Of
English
Assignments
Name:- Rathod Neha R.
Class:- M.A. Sem-3
Roll No:- 28
Email Id:- neharathod108@gmail.com
Year:- 2015-2016
Paper No:- 11
Topic:- Overview about post colonial studies:-
Name:- Rathod Neha R.
Class:- M.A. Sem-3
Roll No:- 28
Email Id:- neharathod108@gmail.com
Year:- 2015-2016
Paper No:- 11
Topic:- Overview about post colonial studies:-
Overview about post colonial studies
post colonial literature
Postcolonial literature is the body of literary
writings that respond to the intellectual discourses of European colonization
in Asia, Africa, Middle East, the Pacific and elsewhere. Postcolonial
literature addresses the problems and consequences of the decolonization of a
country and of a nation, especially the political and cultural independence of
formerly subjugated colonial peoples; it also covers literary critiques of and
about postcolonial literature, the undertones of which carry, communicate, and
justify racialism and colonialism.[1] But most contemporary forms of
postcolonial literature present literary and intellectual critiques of the
postcolonial discourse by endeavouring to assimilate postcolonialism and its
literary expressions.
Major Issues
Despite the reservations and
debates, research in Postcolonial Studies has continued to grow because
postcolonial critique allows for a wide-ranging investigation into power
relations in various contexts. The formation of empire, the impact of colonization
on postcolonial history, economy, science, and culture, the cultural
productions of colonized societies, feminism and postcolonialism, agency for
marginalized people, and the state of the postcolony in contemporary economic
and cultural contexts, capitalism and the market, environmental concerns, and
the relationship between aesthetics and politics in literature are some
of the more prominent topics in the field.
The following questions suggest some
of the major issues in the field:
How did the experience of
colonization affect those who were colonized while also influencing the
colonizers? How were colonial powers able to gain control over so large a
portion of the non-Western world? What traces have been left by colonial
education, science and technology in postcolonial societies? How do these
traces affect decisions about development and modernization in postcolonies?
What were the forms of resistance against colonial control? How did colonial
education and language influence the culture and identity of the colonized? How
did Western science, technology, and medicine change existing knowledge
systems? What are the emergent forms of postcolonial identity after the
departure of the colonizers? To what extent has decolonization (a
reconstruction free from colonial influence) been possible? Are Western
formulations of postcolonialism overemphasizing hybridity at the expense of
material realities? Should decolonization proceed through an aggressive return
to the pre-colonial past (related topic: Essentialism)? How do gender, race, and class function in colonial and
postcolonial discourse? Are new forms of imperialism replacing colonization and
how?
Along with these questions, there
are some more that are particularly pertinent to postcolonial literature:
Should the writer use a colonial language to reach a wider audience or return to a native
language more relevant to groups in the postcolony? Which writers should be
included in the postcolonial canon? How can texts in translation from
non-colonial languages enrich our understanding of postcolonial issues? Has the
preponderance of the postcolonial novel led to a neglect of other
genres? In light of the material and political context of postcolonial
production, how should postcolonial literature be approached in a way that
honors its aesthetic dimensions?
Abstract : Case study
Postcolonial literature is a vast body of literary writing responding to
intellectual discourse existing in the European colonization of Asia, Africa,
and the Middle East. The texts aim at addressing the consequences and
problems occurring during decolonization processes of countries and nations.
It is a literary critique about post colonial literature as well as justifying
racialism and colonialism. In addition, it addresses the cultural and political
independence of former subjugated colonial nations and countries.
Contemporary forms of this literature present intellectual and literary critiques
regarding postcolonial discourse through endeavoring to absorb post
colonialism in addition to its literal expressions.
