What the postcolonial writers did was as important as what the anti-colonial freedom fighters and activists did.
These may be traced in a variety of directions, such as in the changing face of global politics with the emergence of newly independent states; in the wide-ranging re-evaluation begun in the 1980s of the exclusionary forms of western reason and in the perception of their complicity with imperial expansion and colonialist rule; in the debates that raged about empiricism and culturalism in the social sciences from the 1960s; and in the challenges to dominant discourses of representation from feminist, gay, lesbian and ethnic studies in the 1970s and 1980s.Postcolonial literature represents all these conditions and comes from various sources and inspiration. The term is sometimes written with a hyphen, sometimes left unhyphenated, with the two forms used to designate the same areas of interest by different critics. This project (nation-building) in the post-colonial literature seeks to diminish the colonial past by resisting and rejecting the constructions done by the Western culture. So if you're one for supporting the weak against the strong, the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter, you're in for a great ride. By It should be acknowledged, however, that whatever the developments were that led to the formation of the field of postcolonial studies, it has to be seen more in terms of a long process rather than a series of events, with the central impulses of this process coming from a variety of sources, sometimes outside any concern with colonialism. Policy and Research Plus, there's a bonus section on postcolonial theory. The novels of J. G. Farrell are important texts dealing with the collapse of the British Empire.
Works from such regions in the 20th and 21st centuries, such as the Indian subcontinent, Nigeria, South Africa, and numerous parts of the Caribbean, for example, might be described as postcolonial. Anyone can add books to this list. of the postcolonial theory.
Postcolonial writers—emerging from Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, South America and other places—"wrote back" to the empire ( The Siege of Krishnapurn was inspired by events such as the sieges of Sieg…
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Specifically, post-colonial critics are concerned with literature produced by colonial powers and works produced by those who were/are colonized. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. If you’re interested in postcolonial theory, you might start with some of the writers we’re about to discuss before moving onto your own explorations of the topic.World literature scholar and erstwhile lawyer. Postcolonial literature is a body of literary writings that reacts to the discourse of colonization.
Keep in mind, this is a very short history and is by no means all-inclusive! A bunch of Europeans basically went off into the four corners of the globe—into Africa, Asia, South America (not to mention For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.
People were fighting back. Stay tuned for Part II of our brief history of postcolonial literatue, in which we'll explore contemporary writers who detail the postcolonial condition.In order to understand the rising attention to postcolonial fiction, a basic understanding of postcolonial theory is necessary. India gained independence from the British in 1947. If you dig justice, equality and freedom, you'll dig postcolonial literature.
Postcolonialism, the historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of Western colonialism; the term can also be used to describe the concurrent project to reclaim and rethink the history and agency of people subordinated under various forms of imperialism. These literature serve as a response to the impact of the colonial period and the discourse of colonizers in the before colonized societies. By the early 20th century, there were anti-colonial liberation movements taking root all over the place.
Literature can be classified into different types. Modern African literature responds to colonial and post-colonial issues, it can be seen as a subset. The post-colonial literature, in its broader term, during this era analyses the power and political structures prevailing in the ties between the colonial powers and the colonized areas. Literature is the art of using the language to express human sentiments.
Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands.