Postcolonial Theory
by Robert Siuta
Postcolonial Theory, often referred to as Postcolonialism, is the study of how imperialization and colonization impacts colonized societies. Post Colonial Theory is also a study of the imperial power itself, how and why they imperialize, and what they do in order to successfully achieve their goals. Due to its barbaric nature, which involves the killing, enslaving, and raping of a colonies citizens, colonization and imperialism has been met with lots of criticism by Post Colonial Theorists throughout history. Some of the most well known critics include Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, and Homi Bhabha. These critics had one common theme of criticizing Postcolonialism, however they all had different aspects of Postcolonialism that they focused on. “A Dying Colonialism” is about colonization in Algeria, written by Frantz Fanon in 1959. In this book, Fanon discusses the impact of oppression and colonization in Algeria during the Algerian Revolution. It is a very verbal book with its use of very strong and powerful language against the colonization of Algeria, and how they attempted to fight back in order to prevent any catastrophes. In “Orientalism” in 1978, Edward Said wrote about Western civilizations' false perceptions of the Middle East. Said’s goal was to create a stronger and more accurate viewpoint of the Middle East in hopes of creating peace. Gayatri Spivak is most well known for her essay called “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, where she spoke of a misrepresentation of Eurocentrism. Homi Bhabha is another important critic of postcolonialism. Bhabha mostly spoke about resistance against postcolonialism, how those that are in peril of being colonized have combated against it.
Primary Reading:
Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture, London; New York: Routledge, 1994.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
Spivak, Gayatri C. In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics, 1988.
Further Reading:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Edward Said". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Oct. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Said.
Huddart, David. “Homi K. Bhabha”, Oxford Bibliographies: 2018. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0057.xml
Purdue University, “Post-Colonial Criticism”, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/post_colonial_criticism.html