Colonialism Postcolonialism
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SECOND EDITION Colonialism/Postcolonialism is both a crystal-clear and authoritative introduction to the field and a cogently-argued defence of the field’s radical potential. It’s exactly the sort of book teachers want their stu- dents to read. Peter Hulme, Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex Loomba is a keen and canny critic of ever-shifting geopolitical reali- ties, and Colonialism/Postcolonialism remains a primer for the aca- demic and common reader alike. Antoinette Burton, Department of History, University of Illinois It is rare to come across a book that can engage both student and specialist. Loomba simultaneously maps a field and contributes provocatively to key debates within it. Situated comparatively across disciplines and cultural contexts, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in postcolonial studies. Priyamvada Gopal, Faculty of English, Cambridge University Colonialism/Postcolonialism moves adroitly between the general and the particular, the conceptual and the contextual, the local and the global, and between texts and material processes. Distrustful of established and self-perpetuating assumptions, foci and canonical texts which threaten to fossilize postcolonial studies as a discipline, Loomba’s magisterial study raises many crucial issues pertaining to social structure and identity; engaging with different modes of theory and social explanation in the process. There is no doubt that this book remains the best general introduction to the field. Kelwyn Sole, English Department, University of Cape Town Lucid and incisive this is a wonderful introduction to the contentious yet vibrant field of post-colonial studies. With consummate ease Loomba maps the field, unravels the many strands of the debate and provides a considered critique. She shows how post colonial theory forces us to reconsider some of our founding ideas, reorient our frames of enquiry, and rethink the very notion of colonialism. A must-read for everyone. Neeladri Bhattacharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India FIRST EDITION Ania Loomba’s is clearly the best exposition on [postcolonialism] so far. … Loomba’s book becomes the first worthwhile contribution to the dime-a-dozen summaries of the subject. Interventions Ania Loomba … writes with clarity, patiently explains, provides sum- maries of contrary opinion, and shows how the topics and approaches that have become part of postcolonial studies have their origins … in other areas. World Literature Today Loomba’s book is a valuable help for anyone interested in getting a panoramic view of changes in power structures that take place at a global level, as mankind is poised to enter a new millennium. Pragmatics Loomba’s text operates well both as a healthy sceptical introduction to the intellectual and historical context of the field and as a useful teaching textbook. Textual Practice Ania Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism is probably one of the most illustratively lucid, fair-minded and in parts cogent discussions of the key issues involved in postcolonial textual studies to have appeared to date. Loomba’s discerning discussion of debates around postcolonial nationalism may well prove indispensable for many who are new to this field. Wasafiri COLONIALISM/POSTCOLONIALISM Colonialism/Postcolonialism is a remarkably comprehensive yet accessible guide to the historical and theoretical dimensions of colonial and post- colonial studies. Ania Loomba deftly introduces and examines: • key features of the ideologies and history of colonialism • the relationship of colonial discourse to literature • challenges to colonialism, including anticolonial discourses • recent developments in postcolonial theories and histories • issues of sexuality and colonialism, and the intersection of feminist and postcolonial thought • debates about globalisation and postcolonialism Recommended on courses across the academic disciplines and around the world, Colonialism/Postcolonialism has for some years been accepted as the essential introduction to a vibrant and politically charged area of literary and cultural study. With new coverage of emerging debates around glob- alisation, this second edition will continue to serve as the ideal guide for students new to colonial discourse theory, postcolonial studies or post- colonial theory as well as a reference for advanced students and teachers. Ania Loomba is Catherine Bryson Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. Her recent