Postcolonialism And The Rise of Postcolonial Literature

Postcolonialism is a multidisciplinary discipline that focuses on the enduring effects of contemporary European colonization and has its roots in cultural and literary studies. The creation of colonial knowledge, discourse, and representation of colonized peoples, and the development of collective identities before, during, and after decolonization, are major concerns in postcolonial literature.

Postcolonial studies have grown in popularity since the 1970s. However, one of the significant components of Postcolonial studies is postcolonial literature. Postcolonial literature is generally used to describe works of literature created after imperial rule was removed from native people’s lands. There is a lot to know about Postcolonial studies and postcolonial literature which we are going to discuss with you. Here in this blog of All Assignment Help, you will know about the rise of Postcolonialism and the rise of postcolonial literature.

So, let’s get started!

What is Postcolonialism?

Postcolonialism is the study of the effects of imperialism on nations as a result of the invasion and settlement of European nations. It demonstrates how colonial laws in many regions of the world affected local populations, opening one of the most significant chapters in human history.

The traits of postcolonialism represent a substantial shift in society necessary to end colonialism. Additionally, it shows the methods used by colonial authorities to dominate the local or subordinate population. Furthermore, it also revealed how new empires were emerging and spreading throughout the globe, giving rise to an endless desire for dominance and strength. The period of human history that is being studied spans from the fifteenth to the twentieth century.

We can better comprehend colonial life if we approach postcolonial studies from an anthropological perspective. From a more in-depth perspective, it also leads to the analysis of the political power and social ties that colonialism and neocolonialism depend on. It encompasses both the colonizer and the colonized. However, the study of postcolonialism encompasses through different academic subjects such as history, anthropology, political science, sociology, human geography, and philosophy. You might face issues while understanding the relevance of these subjects to postcolonialism. In such a case, you can get online assignment help from the relevant subject expert for help.

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What Exactly Is Postcolonial Literature?

Postcolonial literature covers works from formerly colonial states as well as writings regarding the practice and effects of colonialism as well as the postcolonial experiences of colonized people.

Postcolonial literature is rather controversial as the beginning and conclusion of colonial periods can be difficult to determine. These literary pieces deal with enduring colonial values. Writers comment on the condition of the nation or its inhabitants before, during, or after colonialism.

While studying postcolonial literature, you will encounter the following topics:

• Racism
• Freedom/Independence
• The Future
• Change/Transformation
• Colonialism
• Oppression
• Nationalism
• Identity

Rise of Postcolonial Literature

We can pinpoint a number of elements that encouraged the rise of postcolonial literature, including:

• The introduction of English education enabled the native people to become sufficiently fluent in English so that they could read, write, and speak it.
• Writing fictional and non-fictional descriptions of life under colonial rule was encouraged by pro-independence groups against colonial rulers, sometimes as a form of anti-colonial resistance.
• Postcolonial authors were encouraged to pursue worldwide renown for their artistic endeavors in English by globalization and the free flow of commodities between nations.
• Furthermore, writers from postcolonial origins broke away from their native and regional storytelling traditions by embracing the vocabulary and narrative structures of the West. This is perceived as both a result of cultural disturbance and an attempt to co-opt the language of the colonial power to communicate native thoughts and stories.

Understanding the rise of postcolonial literature is essential for students. You also might be asked to write an essay on postcolonial literature as well. However, it is not easy to write a comprehensive essay on your own. Hence, we suggest you take online literature essay help from expert essay writers.

Examples of Postcolonial Literature

A large number of new works are released each year to add to the growing body of postcolonial literature. Here are a few examples of postcolonial literature.

Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah

Ayi Kwei Armah, an African writer, published his book Two Thousand Seasons in 1973. It tells the tale of the last 2000 seasons in African history through a single narrative plot. It focuses on issues such as slavery, the complicity of African leaders, the ongoing persecution of Africans, African culture, and more. The book has received several reviews, including one from Chinua Achebe in 1987 in which he deemed it “unacceptable on the basis of fact, and on the basis of art.”

We Are Going by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

“We Are Going,” by Noonuccal is the collection of poems with the most recognisable title. It was an Aboriginal Australian woman’s first poetry collection to be published. It draws attention to the difficulties faced by Aboriginal Australians during British colonization. The poem is offered from the perspective of the duel, alternating viewpoints emphasizing the loss of culture, territory, and history.

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Influential Postcolonial Theorists And Their Works

To know the growing focus on postcolonial fiction, a basic knowledge of postcolonial theory is essential. Keep in mind, that this is a concise history and is not inclusive in any way! If you are willing to learn postcolonial theory, you can start with some authors whom we will discuss before going to the topic of our search.

Frantz Fanon

Fanon was the first theorist who invented postcolonial studies. He was the first one who thought about the aftermath of colonialism. Fanon was the first writer who portrayed his reluctance to colonialism. He gave the proposal to overcome the ill effects of Colonialism. There is a need to begin the process of decolonization.

Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth was published in French in 1961. While coming out of the Algerian conflict for independence from France, the text examined the potential of anti-colonial violence in this area and other areas. Fanon was a Martinique-born intellectual. Moreover, he was also a popular member of the Algerian National Liberation Front, and his writing works inspired many people around the world in the struggle against oppression and racially motivated violence. If you especially want to read about Fanon as a collector, then you can look for the earlier versions of Fanon’s work. Grove Press printed the first American version of The Wretched of the Earth in 1963, which was translated by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Edward Said

By 1979, Edward Said wrote Orientalism, which was a lesson that examined the relationship between those people in the West and the relationship between “others” in the East. This work by Said has become an un-detachable part of postcolonial discourse, and it has helped expand the area in the past few decades. Edward Said was a Palestinian-American scholar, who received education at Columbia University for the majority of his academic career.

