DEFINITION OF POSTCOLONIAL CRITICISM

A type of cultural criticism, postcolonial criticism usually involves the analysis of

literary texts produced in countries and cultures that have come under the control
of European colonial powers at some point in their history. Alternatively, it can
refer to the analysis of texts written about colonized places by writers hailing from
the colonizing culture. In Orientalism (1978), Edward Said, a pioneer of
postcolonial criticism and studies, focused on the way in which the colonizing First
World has invented false images and myths of the Third (postcolonial) World
stereotypical images and myths that have conveniently justified Western
exploitation and domination of Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures and peoples.
In the essay "Postcolonial Criticism" (1992), Homi K. Bhabha has shown how
certain cultures (mis)represent other cultures, thereby extending their political and
social domination in the modern world order.
Postcolonial studies, a type of cultural studies, refers more broadly to the
study of cultural groups, practices, and discoursesincluding but not limited to
literary discoursesin the colonized world. The term postcolonial is usually used
broadly to refer to the study of works written at any point after colonization first
occurred in a given country, although it is sometimes used more specifically to
refer to the analysis of texts and other cultural discourses that emerged after the
end of the colonial period (after the success of the liberation and independence
movements). Among feminist critics, the postcolonial perspective has inspired an
attempt to recover whole cultures of women heretofore ignored or marginalized
women who speak not only from colonized places but also from the colonizing
places to which many of them fled.
Postcolonial criticism has been influenced by Marxist thought, by the work of
Michel Foucault (whose theories about the power of discourses have influenced
the new historicism), and by deconstruction, which has challenged not only
hierarchical, binary oppositions such as West/East and North/South but also the
notions of superiority associated with the first term of each opposition.
Adapted from The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross Murfin
and Supryia M. Ray. Copyright 1998 by Bedford Books.

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_post.html
Lecture 22 - Post-Colonial Criticism
Overview
In this lecture on post-colonial theory, Professor Paul Fry explores the work of Edward Said and Homi K.
Bhabha. The complicated origins, definitions, and limitations of the term "post-colonial" are outlined. Elaine
Showalter's theory of the phasic development of female literary identity is applied to the expression of postcolonial identities. Crucial terms such as ambivalence, hybridity, and double consciousness are explained.
The relationship between Bhabha's concept of sly civility and Gates's "signifyin'" is discussed, along with the
reliance of both on semiotics.

DEFINITION OF POSTCOLONIAL CRITICISM

A type of cultural criticism, postcolonial criticism usually involves the analysis of literary texts produced in
countries and cultures that have come under the control of European colonial powers at some point in their
history. Alternatively, it can refer to the analysis of texts written about colonized places by writers hailing from
the colonizing culture. In Orientalism (1978), Edward Said, a pioneer of postcolonial criticism and studies,
focused on the way in which the colonizing First World has invented false images and myths of the Third

(postcolonial) Worldstereotypical images and myths that have conveniently justified Western exploitation
and domination of Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures and peoples. In the essay "Postcolonial Criticism"
(1992), Homi K. Bhabha has shown how certain cultures (mis)represent other cultures, thereby extending
their political and social domination in the modern world order.
Postcolonial studies, a type of cultural studies, refers more broadly to the study of cultural groups,
practices, and discoursesincluding but not limited to literary discoursesin the colonized world. The
term postcolonial is usually used broadly to refer to the study of works written at any point after colonization
first occurred in a given country, although it is sometimes used more specifically to refer to the analysis of
texts and other cultural discourses that emerged after the end of the colonial period (after the success of the
liberation and independence movements). Among feminist critics, the postcolonial perspective has inspired
an attempt to recover whole cultures of women heretofore ignored or marginalizedwomen who speak not
only from colonized places but also from the colonizing places to which many of them fled.
Postcolonial criticism has been influenced by Marxist thought, by the work of Michel Foucault (whose
theories about the power of discourses have influenced the new historicism), and by deconstruction, which
has challenged not only hierarchical, binary oppositions such as West/East and North/South but also the
notions of superiority associated with the first term of each opposition.
Adapted from The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross Murfin and Supriya M. Ray.
Copyright 1998 by Bedford Books.