publications include Shakespeare, Race and Colonialism (2002) and Postcolonial Studies and Beyond (2005; co-edited with Suvir Kaul, Antoinette Burton, Matti Bunzl and Jed Esty). She has published widely on Shakespeare, early modern literature and culture, postcolonial studies, contemporary India and feminist theory. THE NEW CRITICAL IDIOM SERIES EDITOR: JOHN DRAKAKIS, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING The New Critical Idiom is an invaluable series of introductory guides to today’s critical terminology. Each book: • provides a handy, explanatory guide to the use (and abuse) of the term • offers an original and distinctive overview by a leading literary and cultural critic • relates the term to the larger field of cultural representation With a strong emphasis on clarity, lively debate and the widest possible breadth of examples, The New Critical Idiom is an indispensable approach to key topics in literary studies. Also available in this series: The Author by Andrew Bennett Interdisciplinarity by Joe Moran Autobiography by Linda Anderson Intertextuality by Graham Allen Class by Gary Day Irony by Claire Colebrook Colonialism/Postcolonialism – Literature by Peter Widdowson Second edition Magic(al) Realism by Ania Loomba by Maggie Ann Bowers Comedy by Andrew Stott Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form Crime Fiction by John Scaggs by Philip Hobsbaum Culture/Metaculture Modernism by Peter Childs by Francis Mulhern Myth by Laurence Coupe Difference by Mark Currie Narrative by Paul Cobley Discourse by Sara Mills Parody by Simon Dentith Drama / Theatre / Performance Pastoral by Terry Gifford by Simon Shepherd and Mick Wallis The Postmodern Dramatic Monologue by Simon Malpas by Glennis Byron Realism by Pam Morris Ecocriticism by Greg Garrard Romance by Barbara Fuchs Genders Romanticism by Aidan Day by David Glover and Cora Kaplan Science Fiction by Adam Roberts Genre by John Frow Sexuality by Joseph Bristow Gothic by Fred Botting Stylistics by Richard Bradford Historicism by Paul Hamilton Subjectivity by Donald E. Hall Humanism by Tony Davies The Unconscious Ideology by David Hawkes by Antony Easthope COLONIALISM/ POSTCOLONIALISM Second Edition Ania Loomba First edition published 1998 by Routledge Second edition published 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 1998, 2005 Ania Loomba Typeset in Garamond and Scala Sans by Taylor & Francis Books Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Loomba, Ania. Colonialism-postcolonialism / by Ania Loomba.-- 2nd ed. p. cm. -- (The new critical idiom) ISBN 0-415-35063-8 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-415-35064-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-203-19491-8 (e-book) 1. Postcolonialism. I. Title. II. Series. JV51.L66 2005 325'.3--dc22 2005008207 ISBN 0–415–35063–8 (hbk) ISBN 0–415–35064–6 (pbk) For Suvir and for Tariq CONTENTS SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi Introduction 1 1 Situating Colonial and Postcolonial Studies 7 Defining the Terms: Colonialism, Imperialism, Neo-Colonialism, Postcolonialism 7 From Colonialism to Colonial Discourse 22 Colonial Discourse 42 Colonialism and Knowledge 53 Colonialism and Literature 62 Textuality, Discourse and Material Processes 82 2 Colonial and Postcolonial Identities 91 Constructing Racial and Cultural Difference 91 Race, Class and Colonialism 107 Psychoanalysis and Colonial Subjects 115 Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Discourse 128 Hybridity 145 3 Challenging Colonialism 154 Nationalisms and Pan-Nationalisms 154 Feminism, Nationalism and Postcolonialism 180 Can the Subaltern Speak? 192 Post-Modernism and Postcolonial Studies 204 Conclusion: Globalisation and the Future of Postcolonial Studies 213 NOTES 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY 231 INDEX 251 SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE The New Critical Idiom is a series of introductory books which seeks to extend the lexicon of literary terms, in order to address the radical changes which have taken place in the study of literature during the last decades of the twentieth century. The aim is to provide clear, well-illus- trated accounts of the full range of terminology currently in use, and to evolve histories of its changing usage. The current state of the discipline of literary studies is one where there is considerable debate concerning basic questions of terminology. This involves, among other things, the boundaries which distinguish the literary from the non-literary; the position of literature within the larger sphere of