Which is the best description of postcolonial literature?
A discussion of postcolonial literature must first acknowledge the scope and complexity of the term “postcolonial.” Temporally, the term designates any national literature written after the nation gained independence from a colonizing power.
Why is exile a theme in postcolonial literature?
Figuratively, the theme of exile is expressed as alienation and represents a search for the self. Colonial conditions in the native land render native culture, language, and education inferior to the culture and governing systems of the colonizers.
How does postcolonial literature deal with cultural alienation?
In that quest, postcolonial literature explores issues of cultural alienation, and it struggles to express the specificity and particularities of indigenous cultures in languages that are not generally the original languages of the indigenous peoples but rather the languages of the former colonizers.
Who are the main characters in the postcolonial novel?
Although its main characters, Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom, never leave Dublin, the novel draws a modern parallel to Homer’s Odyssey (c. 725 b.c.e.; English translation, 1614), the epic story of a man’s alienation from his home, exile to strange lands, and search for a way back home (metaphorically, a search for the self).
Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries. It exists on all continents except Antarctica.
What does the prefix post mean in postcolonial literature?
Terminology. The significance of the prefix “post-” in “postcolonial” is a matter of contention. It is difficult to determine when colonialism begins and ends, and therefore to agree that “postcolonial” designates an era “after” colonialism has ended.
Who is an important theorist of postcolonial criticism?
He pioneered the branch of postcolonial criticism called colonial discourse analysis. Another important theorist of colonial discourse is Harvard University professor Homi K. Bhabha, (born 1949). He has developed a number of the field’s neologisms and key concepts, such as hybridity, third-space, mimicry, difference, and ambivalence.