h
ttp://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/critical.asp?e=10

Key Terms in Post-Colonial Theory

You should read over the following definitions in order to understand some of the
basic ideas associated with post-colonialist literature:
colonialism: The imperialist expansion of Europe into the rest of the world during the last
four hundred years in which a dominant imperium or center carried on a relationship of
control and influence over its margins or colonies. This relationship tended to extend to
social, pedagogical, economic, political, and broadly culturally exchanges often with a
hierarchical European settler class and local, educated (compractor) elite class forming
layers between the European "mother" nation and the various indigenous peoples who
were controlled. Such a system carried within it inherent notions of racial inferiority and
exotic otherness.
post-colonialism: Broadly a study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. It
is concerned with both how European nations conquered and controlled "Third World"
cultures and how these groups have since responded to and resisted those
encroachments. Post-colonialism, as both a body of theory and a study of political and
cultural change, has gone and continues to go through three broad stages:
1. an initial awareness of the social, psychological, and cultural inferiority

enforced by being in a colonized state

2. the struggle for ethnic, cultural, and political autonomy
3. a growing awareness of cultural overlap and hybridity

ambivalence: the ambiguous way in which colonizer and colonized regard one another.
The colonizer often regards the colonized as both inferior yet exotically other, while the
colonized regards the colonizer as both enviable yet corrupt. In a context of hybridity, this
often produces a mixed sense of blessing and curse.
alterity: "the state of being other or different"; the political, cultural, linguistic, or religious
other. The study of the ways in which one group makes themselves different from others.
colonial education: the process by which a colonizing power assimilates either a
subaltern native elite or a larger population to its way of thinking and seeing the world.
diaspora: the voluntary or enforced migration of peoples from their native homelands.
Diaspora literature is often concerned with questions of maintaining or altering identity,
language, and culture while in another culture or country.
essentialism: the essence or "whatness" of something. In the context of race, ethnicity, or
culture, essentialism suggests the practice of various groups deciding what is and isn't a
particular identity. As a practice, essentialism tends to overlook differences within groups
often to maintain the status quo or obtain power. Essentialist claims can be used by a
colonizing power but also by the colonized as a way of resisting what is claimed about
them.
ethnicity: a fusion of traits that belong to a groupshared values, beliefs, norms, tastes,
behaviors, experiences, memories, and loyalties. Often deeply related to a persons
identity.
exoticism: the process by which a cultural practice is made stimulating and exciting in its
difference from the colonializers normal perspective. Ironically, as European groups
educated local, indigenous cultures, schoolchildren often began to see their native
lifeways, plants, and animals as exotic and the European counterparts as "normal" or
"typical."
hegemony: the power of the ruling class to convince other classes that their interests are
the interests of all, often not only through means of economic and political control but more
subtly through the control of education and media.
hybridity: new transcultural forms that arise from cross-cultural exchange. Hybridity can

