Colonial-era nationalists already turned European critical methods against their tutors

Evidence

This may well be true of the individual authors Said cires, bur the generalization which is intended here simply boggles the mind, for it is so obviously contrary to what one knows about numerous intellectuals·of the colonial period who never thought of themselves as ever standing inside the ‘Western cultural tradition’ Nor is one quire sure how Said can later describe Guha squarely as a ‘poststrucruralisr’ and at the same time designate him the examplary ‘post-colonial’ intellectual standing outside the Western cultural tradition; where, one wonders, is that line of demarcation between poststrucruralism and the Western cultural tradition? Post-colonial intellectuals are in any case said both to be outside Western cultural tradition and to have an even better command of the weapons of European critical thought; their real distinction is that they turn these weapons against their own tutors. No one in rhe past, during the colonial period, apparently did that! Criticism of the most fundamental aspects of Europe through criticial methods learned initially in the European institutions was, one would have thought, a favourite pastime of a great many communists and nationalists in the colonial period. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 863

Categorization

• XREF: Directly bears on the reader’s central question: using the master’s tools against the master predates and is not distinctive of postcolonial theory, undercutting the special status claimed for the strategic ironic stance. — connects to: Colonial education policy deliberately aimed to avoid creating nationalist intellectuals — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 856; Colonial rule itself generated the nationalist intelligentsia that overthrew it — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1435; Local teachers transmitted nationalist tendencies even within English-oriented colonial schooling — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 754 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Colonial education policy deliberately aimed to avoid creating nationalist intellectuals #contradicts (1.00) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 856
• Turning European critical weapons against Europe predates postcoloniality. #corroborates (1.00) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 863
• Colonial rule itself generated the nationalist intelligentsia that overthrew it #corroborates (0.85) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1435
• Local teachers transmitted nationalist tendencies even within English-oriented colonial schooling #exemplifies (0.80) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 754
• Colonial languages taught for administration carried revolutionary ideas that doomed empire #exemplifies (0.80)
• A colonized intellectual could use Dutch nationalist history against the Dutch #exemplifies (0.80) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 454
• Colonial nationalists copied and adapted European national models #qualifies (0.75) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 488
• Colonial power divided its methods between suppressing bodies and tutoring minds #expands (0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 317