Explore the definition of postcolonialism. Understand what postcolonialism is, read postcolonialism theory, and observe postcolonialism in literature.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Postcolonialism in Literature | Definition & Theory
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Research into Post-Colonial Literature
Research Assignments
1. An essay by English author George Orwell called 'Shooting an Elephant' has become a prime example of the effects of Colonialism on English people in the colonies of the British Empire. Orwell served a period as a police officer in Burma during the period of colonization in that country. His idea about colonialism is that it does not just affect the colonized adversely, but the colonizers as well. Read this brief essay and see if you can pinpoint how the experience of the protagonist speaks to attitudes of colonizers and the colonized.
2. Read The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing. Lessing spent time in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the period between colonization and modern self-governance. Like the African American community in the United States, official freedom did not eliminate racial discrimination in Rhodesia after actual freedom was achieved. How does Lessing's narrative reflect lingering racial discrimination and prejudice?
3. The British Empire and France colonized parts of the Caribbean region. Read The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, an author who is part Dominican in heritage. Discuss how colonialism affected men and women in different ways. How is this discrepancy reflected in Rhys' novel?
4. In the lesson, you read something about Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, author of the novel Things Fall Apart. Achebe was also a poet. Read the poem 'Answer' and see what you think the message or theme might be. Read some information about Achebe's life and see if this information helps you to understand the poem more fully.
What is postcolonial literature theory?
Postcolonial Literature Theory is the lens for which we look at literature to understand the effect of colonialism on the author and their characters. It allows the reader to understand the consequences of colonialism on a deeper level.
What does postcolonialism mean?
Postcolonialism refers to the time period in which the world faced the aftermath of Western Colonialism. During this time, historians began to understand the plethora of ways colonialism shaped history.
What is the meaning of postcolonialism in literature?
Postcolonialism in literature means a piece of literature reflecting on the effects of colonialism. Some famous postcolonial authors are Edward Said and Chinua Achebe.
Table of Contents
ShowPostcolonialism is defined as a period of time representing the aftermath of the Western Colonization of African, Eastern Europe, and Asia. To understand postcolonialism, one has to understand colonialism first. Colonialism as a concept is the practice of one country forcibly assuming power over and responsibility for another country. It also refers to a period of history for which this practice was most prevalent, from the 15th-20th centuries. This is also known as the modern period for colonialism. There are three major periods of colonialism: premodern, modern, and neocolonialism.
Premodern colonialism mainly refers to a time before Western Civilization during the Greek and Byzantine Empires. During this period, Arabs, Vikings, Romans, and some Christians held colonies throughout the Mediterranean, Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, North America, present-day Russia and Ukraine, France, Sicily, and even the Baltic Islands. However, with the birth of Western Culture, Catholicism, Modern European powers, and modern warfare, colonialism moved into the modern era.
The modern era of colonialism refers to the most prevalent period of colonialism (as aforementioned). This period began when the Portuguese Prince, Henry the Navigator, initiated the age of exploration (and by extension colonialism) by setting up trading posts in Africa. After Portugal made the first move, other European powers, namely Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, The Netherlands, and Prussia (Germany) expanded their respective colonial reach as well.
Towards the beginning of the 18th Century, after America gained independence in 1776, the United States also participated in the colonization of areas all over the world, mainly Africa. This period is known for its brutality and lack of empathy and care for human lives. It was also during this time in which the slave trade (both Atlantic and Trans-Saharan) reached its height. Mother countries, meaning the countries who conquered, drew boundaries with no concern for tribal lands or rivalries and plundered their natural resources. This set many people back hundreds of years within both social and economic circles. The United States also imposed its own culture, ignoring hundreds of years of indigenous tradition and history.
While contemporarily most find these practices to be immoral, they were commonplace during the modern period of colonialism. Most countries that were colonized during this time have luckily won their independence, but the consequences have been long-lasting and violent, leaving most countries war-torn and unstable. For example, Nigeria before colonization was a series of powerful African empires and kingdoms such as the Oyo Empire and Islamic Kanem-Bornu Empire. However, after they were colonized by Britain, gaining their independence in 1960, the country was thrown into civil war and chaos due to the arbitrary borders the colonizers had drawn.
Neocolonialism doesn't refer to direct colonialism, like its predecessors, but rather a colonial-style exploitation of labor and resources. When mother countries retreated from their colonies, they had created a system in which the new countries relied on them economically so that they could still reap benefits even when they were no longer in power. Postcolonialism is a period of reconstruction and healing for these countries, directly responding to the consequences of colonialism. One of the ways the world has reacted to colonialism is through the postcolonialism literary lens. Postcolonial literature is one of the most important ways in which the world has been able to assess the damage and cultural effects of colonialism.
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Effects of Postcolonialism
By looking at literature through a postcolonial lens, the reader is able to assess the ways in which colonialism affects the plot, the characters, and their motivations. This also allows the reader to get a better understanding of the consequences of colonialism itself, which is the purpose of postcolonial literature as a whole. Most postcolonial literature follows the same recipe—a main character's life is ravaged by the consequences of colonialism.
The postcolonial lens is one of the most important ways that society has been able to heal and reconcile with the ways culture was affected. Postcolonialism has given an outlet to millions of authors who are still struggling with the ways they, their cultures, and their people were hurt by colonialism.
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Since postcolonialism refers to the time period in which society deals with the consequences of colonialism, postcolonial theory is the body of thought that is most concerned with the economic, historical, and cultural impact of European colonial rule. Under the umbrella of postcolonial theory is postcolonial literature, where many famous authors have written classic, transformative novels that have realistically portrayed the way native communities were affected by colonialism.
