Post-colonialism

The postcolonialism is current of thought whose principal bases are located in the work of Edward Saïd, the Orientalisme published in 1978. As a literary theory, it provides critical tools making it possible to analyze the writings produced by the authors resulting from the countries which have a history of colonization. The latter include mainly the countries belonging to the old empires colonial French, British, Spanish and Portuguese. The principal concerned ones are thus the countries of Africa, the India, the the Caribbean and the countries of South America. Certain researchers consider that the works produced with the Canada, in New Zealand and in Australia can also be described as postcoloniales, although these countries acquired their indépendence a long time before the others. The analysis can also relate to works having been written and published at the time of the colonial period by showing this situation of constraint up to what point is represented in this particular literature.

The thought postcoloniale

The theory postcoloniale is in fact mainly founded around the development of the theories of the colonial speech. These last attack with the modes of perception and the representations of which colonized were the object. Frantz Fanon and Edward Saïd is two of the principal figures which updated the mechanisms of the colonial speech. One can add Albert Memmi to it.

Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon, psychologist born in Martinique in 1925, provided the bases of the thought postcoloniale. Its two most known books, white black Skin, masks (1952) and Damnés of the ground (1961) had a great influence on the development of the postcolonialism.

Main themes

Identity

Qualified works of postcoloniales are often interested in the problem of identity. Colonialism founded in the country colonized a system of values based on European ideas. In this system of thought the so-called superiority of the western world was represented. After the indépendence, the populations of the released countries had to give up this system of values by which they had been always defined as being lower. This is why, in order to reaffirm their origins and in front of the immense task to reforge an identity they often had recourse to nationalist ideas. This stage is visible in the literature of these countries. A second problem came to be added to that of the passage of colonialism to the indépendence: that of the migrations generated by the history of colonization or the accession with the capacity. The Caribbean, for example, underwent many invasions. The first inhabitants, of the people autochtones, were exterminated by the European invaders. The English seized then the power of the island, with the detriment of Spanish and practiced slavery. There after abolition, many Indians, Chinese and Portuguese came to work. The question of the identity for these immigrants as their descendants is difficult because they do not know their native soil, do not feel on their premises, but feel there foreign in the Caribbean also because their condition that of was oppressed, without being able, alive in a deplorable situation during decades. The literature of these countries thus deals with often problem of identity which these populations know and presents their means to cure it.

Principal authors

See also Category: Theorists of post-colonialism.

South Africa

Algeria

Australia

Canada

the Caribbean

Barbados

  • Kamau Brathwaite

Guadeloupe

Haiti

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Jamaica

  • Una Marson
Charlotte Legras

Martinique

Maurice

Trinity-and-Tobago

St Lucia

Ivory Coast

Egypt

  • Anouar Abdel Malek
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Guyana

  • Wilson Harris

India

Morocco

Nigeria

New Zealand

Senegal

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French bibliography

Lazarus, Neil (to dir.), To think the postcolonial - an introduction criticizes , transl. Mr. Groulez and CH. Jacquet, Paris, Editions Amsterdam, 2006.

Malela, Buata, " Postcolonial studies and sociology of the literature: two approaches complementary to the literary fact? " , COnTEXTES, Notes of reading, put on line on February 15th, 2007. URL: http://contextes.revues.org/document216.html. Consulted on September 11th, 2007

See too

Internal bond

External bonds

  • Afrology Website
  • Iraq postcolonial
  • File of the review '' Labyrinthe '' (2006): " Is it necessary to be postcolonial? "
  • File of the review Multitudes (2006): " Postcolonial and policy of the histoire"

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