Postcolonial Approaches to Literature

The area of postcolonial studies is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of cultural studies today. Despite a large number of books dedicated to explorations of postcolonial studies as a theory and its historicity there have been few that could aid the beginner student in attempting to embark on a literary study of one’s own. Compiled to address the needs of understanding postcolonial studies more than mere theory this volume addresses literary texts in light of theoretical traditions of postcolonialism. The chapters, while reviewing particular authors and literary works from a large breadth of national origins, also present innovative applications of not only familiar theories but also less known ones. The contexts of gender, nationalism, identity, diaspora, colonial land ownership, magic realism, myth, history, religion and marginalisation are presented with the scaffolding of theoretical devices of Fanon, Said, Spivak and Bhabha among several others. The authors discussed, from nations including India, Pakistan, Australia and Nigeria, help examine the vast wealth of postcolonial literary disciplines. The essays in this compilation demonstrate how the various strands of postcolonial theory can be applied to texts, besides inviting readers to develop their own postcolonial theoretical interpretations of texts.