Colonialism & postcolonialism

Literary Theory

1. Humaera Sultana Lecturer Department of English Z.H. Sikder University of Science & Technology Colonialism & Post-colonialism

2. Colonialism The policy of a country seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of economic dominance. Colonisers may impose their religion, economics, and other cultural practices on indigenous peoples.

3. Postcolonialism A study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. A critical theory analysis of the history, culture, literature, and discourse of European imperial power.

4. The consensus  in the  field  is  that " post - colonial " ( with a  hyphen) signifies a period that comes chronologically "after"  colonialism . " Postcolonial ," on the other hand, signals the persisting impact of colonization across time periods and geographical regions.

5. Key Terms in Post-Colonial Theory The colonizer often regards the colonized as both inferior yet exotically other, while the colonized regards the colonizer as both enviable yet corrupt.  Ambivalence

6. Hegemony Control of one state over others The power of the ruling class to convince other classes that their interests are the interests of all Not only through means of economic and political control but more subtly through the control of education and media.

7. Identity The way in which an individual and/or group defines itself. Identity is important to self-concept, social mores, and national understanding.   Hybridity Mixure of two cultures, religion or races Mixture of the colonized experience and the colonial influence

8. Ethnicity A fusion of traits that belong to a group–shared values, beliefs, norms, tastes, behaviors, experiences, memories, and loyalties. Often deeply related to a person’s identity.

9. Mimicry The colonized adapt the culture (language, education, clothing, etc.) of the colonizer but always in the process changing it in important ways. 

10. Orientalism Depiction of aspects in the Eastern world The study of Eastern societies and cultures, languages and peoples by Western scholars.

11. Other The social and/or psychological ways in which one group excludes or marginalizes another group. By declaring someone "Other," persons tend to stress what makes them dissimilar from or opposite of another, and this carries over into the way they represent others, especially through stereotypical images.

12. Race The division and classification of human beings by physical and biological characteristics. 

13. Worlding The process by which a person, family, culture, or people is brought into the dominant Eurocentric/Western global society.

14. Subaltern The lower or colonized classes who have little access to their own means of expression and are thus dependent upon the language and methods of the ruling class to express themselves.

15. Analyses of post-colonial literature Historical aspect Trace the history of colonialism and subjugation during the colonial period. In this case, there’s always the subject and the object of colonialism. Physical and psychological aspect Oppression and intimidation, are the ways to make colonized feel weak, frightened, devaluate pride, submissive, and obedient to the colonizer.

16. Ideological aspect In whose perspective it is narrated , colonizer or colonized? Gender aspect Man as colonizer, woman as colonized. Cultural aspect Domination of a certain culture, including ethnicity, race and religion.

17. Postcolonial Thinkers An Indian English scholar and critical theorist. Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. Key concepts: hybridity , mimicry, difference, and ambivalence Homi K. Bhabha (1949-Present)

18. Edward Said (1935 –2003) Palestinian American academic, political activist, and literary critic. Was a professor of literature at Columbia University. Concept: Orientalism , Occidentalism, The Other

19. Frantz Fanon ( 1925 –1961 ) A French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher. Interests: Decolonization psychopathology of colonization, Racism.

20. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1942-Present) An Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. A University Professor at Columbia University Known for her essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?”

21. Chinua Achebe (1930 –2013) A Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic Masterpiece: Things Fall Apart (1958

22. Postcolonial Novels

23. Thank You