Is "A Passage to India" a Post-Colonial Movie?.
The presentation given to our class by Dr. exposed an area of history that I knew almost nothing about. Her perspective was indeed an interesting one, and I am thankful to have heard such an accurate description. It was insightful to learn about the British intruding on a nation other than the United States, and obviously generated a similar sentiment as it had some centuries ago in our nation. After discussing the material in class, it is clear that "A Passage to India" is very much a post-colonial movie, because the British presence was still evident throughout India even though they had withdrawn from the nation.
Back then, several countries were trying to acquire land for several military, economic, and political reasons. Britain was a key figure in the Imperialist Age, and they forced their way into India. Only after India won back their independence did the era of post-colonialism set in.
A few theories have been developed which discuss approaches to global industrialism. Modernization theory analyzes the economic gap between rich and poor countries, and focuses on the idea that a country must industrialize itself in order to become modern. Advocates of this theory believe that wealthy countries succeed in light of their embracement of industrialism. Modern societies are secular, as opposed to religious, and separate church and state. They are communities based on commerce, rather than more traditional economies. England was the first society to adopt industrialism. .
The Dependency theory supports the idea that an inequality between two nations is the reason for one being underdeveloped. When a nation such as India is dependent on a superpower like Britain, they are not given the opportunity to develop themselves. Thus the economic growth of Britain is not always beneficial to its colonies, in this case, India. .
The World Systems theory is similar to the Dependency theory, however it differs in that it recognizes that differences among countries are not always clear, and it is also specifically sociological.
