The definiton of the term Mimicry by Homi K. Bhabha

Mimicry is a term coined by great postcolonial critic Homi K. Bhabha and it refers to an ambivalent relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. The colonized feels inferior and in order to be accepted by the colonizer he begins to imitate the colonizer’s values, language, culture, dress, habits, etc. In the end he becomes a “mimic man”, a bad and blurry copy of the colonizer. He is an apple, or a coconut; red or brown or black on the outside, yet, white in the inside. As we see in the long poem Song of Lawino, Ocol is a mimic man and his first wife Lawino complains about this. He is a coconut. Although he is black, he looks down upon his own culture, people and values. In order to be accepted by the colonizer, by the British, he has adopted almost all of the values of the colonizer. He dresses like them, he talks like them, he has the frame of mind of them. He continuously accuses and insults Lawino for not being able to play the guitar, speak English or because of the fact that she does not have a proper education. Lawino is accused of not adopting the Western values. In fact, she is the defender of her own culture and values. Clementine, Ocol’s second wife, is a “mimic woman” and she is imitating the white woman who has come to their country. Clementine imitates the white colonizer woman by using the same make up that they use and Lawino mocks this situation through a series of similes that belongs to her culture. Clementine, with red lipstick and white powder, looks like a “wizard”, when she sweats there occurs dots on her face making her look ugly and weird. Tina is also a mimic woman, she wears a bra which is a Western dress, to lift up her breasts because she is getting older. But in the African tradition, the breasts are nothing to be ashamed of and getting old is seen as a very natural thing. Therefore, African people do not try to act like young when they get old. In Song of Lawino we see perfect examples of Homi Bhabha’s mimicry.