Shange and Hagedorn’s writings are similar, not just in style and in their use of language to
\ninduce an experience for the reader, but in their criticisms of colonization and exertion of power,
\nwhich they highlight through the use of allusions to history. As a Filipina, Jessica Hagedorn, focuses
\non the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Similarly, Ntozake Shange, focuses on the ways in
\nwhich historical actions including slavery and colonization have impacted various Black
\ncommunities, globally. Through their allusions to history, the reader is able to gain an understanding
\nof the ways in which each work is indicative of actual physical experiences, but also the ways in
\nwhich the author expands on those experiences and delves into the impacts of those experiences on
\nindividuals and their descendants, specifically the cultural impacts of those historical events.<\/p>\n
In New World Core, Shange specifically alludes to the slave trade of the \u201cnew world\u201d and
\nhow that influenced and created new communities and cultures. She focuses on the slave ship and
\nphysical journey of the slave, when she says, \u201cwe boarded ships\/\u2026 on the atlantic side of nicaragua
\ncosta rica\u201d. However, she continues this exploration by noting the ways in which this slave trade
\ncontinues to impact the world. In her words, \u201clocked in depths of seas our spirits\u201d, she is noting the
\nloss of physical life along the slave trade, but also the loss of a connection to much of the culture
\nand history that was associated with various communities in Africa. Further, this can allude to a
\ncommon practice among slave traders when they practiced appendage removal. This often
\nsymbolized a loss of spirit for African slaves who practiced religions native to many communities
\nthroughout West Africa, in which they believed that body parts housed the soul. This was a specific
\nexertion of power that dehumanized African slaves and contributed to the creation of slave societies
\nwithin the so called \u201cnew world\u201d. This historical allusion not only highlights historical realities, but
\nalso their implications as it criticizes the transatlantic slave trade as a means of erasure of culture for
\nmillions of people.<\/p>\n
Hagedorn explores the colonization of the Philippines in Souvenirs, specifically by the
\nSpanish, in her examination by pointing out physical manifestations of their colonialism, but then
\nnods to the deeper association of those actions with the current culture within the Philippines and
\nFilipino communities. For instance, she mentions the \u201cspanish missionary\/who raped [her] great-
\ngrandmother\u201d, but then she complicates this story by adding, \u201ci asked him if he was god\u201d. Throughout the poem, she specifically highlights how Christianity, specifically Catholicism was used as a tool in Spanish colonization. In this specific point, however, she is seemingly mocking the Spanish religion and the Spanish who were going against their own religious teaching. She highlights the hypocrisy and twisted duality of a missionary raping her great-grandmother by equating his actions and his exertion of power over her grandmother to god. This not only showcases the story of her grandmother but echoes the larger power exertion associated with Spanish colonialism. This also
\nshows the ways in which Christianity and aspects of Spanish culture infiltrated generations of
\nFilipinos, which she exemplifies in the use of words like \u201csanctity n piety\u201d and \u201cthe virgin mary\u201d
\nthroughout the poem, when she is focusing on modern Filipino people. This word choice and the
\nrepetition of these words is purposeful and is meant to show the past and current implications of
\nSpanish colonization in the Philippines, and how it has shifted Filipino culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shange and Hagedorn’s writings are similar, not just in style and in their use of language to induce an experience for the reader, but in their criticisms of colonization and exertion of power, which they highlight through the use of allusions to history. As a Filipina, Jessica Hagedorn, focuses on the Spanish colonization of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,310,57],"tags":[447],"class_list":["post-1851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogpost-1","category-blogposts","category-reading-zake","category-student-blogpost","tag-hagedorn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1852,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions\/1852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}