Critical approach
Postcolonialliterary criticism reexamines
colonial literature, especially concentrating upon the social
discourse, between the colonizer and the colonized, that shaped and produced the literature. In Orientalism
(1978), Edward Saïd analyzed the fiction of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, and Lautréamont
(IsidoreLucien
Ducasse), and explored how they were influenced, and how they helped to shape the
societal fantasy of European racial superiority. Postcolonial
fiction writers deal with the traditional
colonial discourse, either by modifying or by subverting it, or both.
An exemplar postcolonial
novel is Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), by Jean Rhys, a predecessor story to Jane
Eyre (1847), by Charlotte Brontë, a literary variety wherein a familiar story is retold
from the perspective
of a subaltern protagonist, Antoinette Cosway, who, within the story and the plot, is a socially oppressed
minor character who is renamed and variously exploited. As such, in postcolonial
literature, the protagonist
usually struggles with questions of Identity — social identity, cultural identity, national identity, etc.
colonial literature, especially concentrating upon the social
discourse, between the colonizer and the colonized, that shaped and produced the literature. In Orientalism
(1978), Edward Saïd analyzed the fiction of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, and Lautréamont
(IsidoreLucien
Ducasse), and explored how they were influenced, and how they helped to shape the
societal fantasy of European racial superiority. Postcolonial
fiction writers deal with the traditional
colonial discourse, either by modifying or by subverting it, or both.
An exemplar postcolonial
novel is Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), by Jean Rhys, a predecessor story to Jane
Eyre (1847), by Charlotte Brontë, a literary variety wherein a familiar story is retold
from the perspective
of a subaltern protagonist, Antoinette Cosway, who, within the story and the plot, is a socially oppressed
minor character who is renamed and variously exploited. As such, in postcolonial
literature, the protagonist
usually struggles with questions of Identity — social identity, cultural identity, national identity, etc.
Critic's point of view
What qualifies as postcolonial literature is
debatable. The term postcolonial literature has taken on many
meanings. The four subjects include:
1. Social and cultural change or erosion:[5] It seems that after independence is achieved, one main
question arises; what is the new cultural identity?
2. Misuse of power and exploitation: Even though the large power ceases to control them as a colony,
the settlers still seem to continue imposing power over the native.[5] The main question here is who
really is in power, why, and how does an independence day really mean independence?
3. Colonial abandonment and alienation: This topic is generally brought up to examine individuals and
not the excolony
as a whole.[5] The individuals tend to ask themselves; in this new country, where do
I fit in and how do I make a living?
4. Use of English language literature: It may be asked if the target of postcolonial
studies, i.e. the
analysis of postcolonial
literature and culture, can be reached neglecting literary works in the
original languages of postcolonial
nations.
Postcolonial literary critics
Edward Said is often considered to have been the seminal postcolonial critic. Other useful critics are Bill
Ashcroft, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe, Leela Gandhi, Gareth
Griffiths, Abiola Irele, John McLeod, Gayatri Spivak, Hamid Dabashi, Helen Tiffin, Khal Torabully, and
Robert Young
meanings. The four subjects include:
1. Social and cultural change or erosion:[5] It seems that after independence is achieved, one main
question arises; what is the new cultural identity?
2. Misuse of power and exploitation: Even though the large power ceases to control them as a colony,
the settlers still seem to continue imposing power over the native.[5] The main question here is who
really is in power, why, and how does an independence day really mean independence?
3. Colonial abandonment and alienation: This topic is generally brought up to examine individuals and
not the excolony
as a whole.[5] The individuals tend to ask themselves; in this new country, where do
I fit in and how do I make a living?
4. Use of English language literature: It may be asked if the target of postcolonial
studies, i.e. the
analysis of postcolonial
literature and culture, can be reached neglecting literary works in the
original languages of postcolonial
nations.
Postcolonial literary critics
Edward Said is often considered to have been the seminal postcolonial critic. Other useful critics are Bill
Ashcroft, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe, Leela Gandhi, Gareth
Griffiths, Abiola Irele, John McLeod, Gayatri Spivak, Hamid Dabashi, Helen Tiffin, Khal Torabully, and
Robert Young
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