Postcolonial Gothic Literature Analysis

This term paper had the goal to outline Joseph Conrad’s short story “An Outpost of Progress” in terms of a Postcolonial Gothic reading. Within the domain of Postcolonialism, scholars differentiate between literature, whose plot occurs in the height of European colonialism, and works that emphasise the certain effects of colonialisation. However, both types of colonial texts reinforce the crucial exploitation undertaken by Europeans as well as their forcibly imposed civilisation, which causes the enormous sufferings from the Africans. Further, it emphasises the existing cultural clash between the culture of the colonisers and the colonised people, trying to reasoning and classifying cultural differences. Consequently, postcolonial discourse challenges imperialism as well as …show more content…
Furthermore, authors mostly introduce supernatural beings, such as vampires, ghosts, werewolves, demons or monsters, which underscores the Gothic characteristic of being absolutely oppositional to classical writings. The society of the 16th century focused mainly on a rational way of thinking, attempting to reason every human and natural activity rationally. Conversely, by comprising supernatural elements, Gothic fiction challenges this rationality imposed by society, illustrating the inexplicable existence of certain creatures and events. Scholars therefore, refer to Burke’s theory of the sublime, indicating sublime experiences that humans are incapable to explain and yet, are of outstanding delight and magnificence. Postcolonial literature and Gothic fiction accentuate the challenge of rationality by representing the Other. The Other is defined as everything being unfamiliar and unknown from one’s Self. In postcolonial discourse, native people of the foreign and distant countries, that are to be colonised, are typically seen as the