Postcolonialism: History, Theory, and Key Thinkers
This paper provides a concise overview of postcolonialism as a field of literary criticism, political orientation, and cultural philosophy. It traces the origins of postcolonial theory through foundational thinkers including Edward Said, whose concept of Orientalism exposed how the West constructed and controlled representations of "the Other," and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, whose influential essay on the subaltern illuminated the silencing of colonized women. The paper also examines Michel Foucault's influence on postcolonial thought, particularly his understanding of power as relational rather than absolute. Together, these frameworks reveal how colonialism distorted cultures, suppressed voices, and shaped world history from a Eurocentric perspective.
- Introduction to Postcolonialism: Definition and scope of postcolonial studies
- Edward Said and Orientalism: Said's critique of Western representations of the Orient
- Gayatri Spivak and the Subaltern: Spivak on colonized women's silenced voices
- Foucault's Influence and Power Dynamics: Foucault's relational power theory applied to colonialism
- The Broader Goals of Postcolonial Theory: Postcolonialism's mission beyond ethnic or multicultural studies
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper integrates direct quotations from primary and secondary sources effectively, allowing theorists to speak in their own words while the author provides framing and analysis around each quotation.
- The discussion of Spivak's widow-sacrifice argument is particularly strong, showing genuine analytical engagement by working through the logical bind faced by colonized women rather than simply summarizing the scholar's position.
- The paper maintains a clear throughline, connecting each thinker's contribution to the broader project of postcolonial criticism before synthesizing them in the conclusion.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates effective use of the "quote–explain–analyze" technique. Rather than dropping quotations without context, the author consistently follows each with an explanation of its significance and connects it to the paper's central argument about the power dynamics inherent in colonial discourse. This technique is especially visible in the treatment of Said's Orientalism and Spivak's subaltern essay.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad definition of postcolonialism, then narrows progressively through individual theorists: Said, Spivak, and Foucault. Each section builds on the previous, moving from representation (Said) to voice and gender (Spivak) to underlying power theory (Foucault). The conclusion zooms back out to restate the field's broader critical mission, giving the essay a clear funnel-then-widen structure.
Introduction to Postcolonialism
Postcolonialism is at once a political orientation, a theory of literary criticism, and a philosophy. Broadly defined, it is "a study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. It is concerned with both how European nations conquered and controlled 'Third World' cultures and how these groups have since responded to and resisted those encroachments" ("Key terms in post-colonial theory"). Postcolonial studies add an additional dimension to the realm of cultural studies, focusing on how European perspectives have misappropriated and distorted the cultures of those whom they conquered. "Post-colonial critics are concerned with literature produced by colonial powers and works produced by those who were or are colonized. Post-colonial theory looks at issues of power, economics, politics, religion, and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial hegemony — that is, western colonizers controlling the colonized" ("Postcolonial criticism," The Owl at Purdue).
Edward Said and Orientalism
One of the earliest and most prominent exponents of postcolonial theory was Edward Said, whose analysis of how the West viewed "the Orient" has shaped much of postcolonial theory since the publication of his famous book Orientalism. "The Orient signifies a system of representations framed by political forces that brought the Orient into Western learning, Western consciousness, and Western empire. The Orient exists for the West, and is constructed by and in relation to the West. It is a mirror image of what is inferior and alien ('Other') to the West" ("Orientalism," Postcolonial Studies @ Emory). The Orient is constructed as passive, feminine, and untrustworthy, in contrast to the active, masculine, and democratic West. Much like a woman, the Orient is seen as "deserving" of colonization. Post-colonialism attempts to unmask such long-standing assumptions.
Given that self-proclaimed Orientalists held sway in public discourse for so long, the need for post-colonial thinkers to re-appropriate and reclaim their cultures is particularly acute. "This idea of knowledge as power is present throughout Said's critique. By knowing the Orient, the West came to own it. The Orient became the studied, the seen, the observed, the object; Orientalist scholars were the students, the seers, the observers, the subject" ("Orientalism," Postcolonial Studies @ Emory).
Gayatri Spivak and the Subaltern
Another notable literary critic in the field of postcolonial literature is Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who wrote a highly influential 1985 article titled "Can the Subaltern Speak? Speculations on Widow Sacrifice." "In it, she describes the circumstances surrounding the suicide of a young Bengali woman that indicates a failed attempt at self-representation. Because her attempt at 'speaking' outside normal patriarchal channels was not understood or supported, Spivak concluded that 'the subaltern cannot speak'" ("Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty," Postcolonial Studies @ Emory).
In her article, Spivak points out how the practice of widow sacrifice on the husband's funeral pyre was often used by colonists to criticize Hindu culture as barbaric and primitive. Exponents of Indian nationalism defended the practice, but they were often male. Thus the woman within the equation could not speak: to declare the practice barbaric and to refuse it was to endorse the colonizers' perspective. However, to embrace the practice as a part of Indian culture was to literally embrace her own death and a highly patriarchal worldview that did not serve her. Colonialism thereby negated the possibility of constructive debate within the culture and reinforced oppression rather than liberating women. Neither the colonizers nor Indian nationalists truly had the interests and humanity of the woman at the forefront of their minds.
"Her extremely nuanced argument, admittedly confounded by her sometimes opaque style, led some incautious readers to accuse her of phallocentric complicity, of not recognizing or even not letting the subaltern speak" ("Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty," Postcolonial Studies @ Emory). Spivak does not believe it is wrong for oppressed women to try to speak and cry out in a colonized India; rather, she stresses how the methods of dialogue available to them were impossible to use to truly articulate their interests.
Works Cited
Brewton, Vince. "Literary theory." The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 27 Jul 2014. http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H7
"Key terms in post-colonial theory."
"Orientalism." Postcolonial Studies @ Emory. 27 Jul 2014.
"Postcolonial criticism." The Owl at Purdue. 2014. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/10/
"Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty." Postcolonial Studies @ Emory. 27 Jul 2014.
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