Skip to main content

Then and Now: colonialism, imperialism and postcolonialism

Ania Loomba's colonial and postcolonial 
                       
                   

Ania Loomba's Colonialism and Postcolonialism is an invaluable introductory text to the many theories, debates and critical agendas that inform and animate postcolonial studies. Colonial and postcolonial is the essential introduction to a vibrant and politically charged area of literary-cultural study. It is the ideal guide for students new to colonial discourse theory, postcolonial studies or post-colonial theory as well as a reference for advanced students and teachers.

At the similar time, the relevance of postcolonial studies to our world continues to question. Colonialism/Postcolonialism discusses this question,  putting postcolonial studies in relation to globalization and new imperial constructions. Postcolonial studies had already become, in the words of Stuart Hall, ‘the bearer of such powerful unconscious investments – a sign of the desire for some, and equally for others, a signifier of danger’.

This book also distributed into three main chapters. The first chapter discusses the different meanings of terms such as colonialism, imperialism and postcolonialism, and the controversies surrounding them. This chapter will introduce readers to aspects of poststructuralist, Marxist, feminist and post-modern thought which have become important or controversial in relation to postcolonial studies. The last section of the chapter discusses the creations as well as the problems that have been generated by the literary beginning and inflexion of colonial discourse studies.  The second chapter considers the complexities of colonial and postcolonial subjects and identities.
In the third chapter, processes of decolonization and the problems of recovering the viewpoint of colonized subjects from a ‘postcolonial’ perspective are examined.

In this book, two things are in particular make this book especially noteworthy: the first is its clarity and accessibility, especially in its explanations of the complex philosophical ideas that form the basis of postcolonial criticism. The second is its contemporary relevance, as this edition has been updated to engage with political and social events over the last decade. The first chapter presents a comprehensive introduction to the field as well as an overview of its theoretical background through definitions of critical terms such as ‘colonialism’, ‘imperialism’ and ‘discourse’.

At the conclusion of this essay postcolonial realized that even though the colonial era has finished yet, but the practices have not come to an end and now has turned its face into neo-colonialism. In a postcolonial perspective, literary works emerged to disclose conquest, injustice, violence, discrimination, inequality, to sound of marginal and subaltern people, so that from postcolonial productions yielded social and political products. Postcolonial has been one of the most powerful means of re-examining the historical past and re-configuring our contemporary worldwide cultural concerns.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Light House: Thinking Activity

To the Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf                    1. How can you explain that 'what' Virginia Woolf wanted to say (for example, the complexity of human relationship, the everyday battles that people are at in their relationship with near and dear ones, the struggle of a female artist against the values of middle/upper-class society etc) can only be said in the way she has said? (Key: The 'How' of the narrative technique is to be discussed along with features of Stream of Consciousness technique which helps Woolf to put in an effective manner what she experienced in abstractions.) =). There are other techniques also through which, one can explain all the thing what Virginia Woolf wanted to say, but the technique of Stream of Consciousness seems the best to explain as the whole novel is highly psychological where the complexity of relationships as well as the problems in day to day life with near relations due to such circumstances are being tried to explore by

Character of Friday in Robinson Crusoe for postcolonial aspect in the context of A Grain of Wheat

Thinking Activity: In the Context of A Grain of Wheat. How is the Native represented by colonizers? Do a character study of Friday in Robinson Crusoe. Throughout the history of mankind, there has always been an individual or a group of individuals who have deemed himself to be superior. This master-slave relationship has occurred skin colour. Friday is slave and Crusoe is his master. This relationship has also occurred in A Grain of Wheat. Britain is ruled upon Kenyan people. English people and the English language are strongly used, therefore, natives civilization does not understand the English language. Negros was a black people of Africa and people was a master (superior). Englishman has sold African people as a thing. During the 1930s, the first colonial laws were authorized formally establishing the institution of slavery. In the context of A Grain of Wheat, both the colonizer and the colonized feel morally justified in their pursuits, colonialism is ultimately an immoral an

BA: TY: Play: The Hairy Ape

Play: The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill Yank as a Tragic hero or 'Hairy Ape' as a modern tragedy Introduction:- Most of O'Neill's plays are tragedies 'Hairy Ape' is also a great tragedy. But it is not a conventional tragedy in the Aristotlelian tradition but a modern tragedy. It's subject matter and theme is the same, but it's form is different. It is a great tragedy with a great difference. Yank as a tragic hero: not a man of high rank- Aristotle laid down that the hero of tragedy must be exceptional individual, man of high rank, a king or a prince so that his fall from his greatness would arouse the tragic emotions of pity and fear. All Shakespeare's heroes fulfil this requirement. But Yank, the hero of 'Hairy Ape' is not a man of high rank. He is not a king or a prince or some extra ordinary human being. He is a common stoker whose business is to shove fuel into the furnace of the ships engine. For long hours, he has to work