Postcolonial Theory: Contexts, Practices, Politics

In what is the most comprehensive and accessible survey of the field to date, Bart Moore-Gilbert systematically examines the objections that have been raised against postcolonial theory, revealing the simplifications and exaggerations on both sides of the argument. He provides a detailed institutional history of the ways in which the relationship between culture and colonialism has been traditionally studied in the west, then traces the emergence of alternative forms of postcolonial analysis of such questions. He carefully presents the complex work of the three principal representatives of postcolonial theory, Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said and Homi Bhabha, and considers the criticisms they have faced, from an alleged Eurocentrism to an obfuscatory prose style. And he assesses the overlaps and differences between postcolonial theory and other forms of postcolonial criticism. Finally he considers the ways that postcolonial analysis may be connected with different histories of oppression, and looks at how such a heterogeneous theory can be reconciled with political questions of solidarity and alliance in the continuing struggle for cultural decolonization.