The political utility of literature has had far-reaching effects on humankind and has shaped historical events over time. Coupled with the function of an ideology, the printed word is a powerful instrument with the tenacity to liberate as well as to oppress. While its role is fundamental in giving meaning to the complexity and dynamics of human and societal relationships, it can do as much harm as it can do good. More specifically, in the relation between the oppressor and the oppressed, an ideology of domination effectively uses the printed word to justify the unjust status quo while simultaneously persuading the powerless that their condition of powerlessness is inevitable. One clear case in point is that political utility has been and continues to be an effective vehicle in promoting and protecting ‘statecraft.’
For instance, the mainstream history of humankind is one that is written by an exclusive small group comprised of the victors of war, the dominant, and the powers that be. And, therein, this history purposefully legitimizes their narratives while effectively subjugating the people they oppress or dominate. Throughout history the perspectives, experiences, and events of those subjugated have become distorted, dehumanized, and demonized which, in turn, has negatively affected the history and identity of many peoples, particularly the indigenous peoples of the world. Ironically by doing so, the writers of such distortion are also deprived of their humanity and their existence. This is also true in the case where ‘elites’ and writers from within a subjugated society have allowed themselves to be used as ‘tools’ to dehumanize their own fellow women, men, and children.
The politics of literature continue to flourish and influence many of today’s world polities. Through mythmaking they were instrumental in destroying the nationalities of indigenous peoples by creating new identities around state-building. In fact, most root causes of many of today’s conflicts stem from colonial policies that transformed loosely organized societies, communities and nations into rigid structures that took the form of the Westphalian State. The decolonization process that emerged in the mid-twentieth century conveniently bypassed the history of many peoples either because of their continued isolation or because real politik imposed itself over their fate and destiny.
Ironically the universe of values that emancipated the world from feudalism and colonialism were equally responsible for indigenous peoples’ captivity and denying them their right to chart their own destiny. In the process, state-building, to a great extent, has been responsible for destroying nations and peoples. From an indigenous point of view, the theory of modernization failed with the emergence and re-emergence of conflict as many peoples continue to languish under artificial boundaries that were arbitrarily imposed by departing colonial powers and emerging new States. And even though indigenous peoples continue to resist and assert their right to decide their own future, the modern state classifies them as acts of ‘internal disturbances’ because the contemporary modern State ensured that conflict and peace was the State’s domain.
To overcome the agenda of mythmaking, indigenous peoples need to initiate a praxis that will recover and restore their true history that have led to their present oppression. The praxis needs to engage by asking questions provoking their history and developing a “critique of how we, as the Other, have been [mis]represented or excluded from various accounts” of humanity. This process provides space for telling one’s own stories, writing one’s own versions in their own ways, for their own purposes and restoring the spirit of a shared humanity.
It is in the process of questioning, critiquing, and envisioning we will realize and understand that the State’s view of self-determination and sovereignty is parochial and limited to a remedy of colonization. Whereas, for indigenous peoples, self-determination and sovereignty are ongoing praxis where the peoples’ will are reflected and exercised in all spheres of human activity that upholds values of a shared humanity.
