Essays on postcolonialism

Postcolonialism includes a vast array of writers and subjects. In fact, the very different geographical, historical, social, religious, and economic concerns of the different ex-colonies dictate a wide variety in the nature and subject of most postcolonial writing.

The word post-colonialism is a tool of examining, most often through literature, what happens when two cultures clash, based upon one of the culture’s assumptions of his superiority. Stephen Slemon cites it as “the need, in nations...

Literature of postcoloniality that constitutes nationhood emphasizes the modes of constructing, imagining and representing the nation, the role of locality, space, community, religion, spirituality, cultural identity and the politics of nativism in the making of a national identity.

In his essay discussing the nature and boundaries of postcolonialism, Simon During argues for a more inclusive definition, calling it “the need, in nations, or groups which have been victims of imperialism to achieve an identity uncontaminated by universalist or Eurocentric concepts or images.”