Post-colonialism

Colonialism and its aftermath have profoundly impacted world literature, giving rise to post-colonial studies. Authors such as Fayeza Hasanat, Chinua Achebe, and Anita Desai have explored themes of identity, resistance, and the legacies of colonialism, contributing to a richer, more diverse literary world.

Colonialism is a nation extending control over another nation or territory. Typically, people from the colonizing country settle in the nation or territory, altering its society, political structure, culture, arts. The colonizing country typically exploits the resources and labor of the colonized region.

Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries, originating from all continents except Antarctica beginning in the late 1980s and continuing to today. Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the decolonization of a country, especially questions relating to the political and cultural independence of formerly subjugated people, and themes such as racialism and colonialism. A range of literary theory has evolved around the subject. It addresses the role of literature in perpetuating and challenging what postcolonial critic Edward Said refers to as cultural imperialism.

Cultural imperialism (also cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word “imperialism” describes practices in which a country engages culture (language, tradition, and ritual, politics, economics) to create and maintain unequal social and economic relationships among social groups. Cultural imperialism often uses wealth, media power and violence to implement the system of cultural hegemony, or dominance in a culturally diverse society by by a ruling class, that legitimizes imperialism. Cultural imperialism may take various forms, including an attitude, a formal policy, or military action, as each of these reinforces the empire’s cultural hegemony. 

Migrant literature and postcolonial literature show some considerable overlap. However, not all migration takes place in a colonial setting, and not all postcolonial literature deals with migration. A question of current debate is the extent to which postcolonial theory also speaks to migration literature in non-colonial settings.

Adapted from “Postcolonial Literature” and “Cultural Imperialism” by Wikipedia which is licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Fayeza Hasanat

Fayeza Hasanat is a Bangladeshi American literary scholar whose expertise includes translation studies, gender studies, postcolonial literature and literature of the South Asian diaspora. She teaches at the University of Central Florida. Her first collection of short stories was published in 2018; “When Our Fathers Die” is from that collection, entitled The Bird Catcher and Other Stories.

Read “When Our Fathers Die“

Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was a renowned Nigerian writer and critic, born on November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, a large village in Nigeria. His groundbreaking novel, Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, is often considered a seminal work in African literature, as it captures the clash between native African culture and the invasive forces of European colonialism. Achebe’s writing not only critiques the social injustices and racial stereotypes propagated by colonialism but also eloquently articulates the complexities of African identity and resistance. Throughout his career, Achebe was a vocal advocate for social justice, equality, and the preservation of African cultures. He argued fervently against the corruption and ineptitude that plagued post-colonial governance in Africa and emphasized the importance of storytelling as a means of cultural preservation and resistance. His works challenge the Western narrative of African history and insist on the recognition of African voices and perspectives. Achebe’s activism extended beyond his writings. He held several academic positions in Nigeria and the United States, using these platforms to promote African arts, critique the degradation of African environments and societies, and advocate for social and political reform. His efforts earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Man Booker International Prize in 2007 for his lifetime achievement in fiction. Chinua Achebe passed away on March 21, 2013, but his legacy endures, inspiring new generations to appreciate and critique the interwoven complexities of culture, history, and identity.

Chinua Achebe’s “The Sacrificial Egg” was published The Atlantic.

Anita Desai

Born in British India, Anita Desai’s parents were Dhiren Mazumdar, an Indian businessman, and Antoinette Nim, a German. She spoke German and Hindi at home and learned English at school. Despite her parents’ anti-British sentiments, Desai attended Dehli’s Queen Mary’s Higher Secondary School, a school run by British Catholic nuns. She then attended Miranda House, a women’s college of Dehli University. She majored in English literature and published her first short story while still a student.

After she graduated in 1957, Desai worked at the German Cultural Institute where she met Ashuin Desai, whom she married. She moved with him to various places, including Mumbai and Chandigarh, before they settled in Prune. She also continued her writing, publishing her first novel, Cry, the Peacock, in 1963. She followed this with short story collections and novels addressing postcolonial issues in India and women’s experience in the domestic realm within the larger social and cultural context of middle class, urban India. Her novel In Custody (1984) was short-listed for the Booker Prize and made into a film.

Desai gained recognition as a writer of profound psychological insight on the displaced and the alienated who often face prejudice and who often suffer a fractured sense of identity. Her style is characterized by its precision and careful crafting. She has won such important literary prizes as the Indian National Academy of Letters Award and the Benson Medal from London’s Royal Society of Literature. She has taught at various prestigious universities around the world, and is professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Adapted from “Anita Desai” by Bonnie J. Robinson on LibreTexts is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Read “The Domestic Maid” by Anita Desai.

Ideas for Writing

Legacies of Colonialism: Life After Occupation

Objective: Students will understand the repercussions of colonialism and explore its impact on the literature of Fayeza Hasanat, Chinua Achebe, and/or Anita Desai.

Instructions: Read “When Our Fathers Die,” “The Sacrificial Egg,” and “The Domestic Maid” as well as, possibly, other pieces by Hasanat, Achebe, and Desai or other post-colonial writers, like Amitav Ghosh, Rohinton Mistry, Meena Alexander, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Tayeb Salih, Toni Morrison, J.M. Coetzee, Isabel Allende, and Mario Vargas Llosa.

Then research the cultural impacts of colonialism in the regions or countries about which their stories have been written.

Finally, develop an essay in which you identify how the writer or writers illustrate the impact of colonialism as it manifests in their writing.