POSTCOLONIAL

Postcolonial

Question No. 2: Main Features of Postcolonial Literature

Introduction

Post colonialism is a vast and diverse area of study that seeks to examine the experiences of peoples and places—colonized and colonizers alike—both during and following the period of formal colonialism. By using postcolonial theory, postcolonial studies attempt to lend voice to the colonized and offer alternative interpretations of the process of colonization and the experiences of colonialism and empire. Postcolonial studies, the analysis of the experiences of individuals and nations that were formerly subjected to European colonization, emerged as an academic discipline in the 1970s. European imperial nations had colonized most of the world by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, but the European colonial empire began to disintegrate after the end of World War II in 1945 (William 2009, 423-443; McLeod 2000, 41-56).

An emphasis on the negative effects of colonization and the Eurocentric view of colonized societies is a hallmark of post colonialism. The field of postcolonial studies encompasses a variety of subject areas, including history, literature, sociology, gender, race, ethnicity, politics, and culture. The study of indigenous women and mothers has emerged as a central point of interest among a number of postcolonial theorists and authors of postcolonial literary works.

Post colonialism in Literature

Post colonialism is a vast and diverse area of study that seeks to examine the experiences of peoples and places—colonized and colonizers alike—both during and following the period of formal colonialism. By using postcolonial theory, postcolonial studies attempt to lend voice to the colonized and offer alternative interpretations of the process of colonization and the experiences of colonialism and empire. They also seek to challenge the naturalized assumptions of Western power and knowledge while creating space for alternative (and equally valid) knowledge and power dynamics (Hedges 2008, 55-75).

While postcolonial studies originated in the fields of literary and cultural studies, they have since become interdisciplinary engagements that bridge the humanities and social sciences, including human geography. This entry offers an overview of the various meanings of post colonialism, postcolonial theory, postcolonial studies, and postcoloniality, followed by an exploration of the historical development and critiques of post colonialism. These include the critique of postcolonial representational analyses' immateriality, the debatable strength of real-world applicability of postcolonial critiques, and the question of the real beneficiaries of postcolonial destabilizations (Ahluwalia 2007, 257-270). It concludes with an examination of the subfields within geography that have employed a postcolonial framework.

Post colonialism's breadth has aided in the development of multiple, sometimes hotly debated forms of the term post colonialism itself. In a very basic and literal sense, post colonialism refers to the period of time following colonialism, or the post independence time period. However, this simplified notion ignores the continued connectivities, dependencies, exploitations, and forms of neo-imperialism that persist between the formerly colonized states and their former colonizers. The “post” in “post colonialism” suggests that the era is finished, but as many scholars have pointed out, post colonialism (like other “posts”) might be better viewed as a process of alteration with lingering colonial ...