Post Colonial Theory Summary

POST COLONIAL THEORY – AN INTRODUCTION

The name itself is enough to display or explain the word . ”Post colonial” ,which means after colonialisation or a period which came after the colonial period, thus making it pretty clear that the post colonial period had an great impact of the colonial period and thus the colonial period would be a much larger part of the post colonial period. Post colonial era exists since the middle of 20th century. This was the time when many countries got their freedom and transformed from colonies to countries. This action could be defined as “decolonisation”. In this process, while the natives had to work upon practicing their independence the colonial powers had to accept the loss of power. This was not an easy

Thus including the national scenario with its social and political aspects included in it. Thus literature has worked both ways, it has always portrayed the society through itself, secondly it has been an mirror for the society so as to show the society what it is.

The post colonial literature thus being highly influenced by the happenings of the respective period showcased the entire society to be in a conflicting situation due to the omnipresence of the conflicting perspective in the society, as the society was divided into two perspectives, one being of the colonizers while the other one of the colonized thus is easily understood why both had an conflict in their respective perspectives.

While both the colonizers and the colonized had different perspectives they talked or discussed or to be more precise argued upon only one topic and that was the colonial period, it’s outcomes, the sufferings and

The complete poem describes horrible scenes of mass killing by the colonizers of the native of Kenya due to mau mau rebellion, lines from the poem are an evidence to it- “Batten upon the bloodstreams of the veldt. Corpses are scattered through a paradise”. These lines suggest heavy bloodshed and struggle of the native people to achieve freedom. Then lines like “i who am poisoned with the blood of both/where shall i turn divided to vein?” and “how choose between this Africa and the English tongue i love” suggests Derek walcott’s love for English language and his native land but hatred towards colonizers and their ideologies, hybridity due to which he suffers an split identity. The hybridity which is present in walcott’s life also is displayed in his poems. Basically the poem describes the dilemma, suffering, pain, agony, injustice, cruelty and difficulties faced by people in the postcolonial era, and the poet being one of them. Thus the poem tells us about the struggle of native people to find an