The Basic Tenets of Postcolonial Theory: Assumptions 1. Colonialism is a powerful, usually destructive historical force that shapes not only the political futures of the countries involved but also the identities of colonized and colonizing people. 2. Successful colonialism depends on a process of “Othering” the people colonized. That is, the colonized people are seen as dramatically different from and lesser than the colonizers. 3. Because of this, literature written in colonizing cultures often distorts the experiences and realities of colonized people. Literature written by colonized people often includes attempts to articulate more empowered identities and reclaim cultures in the face of colonization. Strategies 1. Search the text for references to colonization or to currently and formerly colonized people. In these references, how are the colonized people portrayed? How is the process of colonization portrayed? 2. Consider what images of “Others” or processes of “Othering” are present in the text. How are these “Others” portrayed? 3. Analyze how the text deals with cultural conflicts between the colonizing culture and the colonized or traditional culture. Here’s another definition of postcolonial theory: Postcolonial literary theory attempts to isolate perspectives in literature that grow out of colonial rule and the mindset it creates. On one hand, it can examine the ways in which a colonizing society imposes its worldview on the peoples it subjugates, making them “objects” of observation and denying them the power to define themselves. The colonizers are the “subjects,” those who take action and create realities out of the beliefs they hold to be important. On the other hand, it can focus on the experiences of colonized peoples and the disconnection they feel from their own identities. Postcolonialism also focuses on attempts of formerly colonized societies to reassert the identities they wish to claim for themselves, including national identities and cultural identities. When this lens is used to examine the products of colonization, it focuses on reclamation of self-identity. One thing that postcolonial theory shares with deconstruction is the attempt to isolate “false binaries,” categories that function by including dominant perspectives and excluding the rest, relegating outsiders to the status of “Other.” Colonized people are always seen as existing outside the prevailing system of beliefs or values. As the dominant ideology asserts itself, it creates a sense of normalcy around the ideas of the colonizers and a sense of the exotic, the inexplicable, and the strange around the customs and ideas of the “Other.”