be social, political, linguistic, religious, etc. It is not necessarily a peaceful mixture, for it
can be contentious and disruptive in its experience. Note the two related definitions:
catalysis: the (specifically New World) experience of several ethnic groups interacting and
mixing with each other often in a contentious environment that gives way to new forms of
identity and experience.
creolization: societies that arise from a mixture of ethnic and racial mixing to form a new
material, psychological, and spiritual self-definition.
identity: the way in which an individual and/or group defines itself. Identity is important to
self-concept, social mores, and national understanding. It often involves both
essentialism and othering.
ideology: "a system of values, beliefs, or ideas shared by some social group and often
taken for granted as natural or inherently true" (Bordwell & Thompson 494)
language: In the context of colonialism and post-colonialism, language has often become
a site for both colonization and resistance. In particular, a return to the original indigenous
language is often advocated since the language was suppressed by colonizing forces.
The use of European languages is a much debated issue among postcolonial authors.
Abrogation: a refusal to use the language of the colonizer in a correct or standard way.
Appropriation: "the process by which the language is made to 'bear the burden' of one's
own cultural experience."
magical realism: the adaptation of Western realist methods of literature in describing the
imaginary life of indigenous cultures who experience the mythical, magical, and
supernatural in a decidedly different fashion from Western ones. A weaving together
elements we tend to associate with European realism and elements we associate with the
fabulous, where these two worlds undergo a "closeness or near merging."
mapping: the mapping of global space in the context of colonialism was as much
prescriptive as it was descriptive. Maps were used to assist in the process of aggression,
and they were also used to establish claims. Maps claims the boundaries of a nation, for
example.
metanarrative: ("grand narratives," "master narratives.") a large cultural story that seeks
to explain within its borders all the little, local narratives. A metanarrative claims to be a big
truth concerning the world and the way it works. Some charge that all metanarratives are
inherently oppressive because they decide whether other narratives are allowed or not.
mimicry: the means by which the colonized adapt the culture (language, education,
clothing, etc.) of the colonizer but always in the process changing it in important ways.

Such an approach always contains it in the ambivalence of hybridity.

nation/nation-state: an aggregation of people organized under a single government.
National interest is associated both with a struggle for independent ethnic and cultural
identity, and ironically an opposite belief in universal rights, often multicultural, with a basis
in geo-economic interests. Thus, the move for national independence is just as often
associated with region as it is with ethnicity or culture, and the two are often at odds when
new nations are formed.
orientalism: the process (from the late eighteenth century to the present) by which "the
Orient" was constructed as an exotic other by European studies and culture. Orientalism is
not so much a true study of other cultures as it is broad Western generalization about
Oriental, Islamic, and/or Asian cultures that tends to erode and ignore their substantial
differences.
other: the social and/or psychological ways in which one group excludes or marginalizes
another group. By declaring someone "Other," persons tend to stress what makes them
dissimilar from or opposite of another, and this carries over into the way they represent
others, especially through stereotypical images.
race: the division and classification of human beings by physical and biological
characteristics. Race often is used by various groups to either maintain power or to stress
solidarity. In the 18th and19th centuries, it was often used as a pretext by European
colonial powers for slavery and/or the "white man's burden."
Semiotics: a system of signs which one knows what something is. Cultural semiotics often
provide the means by which a group defines itself or by which a colonializing power
attempts to control and assimilate another group.
Space/place:space represents a geographic locale, one empty in not being designated.
Place, on the other hand, is what happens when a space is made or owned. Place
involves landscape, language, environment, culture, etc.
Subaltern: the lower or colonized classes who have little access to their own means of
expression and are thus dependent upon the language and methods of the ruling class to
express themselves.
worlding: the process by which a person, family, culture, or people is brought into the
dominant Eurocentric/Western global society.

Hybridity and National Identity in Postcolonial Literature

Every human being, in addition to having their own personal identity, has a sense of who they are in
relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional
perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To
read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous,
representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a
postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and
celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing.
Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining
independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to
claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a
postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique
amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea
of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or
nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
Postcolonialism is the continual shedding of the old skin of Western thought and discourse and the
emergence of new self-awareness, critique, and celebration. With this self-awareness comes selfexpression. But how should the inhabitants of a colonial territory, or formerly colonized country or province
see themselves, once they have achieved their independence? With whom will they identify? In a country
like India, prior to 1947, most people identified themselves as Indians, against the identity of their British
oppressors. Theirs was a strong feeling of communal, national identity, fostered by a shared resentment
of the British colonial powers. However, after 1947, after being granted autonomy, India's populace slowly
disintegrated into more and more divided factions, as the "national" identity shrunk, and people found
other, closer groups to identify with. The ambiguous and shifting nature of national identity is thus integral
to a discussion of postcolonial theory, as identification with one group inevitably leads to differentiation
with others.
In his definitive book about the concept of "nation" and "nationalism," Imagined Communities, Benedict
Anderson says, "In an anthropological spirit, then, I propose the following definition of the nation: it is an
imagined political community--and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign" (Anderson 5). His
work refers to anthropological data, as he maintains that the concept of "nation" is truly a cultural
construct, a man-made artifice. Thus, for Anderson, it is "imagined." Nation, and identity, begins with
one's family and closest friends, and slowly moves out from this center. In our contemporary example, two
residents of the same country may live in completely different geographical climates, having very little in
common with each other. In such a case, one may have a personal identity, and identify with a more local
"nation," yet be part of a political nation as defined by demarcated boundary lines, drawn on a map. As
Anderson says, "All communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even
these) are imagined" (Anderson 6).
Children are raised to associate with a nation as representing unity and government. The long-running

