Postcolonialism

The discourse of post-colonialism starts with the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism, a Palestinian-American critic, in 1978. He is the very first to write about how the West perceives and manipulates the knowledge of the East. According to him, the Europeans considered the Orientals a lower form of human beings. They considered it their duty to civilize them because they their selves did not have the knowledge of good and bad. In order to achieve this goal, they had to colonize and rule…

There is currently a growing body of research in postcolonial criticism and analysis of Renaissance literature. Inspired by efforts to decolonize the canon, I am interested in studying the roots of colonialism in the Renaissance and its influence on the modern world. In my second year of undergraduate study, I was introduced to postcolonial literature and theory in an introductory course with Dr. Stanka Radović. Reading polemic texts, as well as ‘subalterns’ writing back or breaking away from…

Thus, following a conversation at the backstage between Régis and a local dealer (the “Pablo Escobar” of Neuhof), we learn that the money that comes from drug-dealing is the way Régis chooses so as to earn an income without being subjected to the regulated work, thus retaining intellectual and physical independence. His only collaboration with the capitalist circuit will be with the bourgeoisie itself, i.e., the owners of the means of production (in the music industry, Universal Studios, in…

Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin in their book "Postcolonial Ecocriticism" give a variety of important terms in postcolonial ecocriticism and ecofeminism, these terms are: ecological imperialism, biocolonialism and environmental racism. First, ecological imperialism, Alfred Crosby's term, "which ranges in implication and intensity from the violent appropriation of indigenous land to the ill-considered introduction of non-domestic livestock and European agricultural practices." Huggan and Tiffin…

“An Outpost of Progress” entails a pithy illustration of Postcolonialism as well as Colonialism. In times past, European’s intention to disperse widely civilized progress was used to justify the brutal process of colonialism (cf. Peters 51). However, by means of crucial satire, the narrator illustrates the absolute opposite, since Kayerts and Carlier’s mental state deteriorates significantly, influencing drastically the decline of the Africans as well. In fact, using satirical images ensures the…

The Power of Imperialism, Race and Gender “The smallest Woman in the world” is a short story telling a tale of a French explorer looking for the smallest pygmy in the world. Upon finding what he believes is the smallest woman in the world, the story’s concept of exploration transitions from innocent curiosity to exploitation. Through Clarice Lispector’s short story, “The Smallest Woman in the World”, the reader will be able to identify the story’s allegory of superior and inferior and will see…

1.1 Why Postcolonialism? It is difficult to say what postcolonialism exactly is. There is no ‘tradition’ per se as there is a philosophical tradition for deconstruction or psychoanalytical theory. In anti-colonial movements and postmodern critique of colonialism as a project of modernity one can find ideas that preceded postcolonial theory. The most important feature of postcolonialism is a shift in the dominant ways in which relations between Western and non-Western people and their worlds were…

“An Ant Enclosed in a Circle”: The function of space and Identity in Shani Mootoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night “However, I cannot escape myself, and being a narrator who also existed on the periphery of the events, in am bound to be present. I have my own laments and much to tell about myself. It is my intent, however, to refrain from inserting myself too forcefully.” This is a quote from the character Tyler in Shani Mootoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night. This shows Tyler’s character in his conscious…

Tiffin makes a comparative study of the use of colonial motifs in The Cat and Shakespeare and The Double Hook. In her comments on Rao’s book, she says that both the title and the concerns of the novel points at a political purpose is jumbled up with a philosophical theme. Further in the course of her article, she asks whether the book can be called a postcolonial text. Because it displays that “the community, its beliefs and rituals are in no sense disrupted by the history of British colonialism…

The purpose of this article is to analyze the short story “Civil Peace” by the Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, in the light of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The story happens in Nigeria, which has a long history of being colonized by English troops till 1960, when the Nigerians eventually gained their independence. Achebe uses English language as a postcolonial tool to defend his people. The story “Civil Peace” opens right after the Civil War and ends after so much blood shedding and brutality.…