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Pagoda By Stuart Hall Analysis

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The order in which I read a couple of the text for this class has allowed me to better understand why the characters in the novel do what they do. It has allowed me to put pieces together and get an understanding of the histories and experiences that were stripped and taken away from the people of Trinidad and Jamaica. One of the first pieces of literature I read for this class was Stuart Hall’s essay Cultural Identity and Diaspora. This essay created a framework and shaped the way I perceived the following novel— The Pagoda by Patricia Powell. Hall’s essay broke down two notions of what cultural identity is and through this, I have come to understand why Powell's main character—Mr. Lowe, identified himself as a transgender female as a …show more content…

A Chinese man who lives in Jamaica will result in many to question his identity and ridicule him. This second identity that Hall mentions, made clear as to why it was necessary for Lowe to progress throughout his life creating different identities. He uses his method of passing as a means of survival. However, this does create a conflict and affects Lowes position in the world. Being Chinese, a merchant and a male who now transgresses to become a female has impacted and shifted his sexuality. Because of this, it impacted his hierarchy and therefore, affected his overall class.
By reading Stuart Hall’s article first, it has allowed me to realize that Mr. Lowe is who he is because of his past. More precisely, Hall says “we all write and speak from a particular place and time, from a history and a culture which is specific. What we always say is always “in context”, positioned” (Hall 234). Mr. Lowe was not only misunderstood by Jamaicans but by his own people. This was a direct result of the operation of colonialism. He is speaking from a position of a lower class. But as well as, the young girl who was forced to dress as a boy and then sold by her father. Lowe is also speaking from that time when he was on the ship getting raped by a man and then adapts to the voice of a much older Lowe who tries to comply with a Jamaican identity. Because of these traumatic

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