Western colonialist perspective of nation seems to be: that simply by drawing lines on a piece of paper
and forming a government within those lines, a cohesive political entity can be created. A perfect example
of this lies in the formation of modern India. Prior to British colonization of India, there existed, in relative
harmony, one of the most diverse and heterogeneous populations on the planet. Communities and culture
gave people their identity. By the time India achieved its independence, however, the British had created a
bureaucracy, boundaries and centralized government, in the likeness of the prototypical Western nationstate.
For the inhabitants of India during the colonial years and the time leading to their independence,
embracing a national identity was not a difficult task, for several reasons. The first is that it is easiest for
someone to identify themselves in terms of contrast with another, outside identity. People living in India
prior to 1947 were striving for independence from shared oppression by the British. Thus, no matter what
their cultural background may have been, or their geographical location within the emerging nation of
India, anyone who was not a member of the colonial institution could view themselves as being victimized
by flat institution, and could identify with every other "Indian" in that victimization. Another example could
be a participant in the Negritude movement in Africa, who could celebrate being black only by contrasting
black with white. And yet another example lies with any country, any nation, which is at war with another.
Nationalist sentiment reaches a crescendo during war by differentiating one's own country from that of the
enemy.
The second reason that it is relatively easy for colonized subjects to adopt and live a national identity lies
in the fact that the very identity adopted by the oppressed has been most likely encouraged by the
oppressor. This touches on the idea of "hegemony," as postulated by Antonio Gramsci. Grarnsci was
interested in the subject of subordination as it existed within a colony or nation. He maintained that
colonial powers would not have been able to maintain their rule over colonized people without the implicit,
if unconscious permission of the colonized subjects. He believed that subordination over long periods
entailed the participation of those subordinated. As Ania Loomba points out in
Colonialism/Postcolonialism, "Gramsci argued that the ruling classes achieve domination not by force or
coercion alone, but also by creating subjects who 'willingly' submit to being ruled" (qtd. in Loomba, 29).
Colonial authority wanted a subject to feel a sense of national spirit. The British wanted the inhabitants of
their newly-constructed India to embrace the idea of their being "Indian," albeit in a form laid out by the
British. Before the British consolidated their influence into a territory they called India, it was an immensely
varied, heterogeneous mass of different religions, political and cultural beliefs. Having drawn lines in the
sand which defined India, and having instituted a central government, the British expected Parsi,
Kashmiri, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, upper and lower-class/caste to think of themselves as Indian and to
respect the British-established government. The British gave the Indian people a model of "Indian," of
being a British subject, and expected the population to embrace it, which, in most cases, they did. This is
what Anderson refers to as "mental miscegenation."

