Postmodernism and "the Other"

Postmodernism and the Other

The New Imperialism of Western Culture

Reviewed By Joanne McEwan

Author : Ziauddin Sardar
Publisher : Pluto Press, London, 1998
Pages : 345


Postmodernism is one of the most difficult subjects to define and probably the most overplayed at that. With the multitude of academics from different disciplines contributing to the discourse it can be a dry and tediously deep subject.

Sardar, however, presents its definition in plain English. Not only that, he directly exposes postmodernism for what it really is and what it means to those of the non-west (the Other) it claims to champion.

Sardar states the principles of postmodernism clearly.

The first is that truth is relative, where fiction and narrative provide a better diction on human behavior than religion, philosophy and theory.

The second principle is the denial of reality where we see what we want to see.

The third is that the world is simulated into imagery and representations rather than a world that is real and tangible.

On this point Sardar states, “This means that the world has been transformed into a theatre where everything is artificially constructed. Politics is a stage-managed for mass consumption. Television documentaries are transformed and presented as entertainment. Journalism blurs the distinction between fact and fiction. Living individuals become characters in soap operas and fictional characters assume real lives. Everything happens instantaneously and everybody gets a live feed on everything that is happening in the global theatre.” (p. 23)

The fourth and fifth principles are life has no meaning and everything is doubtful which naturally follow from the previous three.

The fifth and last is that postmodernism is concerned with the multiplicity of everything. All differences are welcomed and privilege is replaced with equality in race, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.

The effect of these principles on the non-west is shown to be negative and threatening. The fifth principle, although appearing to be positive in concept, in reality, reeks with duplicity and hypocrisy.

Sardar removes these principles from the constraints of academia, and brings them all to life in vivid examples from international politics, film, literature, consumer lifestyle, popular culture, science and religion. Catchy and somewhat satirical headings make it lighter reading.

In the chapter “A Grand Memory for Forgetting” Sardar shows how history has been restructured to the tastes of postmodernism. Taking Disney's animated film Pocahontas as an example, he describes how the film is very different from the true story. This is not the first time we have heard this from critics but Sardar takes the discussion further.

He identifies the hints of the colonialist and orientalist past forming a film that stands for nothing more than white supremism. In approximately 40 pages Sardar analyses this film and the related historic content.

For example, he says, notice also how in the role of Pocahontas, the Native American girl, is meaningless until she has a white man to save from savages. Also, unlike any other Disney film, the animals don't talk to the human being, in this case Pocahontas. This realistic touch has added to a sense of ‘truth' in the tale.

Despite the common errors in the story, Disney is at the same accurate in many other aspects – for example, John Smith's compass and Pocahontas cart-wheeling around (historic records state these particular incidents, among others).

As Sardar surmises, “Their magical confabulation makes it possible to revisit history in a new, improved fashion, simultaneously it makes it more difficult to disentangle the mythical refashioning from recorded history and both confidence tricks operate to distract attention from the main import of the exercise…” (p. 92)

The images from this film are now fixated on the minds of children to the extent that the fairytale has become fact and the true story has become a myth.

Consumer lifestyle, which so dominates our lives, is discussed in the chapter “Recycling Shampoo.” In true postmodern fashion, the west absorbs the identity of the ‘Other' through consumerism in both the west and non-west.

Take a walk down the city high street in any western town and observe how the non-west is fashioned to the tastes of consumers. In the U.K. and the U.S. you will find the colonial past romanticized and glorified through cool, cotton, casual clothing in shops like Banana Republic, Safari Clothing, East India Company and British India. All sell merchandise that suggests an aura of nostalgia for the imperialist, triumphant past rather than a whiff of disgust for its barbarism.

The Body Shop is another example of postmodern hype. It exists solely from appropriating the products and experiences of cultures of the non-west. Its creams, oils and lotions are cleverly marketed as natural, ethnic and exotic with the help of the minimal packaging and short descriptions of their origins.

Now they have found their way ‘back' to non-western countries. But, as Sardar says, “it is when these products are exported back to the Third World that they lose their innocence. When Body Shop products arrive in a non-western country, they are no more natural than any other processed commodity. They have the cachet of a western product and are consumed by the natives as such: the inferiority of the indigenous product becomes worthy of consumption by the locals only when it is refined by the west is further entrenched.” (p. 125)

The non-west is a growing market with their proliferation in a youthful population compared to the diminishing youth in the west. Unlike during the modern period, where the Third World was told just to buy, in the postmodern period they are told to buy and change their culture. The Marlboro Man is an example, which not only sells a product western doctors have proven to be detrimental to one's health, but sells the complete get-up and image that goes along with it: the cowboy look with that distinct coolness.

Postmodernism's affect on the ‘Other' has a bleak prognosis. One can hardly imagine there is much of a cure. But what adds to the appeal of this book is the last chapter, “Surviving Postmodernism,” in which Sardar offers modest and positive conceptual ways for those of the non-west to counter this force.

He states that from the perspective of the non-western cultures, surviving postmodernism means moving towards tradition. This is apposed to traditionalism.

Tradition is, according to Sardar, changeable and proactive, whereas traditionalism is passive, rigid and reactionary. Sardar indicates the knee-jerk type reaction of movements (although he doesn't give any examples) that dwell on the past and hold fast to rules and regulations that are no longer appropriate.

This concept of turning to tradition to quell the wave of postmodernism is further explained with reference to the poetry and philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal on the Islamic concept of fitrah or innate nature.

This is unlike postmodernism where the individual's ego takes center stage. Says Sardar, “The notion of fitrah is the antithesis of western individualism, not because it denies individual freedom, personality, identity and responsibility – all these are basic ideas fundamental to an Islamic outlook – but because in the Islamic purview the individual is only conceivable within a web of essential relationships wherein their individuality is neither dominant nor the only significant consideration if the person is to be true to his or her innate nature.” (p. 275)

Sardar states that, according to Iqbal, a community can only be self-aware if it holds on to its memory, tradition and living history. Despite its Islamic roots this concept can be applied to non-Muslim cultures of the non-west.

Sardar also suggests the need for cultural autonomy and authenticity that should not be drowned by the dominant western culture that is over-shadowing the non-west today.

Lastly, the author suggests that the affected cultures and countries have to be aware and admit to the darker side of their past. The non-west has cultures that are valuable enough to hold on to, but there are aspects from the political to the social, that need to be addressed. And it is through self-assessment that they can improve and achieve.

Postmodernism and the ‘Other' is an immense read. It is packed with anecdotes and analogies referring to everyday life in the western or non-western world. Throughout the book, it is difficult not be appalled at the injustices and moral relativism of postmodernism.

As a Muslim academic, author and editor of some well-respected books on Islam, one can sense Sardar's convictions to Islamic thought; meanwhile appreciate his objectivity and interest in non-Muslim cultures, and other religions. The sections on the plight on the Native Americans and Aboriginals are good examples.

What is also impressive is the author's extensive knowledge on just about every discipline from popular culture to religion to the annals of science. Sardar's discourse is bold, polemic and objective: he doesn't mince his words. A trip to the Body Shop, or anything of similar import will never be the same again.


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