Muchas de las ideas son tomadas de las clases con Mario Montalbetti.

In ‘the location of culture’ Homi Bhabha proposes that the colonial project must be reaffirmed constantly. This happens because of the nature open of it. If the colonial project occur completely the legitimation of the colonial structure and foreign presence is illegitimate. That makes that the subject of the project never has to be as planned at the beginning. He/she must always depend of the colonial presence meanwhile the imperial state extracts the resources. The project can’t be a reality ontological neither epistemological. It’s is a discourse of power. The completely success of the project happens when the subject thinks in the way as it planned. When the Accepts the dominance.

It is interesting to think this starting with the sign theory. There is a triangle that represents the meaning, the subject and the word/significant/sound. There are three different ways to explain the relation of them. The first one was made by Aristotle that said that the sign is a sound with meaning. The second was proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure that said the sign has meaning and sound simultaneously. The final one is of Chomsky that said that the sign is a meaning with sound.

It is real that the imperial presence in a determinate place makes a revolution in different dimensions. In this article only the cultural matters. Let’s take the concept of Langue that proposes Saussure. It is a system of signs. Inside it are only differences. And the sign is positive. But here is a contradiction, why if in the system are only difference exist negative signs? This was fixed by Lacan that proposes that the langue is a system of significants. By Jacobson in the way that there are not only differences. The third argument was modified by Baudrillard.

So this is the summary. We have the langue that is a system of pure values compounds of significants. The meaning is being produced of the shock of significants. There is an interesting thing here that made Lacan. In a system of pure values must exist an element that is outside it that defines all the elements that are inside. This is the element -1.

With this theory let’s see the colonial situation. Exists to big subjects: the colonial power and the dominate people. There is a confrontation of cultures where the language has a leading role. This situation allows that some persons (at the beginning) assimilate the culture of the other. But there is an imperative necessity of nominalize of the subjects that are dominated. In this moment the culture develops the langue. There is a term that makes a set where all the people dominated will go in. For the ruling culture the term that represents them will always be negative. The colonial culture is a perfect system of pure values! The dominated will be named by the term of ‘Indians’. It is different of the African and Asiatic persons. Of course are different from the colonizers and their progeny.

The langue in which are represented the subjects of the domination, the Indians, must always stand out their bad qualities. And the element of the set that is missing is the ‘good indian’ that satisfies the colonial project. In the case of Spanish presence in America is the Christian indian that can accomplish the natural law. Is the one that has the plenty dominium of his properties. Of course that this subject is unreal or utopic because if he/she appears the colonial project enter in contradictions. The system found the emancipatory subject that starts the change of a political way of administration to other.

It is important to use the metaphor of Edipo and the Sphinx in Thebas. This is an idea of Mario Montalbetti that I adapt in the case of history. The Sphinx asks an enigma to Edipo and he has to answer it. Once that is answered the Sphinx disappears because there is no reason for it existence apart from the enigma. We can say that the Sphinx is the colonial powers that propose a colonial project. When the subject that fits all the requirements appear there is no reason of the project to stand. The subject is the emancipatory one that guide the persons to another way of administration. As the Sphinx the colonial power and administration disappear. We can say that this subject is for example Gandhi or Luther King.

So we have the theory of Bhaba of the location of the culture. This can be explaining with the theory of sign that proposes the existence of an element that doesn’t belong to any set (-1). In the colonial projects are those subjects that realizes and fit the qualities of the colonizer. Meanwhile the apparition of that person, the language of the imperial power always highlight the bad aspects of the dominated and the need of them of the colonial administration.  The colonial powers must use the set until appears the emancipatory person. Once it appears the colonial presence is been challenged to their disappearance. This is the beginning of the national governments.

We can call -1 the ideal vassal of the imperial power that is hoped to never appear. The real vassals are represented by the negatives aspects of him/her. That negative stuff makes viable the colonial project that legitimates the presence and economic structure of extraction.