Once a country like India achieved its independence from the British colonial machine, how then were
these people supposed to identify themselves? They were a vast nation of a tremendously varied cultural
history, labeled "Indian' by the very powers they had striven to evict from their country. Only by exploring
the idea of "cultural nationalism" can this phenomenon be at all understood. This line of thinking attributes
national identity not so much to boundaries and political machinations, but, rather, to more elemental
cultural and community-oriented aspects of one's persona.
Remember that Anderson has defined "nation" as an "imagined political community." We have discussed
why it is "imagined," but why does he consider the nation a "community?" He says, "Finally, it [the nation]
is imagined as a community because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail
in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship" (Anderson 7). But, as an
American, does one feel "a deep, horizontal comradeship" for a fellow citizen living in Alaska? Or is there
more fraternity to be found with someone of similar religious belief or ethnic background? This is where
the ambiguity surrounding the concept of "national identity" emerges. As Loomba states, "Perhaps the
connection between postcolonial writing and the nation can be better comprehended by understanding
that the 'nation' itself is a ground of dispute and debate, a site for the competing imaginings of different
ideological and political interests" (Loomba 207). I believe that this "dispute and debate" can be
successfully joined and undertaken only with a knowledge of the work of Homi K. Bhabha, as it relates to
the concept of "cultural hybridity."
Bhabha put forth his idea of hybridity to explain the very unique sense of identity shared and experienced
individually by members of a former colonized people. He maintains that members of a postcolonial
society have an identity which has been shaped jointly by their own unique cultural and community
history, intertwined with that of the colonial power. Thus, for example, a Parsi in Bombay will have
incorporated into his or her personal and national identity the traditions inherent in being Parsi, being
Muslim, and being an "Indian"--a member of a formerly oppressed society. Bhabha writes, "These
hyphenated, hybridized cultural conditions are also forms of a vernacular cosmopolitanism that emerges
in multicultural societies and explicitly exceeds a particular national location" ("The White Stuff," 23).
Thus, having illustrated the difficulties inherent in the postcolonial subject's attempt to formulate a new
personal and national identity, we return to the initial, basic point of this discussion: How does a
postcolonial author, playwright or poet provide a reader with a true representation of a particular
postcolonial condition? Who does the author claim to represent? If an author is Indian in origin, does his
writing represent the state of affairs for all Indians living in postcolonial India? The answer to this last
question is transparently "no." The quality of life and historical circumstances vary too widely from town to
town, neighborhood to neighborhood, family to family, and, ultimately, from individual to individual. The
question remains then: is there a way for postcolonial authors to convey their respective messages about
the colonial condition without assuming a definitive "voice," without presuming that they speak for all
members of their respective "nation?" I maintain that there are at least three authors who have
incorporated Bhabha's theory of cultural hybridity into their works, and thus are able to communicate the

postcolonial condition to the rest of the world. These authors are Salman Rushdie, Bapsi Sidhwa and
David Malouf.
Rushdie's novel, Midnight's Children should be considered the quintessential fictional novel for illustrating
the near insurmountable difficulties inherent in creating a national identity amongst a hugely
heterogeneous postcolonial society. Masterfully employing magical realism and weaving metaphors in and
out of each other on every page, Rushdie very effectively describes postcolonial India's troubled attempt
at forging a national consciousness immediately after achieving their independence from Great Britain. He
describes the shared excitement and nationalist sentiments felt by the population of India as the day of
their independence grew near:
There was an extra festival on the calendar, a new myth to celebrate, because a nation which had never
previously existed was about to win its freedom, catapulting us into a world which, although it had five
thousand years of history, although it had invented the game of chess and traded with Middle Kingdom
Egypt, was nevertheless quite imaginary; into a mythical land, a country which would never exist except
by the efforts of a phenomenal collective will--except in a dream we all agreed to dream; it was a mass
fantasy shared in varying degrees by Bengali and Punjabi, Madrasi and Jat, and would periodically need
the sanctification and renewal which can only be provided by rituals of blood (Rushdie, 130).
As the novel progresses, and the populace of India examine their new respective identities, people begin
to narrow those identities, limiting more and more their respective concepts of "nation." Identification as
"Indian" gives way to identification with religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds and political convictions. And
with each new phase of emerging identity, a new differentiation occurs between one member of Indian
society and another. As these differentiations are further recognized and legitimized, a pattern of
hegemony and violence ensues which threatens to tear the new nation of India apart.
Bapsi Sidhwa articulates this same theme in her novel, Cracking India. She approaches this same idea of
Indian society pulling itself apart in its quest for a shared, postcolonial, national identity by focusing on
one small neighborhood in the Punjab district. The inhabitants of this small, relatively insular community
hardly notice the differences between one another until India achieves its independence, and is
partitioned into Pakistan and India. As the novel progresses, this happy community is slowly tom apart by
violent instances of racism and religious fanaticism. This is foreshadowed early in the book, during a
conversation between various members of the neighborhood and the outgoing British Inspector General
of the Police. The Inspector General is arguing with Mr. Singh, a Sikh, about what will happen in India
once the British have left:
"Rivers of blood will flow all right!" he shouts, almost as loudly as Mr. Singh. "Nehru and the Congress will
not have everything their way! They will have to reckon with the Muslim League and Jinnah. If we quit
India today, old chap, you'll bloody fall at each other's throats!" (Sidhwa 71).

