings up another topic Dr. Zaman discussed about the relationship between change and loss. Change does not always mean we are losing a part of our culture and so should not always have a negative connotation. Sometimes change can mean an improvement and not a loss.

For example she spoke about how whenever she sees bougainvillea plants they remind her of her parents home in Karachi, but the history of that plant is also a history of exchange and colonization. The plant is not native to this region but was brought here by foreigners, yet has become so widespread seeing it in Mexico and San Francisco reminded Dr. Zaman of home. The same can be said for the marigolds used in ceremonial rituals in both the subcontinent and Mexico. So through this cultural exchange we see our own culture in a new light and begin to associate different ways to identify it, even if some of those are not indigenous to the land.

Another interesting topic of discussion was the impact of appearance and language on feeling comfortable. Although Dr. Zaman speaks perfect English she still gets asked where she is from in San Francisco because she looks foreign. However when she is in Mexico, she looks like she belongs and so she feels comfortable but the trouble begins when she speaks and her Spanish does not sound like that of a native speaker. Even the sound of Arabic words in spoken Spanish make her feel at home. This particular anecdote resonated with me as I lived in an Arab country where I looked like I fit in and was treated well until I spoke and suddenly they realized I was not one of them.

Unlike Urdu, Dr. Zaman says Spanish is a very gendered language and that can be very isolation for anyone who is non-binary. She also mentions how people here are often perturbed that we have had to speak English, yet the Mexicans feel like Spanish is just another language and are not resentful for having to speak it instead of native languages. Another difference is that Mexico has been spared the concept of pure lineages that we are still suffering from. Mexico has a lot of racial mixing and so they are skeptical of ideas of purity that still persist here where people still prefer to marry inside their castes.

So it is interesting that even though we have a similar history of suffering and colonization, our scars are not the same.