Postcolonial Discourse and Changing Cultural Contexts: Theory and Criticism

(Hardback)

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Postcolonial discourse is fast becoming an area of rich academic debate. At the heart of coloniality and postcoloniality is the contested authority of empire and its impact upon previously colonized peoples and their indigenous cultures. This book examines various theories of colonization and decolonization, and how the ideas of a British empire create networks of discourses in contemporary postcolonial cultures. The various essays in this book address the question of empire by exploring such constructs as nation and modernity, third-world feminisms, identity politics, the status and roles of exiles, exilic subjectivities, border intellectuals, and the presence of a postcolonial body in today's classrooms. Topics discussed include African-American literature, the nature of postcolonial texts in first-world contexts, jazz, films, and TV as examples of postcolonial discourse, and the debates surrounding biculturalism and multiculturalism in New Zealand and Australia.

Reviews

.,."[S]hould appeal to a wide range of readers interested in developing their ideas on postcolonial concerns."-Canadian Literature
...[S]hould appeal to a wide range of readers interested in developing their ideas on postcolonial concerns.-Canadian Literature
The languages of the colonizing powers have been used by authors (e.g., Joyce, Naipul, Rushdie, Cesaire) from formerly colonized people to produce 'postcolonial' works that are changing, perhaps even transforming, the literature, film, and music of the imperial states...The introduction and 14 essays illustrate both the variety of major issues that postcolonialism successfully raises--about aesthetics, history, identity, diaspora, and globally distributed media...Recommended for large undergraduate and research collections in modern literature and culture.-Choice
..."Should appeal to a wide range of readers interested in developing their ideas on postcolonial concerns."-Canadian Literature
..."[S]hould appeal to a wide range of readers interested in developing their ideas on postcolonial concerns."-Canadian Literature
"The languages of the colonizing powers have been used by authors (e.g., Joyce, Naipul, Rushdie, Cesaire) from formerly colonized people to produce 'postcolonial' works that are changing, perhaps even transforming, the literature, film, and music of the imperial states...The introduction and 14 essays illustrate both the variety of major issues that postcolonialism successfully raises--about aesthetics, history, identity, diaspora, and globally distributed media...Recommended for large undergraduate and research collections in modern literature and culture."-Choice

Author Bio

Gita Rajan teaches Victorian Literature, Cultural Studies, and Postcolonial Discourse at Fairfield University. She has published widely in all three areas, and is currently working on the predicament of aesthetics in colonized cultures. She was an Andrew Mellon Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and has also held a fellowship at the Yale Center for British Art. Radhika Mohanram is a lecturer in the Department of Women's Studies at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, where she teaches gender and postcolonial theory. She has published widely on postcolonial theory and literature and is currently finishing a book on Edith Wharton and Diasporic subjectivity.