PostcolonialCriticismByZhuWeihongPostcolonialCriticismDefinitionTheoreticalbasesRepresentativefiguresFurtherconsiderationsPostcolonialcriticisminpracticePostcolonialCriticism--Definition

“Thetermpost-colonialstudiesisappliedprimarilytoanalysesoftherelationshipofpowerandknowledge,politicsandaesthetics,incountriesthatinthenineteenthandearliertwentiethcenturieswereadministeredbyEngland,France,andtheUnitedStates,particularlytheIndiansubcontinent,northernandcentralAfrica,andsoutheastAsia.Post-colonialcriticismhasfocusedonboththeliteraturesdevelopedbythesenewnations,whichareoften[...]writteninEuropeanlanguages,andonEuropeanresponsestocolonialisminfamiliartextsbysuchauthorsasJosephConrad,E.M.Forster,GeorgeOrwell,andAlbertCamus.”

[DavidRichter,ed.,TheCriticalTradition:ClassicalTextsandContemporaryTrends,2nded.(Boston:BedfordBooks,1998)1216.]PostcolonialCriticism--Definition

“...[Postcolonialcriticism]bringsanawarenessofpowerrelationsbetweenWesternand‘ThirdWorld’cultures....Fromapostcolonialperspective,Westernvaluesandtraditionsofthoughtandliterature[...]areguiltyofarepressiveethnocentrism.ModelsofWesternthought[...]orofliterature[...]havedominatedworldculture,marginalizingorexcludingnon-Westerntraditionsandformsofculturelifeandexpression.”

[RamanSelden,etal.,eds.,AReader’sGuidetoContemporaryLiteraryTheory,4thed.(Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress;PearsonEducation,2004)221-22.]PostcolonialCriticism--Definition

“Postcolonialtheoryhasemergedfromaninterdisciplinaryareaofstudywhichisconcernedwiththehistorical,political,philosophical,social,culturalandaestheticstructuresofcolonialdominationandresistance;itreferstoawayofreading,theorizing,interpretingandinvestigatingcolonialoppressionanditslegacythatisinformedbyanoppositionalethicalagenda.”

[JulianWolfrey,ed.,IntroducingLiteraryTheories:AGuideandGlossary(Qingdao:ChinaOceanUP;Edinburgh:EdinburghUP,2006)200-01.]PostcolonialCriticism--DefinitionImperialism:referstothedomination,usuallybydirectterritorialacquisitionorbypoliticalandeconomiccontrolofonesocietybyanother.Colonialism:meansmore(comparedwithimperialism)directcontrolbysettlementandmilitarysubjugation.Decolonization:theprocessorstateofcolonieswinningindependencefromthecolonizingnations.Neocolonialism:newformofthecontroloftheformercoloniesbyimperialpowers,characterizedbydominationoftheireconomiesbylargetransnationalcorporationsandtheirdependenceontheexportofnationalresourcesandtheimportofmanufacturedgoods.Postcolonialism:acontinuationofdecolonizationcarriedonintheWesternacademy,oftentermedas“PostcolonialStudies”.PostcolonialCriticism

—TheoreticalBasesGramsci’sconceptof“hegemony”Foucault’stheoryofdiscourseaspowerDerrida’sdeconstructionisttheoryGramsciFoucaultDerridaAntonioGramsci(1891-1937)

--HegemonyTwowaysofcapitalistcontrol:coercionandassimilationHegemonyisculturalorintellectualdominationofoneschoolofthoughtorideologyoveranother(others).MichelFoucault(1926-1984)

--Discourseaspower*“Discourse”isasetof“rules”whichdeterminesthesortsofstatementsthatcanbemade,“asystemthatdefinesthepossibilityforknowledge,”orthecriteriafortruth.Thisdeterminationis“power”,whichproducesclassificationofknowledgeanddefinesourunderstanding.*“Thereisnopowerrelationwithoutthecorrelativeconstitutionofafieldofknowledge,noranyknowledgethatdoesnotpresupposeandconstituteatthesametimepowerrelations.”Knowledge/PowerKnowledge/PowerJacquesDerrida(1930-)

--DeconstructionistTheory*

Derrida’sdeconstructionofthebinaryoppositionsintheWesternmetaphysicaltradition*Westernmetaphysicsis“thewhitemythologywhichreassemblesandreflectsthecultureoftheWest:thewhitemantakeshisownmythology,Indo-Europeanmythology,hisownlogos,[...]astheuniversalformofthathemuststillwishtocallReason[...]”PostcolonialCriticism

--RepresentativefiguresFrantzOmarFanonEdwardSaidGayatriChakravortySpivakHomiBhabhaFanonSaidSpivakBhabhaFrantzFanon(1925-1961)EdwardSaid(1935-2003)*“Orientalism”dependsonaculturallyconstructeddistinctionbetween“theOccident”and“theOrient”.*TheOriental—irrational,depraved,childlike,differentTheOccidental—rational,virtuous,mature,normal*The“worldliness”ofthetextGayatriChakravortySpivak(1942-)“Canthesubalternspeak?”(1988)Subaltern—theloweststrataoftheurbansubproletariateoreverythingthathaslimitedornoaccesstotheculturalimperialismHomiBhabha(1949-)“mimicry”(模擬)“hybridity”(雜糅)FurtherConsiderationsPostcolonialisminthepluralformInternalColonial