Post Colonialism

Where does it come from?

Post-colonial literature comes from Britain's former colonies in the Caribbean, Africa and India. Many post-colonial writers write in English and focus on common themes such as the struggle for independence, emigration, national identity, allegiance and childhood.

So what is Post Colonial Theory?

Post-colonial theory deals with the reading and writing of literature written in previously or currently colonised countries, or literature written in colonising countries which deals with colonisation or colonised peoples. It focuses particularly on the way in which literature by the colonising culture distorts the experience and realities, and inscribes the inferiority, of the colonised people on literature by colonised peoples which attempts to articulate their identity and reclaim their past in the face of that past's inevitable otherness. It can also deal with the way in which literature in colonising countries appropriates the language, images, scenes, traditions and so forth of colonised countries.

Why is this important to me?

We all love justice. Isn't it nice when everyone's treated fairly, when we each have the freedom to do what we want and pursue our own happiness? That's the world we all want to live in.

If you favour justice, equality and freedom, you'll appreciate postcolonial literature. It is literature born out of the struggle of colonised peoples for justice, equality and freedom. Postcolonial literature is the literature of the underdog. All those people who were brutalised and exploited for decades by European colonisers, finding their voices and standing up for themselves—that's what postcolonial literature is all about.

So if you're one for supporting the weak against the strong, the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter, hop onto the postcolonial literature train.

Watch this video for an understanding of how and why the world was decolonised. Thanks Hitler!