Mr. Singh replies, "Hindu, Muslim, Sikh: we all want the same thing! We want independence!" Essentially,
the message being communicated by both this novel and Rushdie's is that in forging an identity, either on
an individual basis, or as a nation, the stronger one feels about belonging to one group, the more
separated they become from another. This is embracing the exact antithesis of cultural hybridity as
espoused by Bhabha.
Another unique approach to the use of cultural hybridity in a postcolonial text has been utilized by David
Malouf, in his novel Remembering Babylon. Malouf writes of the formative years of an Australian settler
colony, and he uses a very unique character, that of Gemmy, to illustrate the vast differences between the
settlers and the aboriginals, and, eventually, between the settlers themselves. Gemmy is a white man who
has grown up amongst the aboriginals. He has been away from Western society for so long that he is
unable to communicate competently, or effect legitimate social discourse with the other whites. He comes
to live with a young settler colony, and Malouf uses him to illustrate differences between all members of
this colony. As each member of the colony tries to analyze the differences between themselves and
Gemmy, they come to realize fundamental differences amongst them all. As Mr. Frazer writes in his
logbook, "We must rub our eyes and look again, clear our minds of what we are looking for to see what is
there" (Malouf 130).
Surely, each member of a postcolonial society would love to encounter one specific voice which could
articulate their particular suffering and oppression under the colonial institution--one voice which would
articulate their own sense of national identity. But exploration of these societies, and the literature
produced by postcolonial authors and poets illustrates that there is a veritable infinite number of differing
circumstances inherent in each postcolonial society, and, consequently, in each piece of literature
produced by postcolonial writers. If one is to read this literature in a way which will shed some light on the
postcolonial condition, one must understand and adopt the theory that we are all walking amalgamations
of our own unique cultures and traditions. We are all always struggling with our own identities, personal
and national. We must understand that there is no "one true voice" representing an easily identifiable
postcolonial condition, but, instead, each author is his or her own voice and must be read as such.

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Post-Colonial Criticism (1990s-present)

Summary:
This resource will help you begin the process of understanding literary theory and schools of criticism and
how they are used in the academy.

Contributors:Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins

Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:45

History is Written by the Victors

Post-colonial criticism is similar to cultural studies, but it assumes a unique perspective on literature
and politics that warrants a separate discussion. Specifically, post-colonial critics are concerned with
literature produced by colonial powers and works produced by those who were/are colonized. Postcolonial theory looks at issues of power, economics, politics, religion, and culture and how these
elements work in relation to colonial hegemony (western colonizers controlling the colonized).
Therefore, a post-colonial critic might be interested in works such as Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
where colonial "...ideology [is] manifest in Crusoe's colonialist attitude toward the land upon which
he's shipwrecked and toward the black man he 'colonizes' and names Friday" (Tyson 377). In addition,
post-colonial theory might point out that "...despite Heart of Darkness's (Joseph Conrad) obvious anticolonist agenda, the novel points to the colonized population as the standard of savagery to which
Europeans are contrasted" (Tyson 375). Post-colonial criticism also takes the form of literature
composed by authors that critique Euro-centric hegemony.