Postcolonial Theorists
Refer to the graph below for a breakdown of some of the most important postcolonial theorists and their work.
| Theorist | Work and Significance |
|---|---|
| Edward Said | Edward Said is considered the father of postcolonialism and one of the most influential theorists of his time. He also founded postcolonial studies. He is most known for his work "Orientalism", which critiques the West's relationship with the Orient, or the Eastern world. It critiques the cultural depictions of the Eastern world in Western society and the way we interact with the East and its people. He shaped the way discourse works around postcolonialism. |
| Homi K. Bhaba | Homi K. Bhaba is a Harvard professor and postcolonial theorist. Bhaba is famed for his essays in which he presents the ideas of hybridity, ambivalence, and mimicry- three lenses for understanding the effects of postcolonialism. When discussing postcolonialism, Bhaba's name is sure to come up based simply on how highly regarded his essays are to the movement. |
| Chinua Achebe | Chinua Achebe's most famed work was "Things Fall Apart", which is considered the archetypal African postcolonial novel. It was originally written in English and later translated to his native language Igbo since Achebe wanted his audience to be the colonizers. His novel is considered a classic and is studied in schools all over the world. |
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Postcolonialism refers to the time after colonialism and the study of its consequences. Postcolonialism follows premodern and modern colonialism, which was the practice of seizing governmental control over another country or piece of land. Postcolonial theory is the body of thought that reflects on the cultural, economic, and historical impact of colonialism.
A form of postcolonial theory is postcolonial literature, which gave authors an outlet for reconciling the ways in which colonialism changed and wrecked their communities. Some of the most famous postcolonial theorists and authors are Edward Said (the "Father of Postcolonialism"), Chinua Achebe ("Things Fall Apart"), and Homi K. Bhaba (wrote several influential essays). Today, historians are still studying the ways in which colonialism affected history and how it changed the course of our world.
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Video Transcript
What Is Post-Colonialism?
In many works of literature, specifically those coming out of Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, we meet characters who are struggling with their identities in the wake of colonization, or the establishment of colonies in another nation. For example, the British had a colonial presence in India from the 1700s until India gained its independence in 1947. As you can imagine, the people of India, as well as the characters in Indian novels, must deal with the economic, political, and emotional effects that the British brought and left behind. This is true for literature that comes out of any colonized nation. In many cases, the literature stemming from these events is both emotional and political.
The post-colonial theorist enters these texts through a specific critical lens, or a specific way of reading a text. That critical lens, post-colonial theory or post-colonialism, asks the reader to analyze and explain the effects that colonization and imperialism, or the extension of power into other nations, have on people and nations.
Effects of Colonization
As mentioned, post-colonialism asks the reader to enter a text through the post-colonial lens. The chart will help you see how to approach a post-colonial reading of a text. As a reader, you would look for the effects of colonialism and how they are addressed through the plot, setting, and characters' actions.
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Theory
Edward Said
Edward Said's book Orientalism in 1978 is considered the foundational work on which post-colonial theory developed. Said, then, could be considered the 'father' of post-colonialism. His work, including Orientalism, focused on exploring and questioning the artificial boundaries, or the stereotypical boundaries, that have been drawn between the East and West, specifically as they relate to the Middle East. In doing this, Said focused specifically on our stereotypes of Middle-Easterners; however, these same ideas can be extended to include how we view all 'others.' This is the 'us-other' mentality that many colonizers take with them into a new country. Such simple generalizations lead to misconceptions and miscommunications, which are often the basis of post-colonial analysis.
Homi Bhabha
Homi Bhabha's work, including The Location of Culture in1994, focuses on the politics, emotions, and values that exist in the space between the colonizer and the colonized. In other words, cultures are more than 'us' and 'other'; they are the sum of their histories. Bhabha likes to use the word 'hybrid', meaning composed of mixed elements, to describe post-colonial people and experiences. In doing this, Bhabha focused on the collective effects of colonization on peoples and cultures.
Example: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe is considered one of the most significant post-colonial authors. Achebe's work focused on the colonization of Nigeria, his homeland. In Things Fall Apart, he focuses specifically on the struggles that Nigerians faced as the British expanded their control. These struggles included, but certainly were not limited to, religious differences and cultural challenges.
To read Things Fall Apart, or any work, through a post-colonial lens, one might consider the following:
- What effects does the colonizing power have on the characters?
- How do the colonizers emphasize, or reinforce, the us-other mentality of the West?
- What perceptions of the world, the nation, and the self does the text challenge/reinforce?
Post-colonialism Short Stories
Unlike novels, the short story allows people whose voices may not be heard to come forth. Limited in length, short stories did not include the longer narratives of novels and instead focused on events, moments, and experiences with clarity and significance.
Chinua Achebe's collection of short stories Girls at War and Other Stories include stories like ''Chike's School Days'' and ''The Sacrificial Egg'' with themes focused on religion, change, conflict, and tradition. Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories center around cultural conflicts, alienation, and immigrant experiences surrounding the people of India who experienced colonization by Great Britain. Her many stories focus on the Indian Diaspora, the people who migrated from the Indian territories.
In response to the occupation of the 19th century England in Northern Ireland, James Joyce wrote many short stories, the most notable ''Araby'' and ''The Encounter. ''
Lesson Summary
Post-colonialism is simply a lens through which we study literature that is set in colonized countries or deals with post-colonial issues. These issues include, but are not limited to, issues of identity, culture, politics, and economics. Leading theorists include Edward Said and Homi Bhabha, with Said focusing on stereotypes and Bhabha focusing on cultural hybridity. The most widely read post-colonial author is Chinua Achebe, who wrote Things Fall Apart. This novel addresses the cultural and religious struggles that Nigerians faced following British colonization.
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Postcolonialism in Literature | Definition & Theory
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