Postcolonial Theory Of Colonialism In Literature

Postcolonial theory is a literary theory or critical approach that deals with literature produced in countries that were once, or are now, colonies of other countries. It may also deals with literature written in or by citizens of colonizing countries that takes colonies or their peoples as its subject matter. The theory is based around concepts of otherness and resistance. It concentrates particularly on the way in which literature by the colonizing culture fabricate the experience and realities, and imprint the inferiority. As a matter of fact colonized people attempts to articulate their identity and reclaim their past in the face of that past's inevitable otherness. It can also deal with the way in which literature in colonizing countries

By contrast, Slemon (1995:101) argues that colonialism comes into existence within the concept of imperialism, “a concept that is itself predicated within large theories of global politics and which changes radically according to the specifics of those larger theories.” Imperialism, according to Young (2001:26-27), operates as a policy of State, driven by the pretentious projects of power within and beyond national boundaries. On the one hand, imperialism is disposed to analysis as a concept grounded in exploitation, partnership and assimilation (Nkrumah 1973:1). On the other hand, colonialism is analyzed primarily as a practice by which colonial rule binds her colonies to herself, with a “primary object of promoting her economic advantages” (Nkrumah 1973:2). It is characterized by mechanisms involving power through direct conquest or through political and economic influence that effectively create a form of domination by one nation over another. According to Moore (2001:182), many critics prefer the term “postcolonial” without a hyphen because it is less “suggestive of (imagined) chronological or ideological supersession”. What is evident here is that, despite the past of colonialism in the exchange for “flag independence” (Slemon 1995:102) that brought no economic independence, nor reparation for that past, imperialism as a concept and colonialism

According to Young (2001:1-11, 57-69), postcolonial critique is concerned with the history of colonialism “only to the extent that history has determined the configurations and power structures of the present.” Postcolonial critique also recognises anti-colonial movements as the source and inspiration of its politics. Postcolonial critique can be defined as a dialectical discourse which broadly marks the historical facts of decolonisation. It allows people emerging from socio-political and economic domination to reclaim their sovereignty; it gives them a negotiating space for equity. A number of theorists share this view, including Kenyatta (1968:36); Bhabha (1994); Spivak (1988:197-221); Ashcroft et al (1989;1995); Sugirtharajah (1996:1-5); Dube (1996); Segovia (2000:11-34) and Punt (2001, 2003). However, anti-colonial movements are not uniform. Many of them are contextually confined, although drawn together, and their heterogeneous principles form a postcolonial theory. Moreover, disciplines do overlap and contradictions are inescapable. This is particularly true when postcolonial theory draws more of its material from other disciplines and activities in agiven context (cf Segovia 1999:111-113; Sugirtharajah