Homi K. Bhabha

In The Location of Culture (1994), the theorist Homi K. Bhabha claimed that the human world is seen by connecting with different and unequal cultures, instead of in the form of an integral human world, the belief in the existence of fictional people and places endures faith – “Christendom” and “The Islamic World” “The First World”, “The Second World”, and “The Third World”. To combat such sociological and linguistic deficiencies, the Postcolonial Hybrid inaugurates the philosophical value of intellectual spaces, in which vagueness retracts certainty and legitimacy. Apart from this, hybridism is a philosophical situation that challenges the ethical soundness of imperialism.

Dipesh Chakraborty

In Provincializing Europe (2000) by Dipesh Chakraborty, he portrayed the account of the Indian struggle for independence. In addition, he also countered with Eurocentric, Western learnings about non-Western or Oriental people and cultures associated with Orientals, by giving a proposal that Western Europe was culturally associated and equal to other cultures.

Moreover, there are more such postcolonial theorists who have contributed their work to the rise of postcolonial literature. While studying postcolonialism, you will go through numerous aspects related to it. Additionally, you also need to write detailed assignments for which you need to create a lesson plan assignment as well. You can take help from the internet where you will find a lot of sources and information for your assignment.

Afro-American Postcolonial Literature

Afro-American literature is a type of literature that has been written by African writers living in the US. It was started by the works of writers like Phillis Wheatley. In the beginning, the literature was filled with spiritual narratives but later the theme changed to slave narratives. The slave narrative genre is famous for the writers who have escaped from slavery in Africa by White men. You will find this type of narration dark and impactful. Afro-American writers have described their journey, their struggle for freedom, racism, slavery, and atrocities done by Europeans over them. Afro-American writers have been rewarded with the highest awards like the Nobel Prize to Toni Morrison.

A style of African-American literature developed in the middle of the 19th century is a slave story popularly known as Slave Narratives, which was written by fugitive slaves after their escape from South Africa. They wrote about their lives in South Africa when they were slaves. They wanted to portray the cruelty and inhuman nature of Europeans and how blacks were kept as slaves and also wanted to show the decline of humanity in South Africa due to white colonizers.

Famous African Postcolonial Literature Writers

While the area of postcolonial study began to take shape at the beginning of the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s, many fiction writers and poets had started working on publishing work in the decades after the Second World War.

Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was one of the most famous names when one talks about African literature. His novels mostly revolve around the tribal stories of Africa and how colonial power exploited the natives.

One of the most important postcolonial novels to come into view during this period was Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe. This novel now captures many Anglo-Saxon fiction courses. This is not surprising considering its widespread popularity and importance since its first publication. Published in the late 1950s, Achebe wrote the book in Nigeria at the end of the British Colonial period, but an old moment was shown in Nigerian history.

Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer was another popular name in African literature. She was born in Springs South Africa. Her parents were Jewish. She started writing at the age of, and her first novel was published at the age of 15.  

However, before Achebe published Things Fall Apart, Nadine Gordimer had already published a book and various short story collections and was about to publish her second novel. Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer, and she was of Eastern European origin, Gordimer never experienced violence or discrimination on the basis of race or color. Racial discrimination and Violence which was originated from decolonization and apartheid, but she still spent his career advocating equal rights in his country.

Some of her most notable works that belong to North colonial politics and the harsh streams of apartheid include Conservationists (1974), Burger’s Daughter (1979), and July’s People (1981). A signed copy of one of Gordimer’s works will make a great version of any postcolonial literature collection.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

She was born in Nigeria in the year 1977. She is from the new generation of African writers. Most of the works are Characters with the club the Nigerian background and socio-political events in her stories. Her novel Purple Hibiscus is a perfect example of a bildungsroman. This novel depicts the life and journey of Kambili and her family during the time when the military took over. Some other most famous works by Adichie are Half of a Yellow Sun, The Shivering, and You in America.

Moreover, her works have become famous in the recent past, and she has won many awards for her literary works including the Booker Prize and Orange Prize. 

Also Read: British Literature and Its Division Into Various Periods

Summing Up!

Postcolonialism is a historical time period that represents the after-effects of Western colonial rule over the East. The transition that came right after the end of colonial rule was drastic for all the countries that were under the European empire earlier. The postcolonial period led to the loss of identity, a sense of nationalism, and the development of a new form of literature which was termed postcolonial literature. Many writers came up with their stories and life experiences of the time when White rulers exploited them. Postcolonial literature is filled with subjects like subordination, slave narratives, violence, and brutalities done by Occident over Orientals in the name of uplifting the Orients.

If you are interested in studying more about postcolonialism, you can consider taking an online course. There are numerous platforms available that offer courses related to this particular discipline. Additionally, you will also find a number of online class help services where you can pay someone to take your online class as well to get additional help with your course so that you can pass it with flying grades.

FAQs

Q: What does postcolonial literature aim to accomplish? A: The impact of colonialism and the decolonization of nations and communities are discussed in postcolonial literature. These books, including novels, poetry, short tales, and others, concentrate on vast populations or on distinct human histories.

Q: Why is postcolonial literature significant? A: Postcolonial literature is immensely significant around the globe. Readers get an important understanding of the lives, traditions, and struggles of diverse marginalized people across the world by reading and analyzing these literary works, whether they are poems or novels. These novels highlight viewpoints that help readers comprehend colonialism’s global effects.