A Critique of Neo-Imperial Interpellation in Tariq Ali's Writings

Abstract

This dissertation critiques the neo-imperial interpellation in fictional and non-fictional writings of British-Pakistani author Tariq Ali while focusing on the creation of hailed subjects interpellated by neo-imperial Western powers, particularly the United States of America. The study also examines Tariq Ali’s standing in relation to the Marxist and Postcolonial theories using the lens of Althusserian notions of Interpellation, Ideology, and Ideological State Apparatuses. The study analyzed three fictional and six non-fictional works of the author. Significance of this study lies in the fact that Tariq Ali’s fictional and non-fictional works were previously not analyzed using the postcolonial-Althusserian notions of interpellation and ideology. The Althusserian notion of interpellation and ideology in context of Marxist and Gramscian notions of ideology has provided new insights into postcolonial discourse and added significant knowledge to the realm of contemporary postcolonial literary theorization. The study has utilized qualitative textual analysis technique in order to reach to the answers it raised in the beginning. Content analysis technique, taken from the domain of textual analysis was applied which helped in analyzing huge amounts of textual content present in the nine books used for the study. A categorizing matrix was prepared, using the model proposed by Polit and Beck (2004), based on the themes and concepts present in the books, in line with the theoretical framework of the study. The text was then coded and analyzed while the analysis led to the findings of the study. The study concludes that Tariq Ali’s nonfiction necessarily positions him as a postcolonial critic who sees the contemporary imperialism of the West as violent, exploitative and interpellative. He sees the neo-imperial design and hegemonic nature of the US Empire and its ideological and interpellative impact on the world as one of the most significant issues that need to be defied by the forces of dissent. A dire need of subverting the neo-liberal, anti-social, and neo-imperial approach of the Western thought and politics is prevalent in his non-fiction. He establishes himself as a Marxist-Socialist critic who view of Ideology is more in line with the Gramsci as he criticizes the hegemonic designs of the neo-imperial America and Europe while believing in the Gramscian view of existence of multiple ideologies sees/encourages all forms v of dissent against the neo-colonialism in the contemporary world. His works subvert the interpellated and hailed images of the Muslims and Islam in an anti-colonial, subversive strain of thought. In the fictional works of the Islam Quinter, Tariq Ali has successfully disrupted the neo-colonial allegorical representations and Eurocentric versions of history by appropriating the neo-imperial allegory and using it to respond to the allegories of hegemony. The Islam Quintet is an attempt to replace the Eurocentric, monolithic cultural traditions with cross cultural pluralism. The erased or (mis)represented history of the Muslims and Islam through colonial and neo-colonial allegory and palimpsest has been subverted by Ali through presentation of certain vital historical moments of the Islamic history where followers of different religions lived with peace and cultural harmony. He subverts the colonizing gaze of the West by presenting grandeur of the Islamic culture during various historical epochs when Islam was the epitome of learning and cultural advancement. He persistently reverses the binary of civilized/barbaric to reveal the historic truth that there was a time when the Muslims were learned, scholarly and civilized while the Christians were barbaric, illiterate, barbaric and extremists. Ali uses the subversive strategies of appropriation, orality and disruption of allegorical images. Ali’s post-coloniality in the fiction resides in his presentation of the Islamic version of history. He repetitively disrupts the myths and allegories of colonial hegemony by recovering the re-inscribed identities and representations in the cultures of Jerusalem and Moorish Spain at carefully and meaningfully chosen points of time in history.