A Unique Perspective on Empire

Seminal post-colonial writers such as Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and Kenyan author Ngugi wa
Thiong'o have written a number of stories recounting the suffering of colonized people. For example,
in Things Fall Apart, Achebe details the strife and devastation that occurred when British colonists
began moving inland from the Nigerian coast.
Rather than glorifying the exploratory nature of European colonists as they expanded their sphere of
influence, Achebe narrates the destructive events that led to the death and enslavement of thousands
of Nigerians when the British imposed their Imperial government. In turn, Achebe points out the
negative effects (and shifting ideas of identity and culture) caused by the imposition of western
religion and economics on Nigerians during colonial rule.

Power, Hegemony, and Literature

Post-colonial criticism also questions the role of the western literary canon and western history as
dominant forms of knowledge making. The terms "first-world," "second world," "third world" and
"fourth world" nations are critiqued by post-colonial critics because they reinforce the dominant
positions of western cultures populating first world status. This critique includes the literary canon and
histories written from the perspective of first-world cultures. So, for example, a post-colonial critic
might question the works included in "the canon" because the canon does not contain works by
authors outside western culture.
Moreover, the authors included in the canon often reinforce colonial hegemonic ideology, such as
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Western critics might consider Heart of Darkness an effective
critique of colonial behavior. But post-colonial theorists and authors might disagree with this
perspective: "...as Chinua Achebe observes, the novel's condemnation of European is based on a
definition of Africans as savages: beneath their veneer of civilization, the Europeans are, the novel
tells us, as barbaric as the Africans. And indeed, Achebe notes, the novel portrays Africans as a prehistoric mass of frenzied, howling, incomprehensible barbarians..." (Tyson 374-375).
Typical questions:

How does the literary text, explicitly or allegorically, represent various aspects of colonial
oppression?

What does the text reveal about the problematics of post-colonial identity, including the
relationship between personal and cultural identity and such issues as double consciousness
and hybridity?

What person(s) or groups does the work identify as "other" or stranger? How are such
persons/groups described and treated?

What does the text reveal about the politics and/or psychology of anti-colonialist resistance?

What does the text reveal about the operations of cultural difference - the ways in which race,
religion, class, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form
individual identity - in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we
live?

How does the text respond to or comment upon the characters, themes, or assumptions of a
canonized (colonialist) work?

Are there meaningful similarities among the literatures of different post-colonial populations?

How does a literary text in the Western canon reinforce or undermine colonialist ideology
through its representation of colonialization and/or its inappropriate silence about colonized
peoples? (Tyson 378-379)

Here is a list of scholars we encourage you to explore to further your understanding of this theory:
Criticism

Edward Said - Orientalism, 1978; Culture and Imperialism, 1994

Kamau Braithwaite - The History of the Voice, 1979

Gayatri Spivak - In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics, 1987

Dominick LaCapra - The Bounds of Race: Perspectives on Hegemony and Resistance, 1991

Homi Bhabha - The Location of Culture, 1994

Literature and non-fiction

Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart, 1958

Ngugi wa Thiong'o - The River Between, 1965

Sembene Ousman - God's Bits of Wood, 1962

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust, 1975

Buchi Emecheta - The Joys of Motherhood, 1979

Keri Hulme - The Bone People, 1983

Robertson Davies - What's Bred in the Bone, 1985

Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day, 1988

Bharati Mukherjee - Jasmine, 1989

Jill Ker Conway - The Road from Coorain, 1989

Helena Norberg-Hodge - Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, 1991

Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient, 1992

Gita Mehta - A River Sutra, 1993

Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things, 1997

Patrick Chamoiseau - Texaco, 1997