Postcolonial Theory
Postcolonial Literature
Identity
Major Postcolonial Theorists
Edward Said
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Mary Louise Pratt
Franz Fanon
Homi Bhabha
Colonial Literature
Hybridity: the amalgamation of two cultures, that of the colonizer and that of the colonized, into one unique identity
Mimicry: occurs when colonized people copy and assume the culture of the colonizers, and is both a way for the colonized people to camouflage themselves and to assert their own power
Assimilation
Appropriation #
Rejection #
Politics
Sati #
Occident: Western countries
Representation #
Colonialism
Pre
During #
Local #
National #
Global #
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Creole Self-Fashioning: occurs when the colonizer knows that their downfall is coming and therefore attempts to reinvent themselves so that new identities can emerge from the shared space
Contact Zone #
Autoethnography: the representation of a culture by that culture #
Disgrace takes place in post-apartheid South Africa
The character Kusum is subaltern because we never hear her perspective in her own voice in the novel
Heart of Darkness contains many racist descriptions of Africans, especially during the "first-contact" moments
The tiger conservation efforts involves the Indian government and Western NGO's
The West Bengal government evicted Hindu Bengalis from the Sundarbans and created a refugee crisis which culminated with the Morichjhanpi massacre. The incident is the backdrop for this novel.
The refugee crisis creates a moral crisis in Lusibari when Nilima and Nirmal disagree on what is best for the village
British imperialists misconstrued the widow sacrifice practice of sati into "suttee" and did not bother to actually learn about the ritual before they abolished it in 1829
Conrad uses Heart of Darkness as a medium on which to critique imperialism, but he generally does not offer his own opinions
Ifemelu does not feel represented in America or in Nigeria
Fokir refuses to assimilate to modern life in Luisibari, and continues to violate new laws against crabbing in conservation areas in order to make a living, and also wants his son to follow in his footsteps and become a fisherman
Religion #
Cambridge completely identifies as a Christian, even though he is no longer a free preacher in England, but now a slave in the West Indies. His Christianity inhibits his understanding of his own enslavement, which prevents him from rebelling against his masters.
Emily's father owns the sugar plantation where Cambridge is a slave
Cambridge takes place in the West Indies in the 19th Century, after the slave trade was abolished in England, but before the institution of slavery was abolished in England
Americanah takes place about fifty years after Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain
Christiania is subaltern because we never get to hear her perspective and is therefore completely misunderstood
Petrus and his family are working together to try and rebuild South Africa's national culture by literally going back to their roots and establishing themselves as successful farmers
Americans, like Piya, refuse to understand how their personal conservation efforts, and the general policies they support, place human rights below animal rights
Aunty Uju instructs Ifemelu on how to assimilate to American life, for example by relaxing her hair just as she does, in order to survive
Acceptance #
Abeng attempts to demonstrate how imperialism has repressed Jamaica both historically and culturally
Michelle Cliff, the author of Abeng, uses the novel as her own way of reclaiming her culture's history and reminding Jamaicans of what they were taught to forget
The Hungry Tide takes place over fifty years after India gained independence from Great Britain