The primary concern of Postcolonial theory is European colonial rule and its political, economic, historical, and social impact on the world. It examine the ways in which colonizers subjugate people and deny them power to define themselves. Spivak describes herself as a “para-disciplinary, ethical philosopher”

1. MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO
POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND
THEIR WORK
by Group 2

2. POST COLONIAL THEROY INTRODUCTION + HOMI K BHABHA
• Presented by Wajiha Barjis
GAYATRI CHAKRAVORTY SPIVAK (major works)
• Presented by Syeda Joveria Tirmizi
CHINUA ACHEBE (major works)
• Presented by Kinza Mumtaz
WOLE SOYINKA’S (MAJOR WORKS)
• Presented by Rimsha Ashraf
EDWARD SAID & FRANTZ FANON
• Presented by Nazish Malik
GROUP 02

3. The primary concern of Postcolonial theory is
European colonial rule and its political,
economic, historical, and social impact on the
world.
It examine the ways in which colonizers
subjugate people and deny them power to
define themselves.
Spivak describes herself as a “para-disciplinary,
ethical philosopher”
Post colonial theory brief introduction
by WAJIHA BARJIS

4. The major theoretical works in postcolonial
theory includes
o The Wretched of the Earth (1961) by
Frantz Fanon
o Orientalism (1978) by Edward Said
o In Other Worlds (1987) by Gayatri Spivak
o The Empire Writes Back (1989) by Bill
Ashcroft
o Nation and Narration (1990) by Homi K
Bhabha
o Culture and Imperialism (1993) by
Edward Said.

5. MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
 HOMI K. BHABHA (1949 –)
 Homi K. Bhabha is a literary critic and
an influential theorist of postcolonial
culture.
 He is one of the most important figures
in contemporary postcolonial studies and
developed a number of neologisms
(coining of new terms) and key concepts
such as hybridity, mimicry, ambivalence
and binarism.

6. Concepts of Bhabha
 Mimicry is when members of a colonized society
imitate the language, dress, politics, or cultural attitude
of their colonizers.
 Though mimicry can also be reversed.
 In literature, the most influential example might be
Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, where Kipling invents a white
child, who grows up wild, as it were, on the streets of
Lahore.
◦ For other writers, the possibility of "going native" was
seen as a threat; for example, the prospect that Kurtz has
"gone native" is associated with him going mad in
Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

7.  Hybridity, at a basic level, refers to any mixing of
east and western culture.
 Bhabha introduced the concept of hybridity to
describe the construction of culture and identity
within the conditions of colonial discourse.
 In “The Location of Culture” he remarks that the
interaction between the colonizer and the colonized
results in a fusion of cultural forms that leads to the
existence of a third space that destroys the
representation of culture.
Concepts of Bhabha

8.  Another similar concept is of Ambivalence.
 A continual fluctuation between attraction
towards and repulsion from an object, person or
action.
 Bhabha describes it as the complex mix of
attraction and repulsion that characterizes the
relationship between colonizer and colonized.
 For instance, in “The Reluctant
Fundamentalist” Hamid portrays Changez, a
Pakistani who develops a hybrid identity and he
fluctuates because of ambivalence between one
identity and the other.
Concepts of Bhabha

9. MAJOR WORK:
 Bhabha's Nation and Narration (1990) is
primarily a critique of "essentialist" readings
that falsely define Third World "nations" as of
subordinate status.
 Nations, according to him are constructions
that arise from the "hybrid" interaction several
cultures.
 In The Location of Culture, Bhabha extends
his explanation of similar concepts.

10. EDWARD SAID &
FRANTZ FANON
Presented by NAZISH MALIK

13. EDWARD SAID
Works
1. Re-reading of Jane Austin’s “Mansfield
park” – England is focused on long term
subjugated of the colony. They want to
exploit colonies for a longer period of time.
2. Culture and Imperialism (series of
essays). Edward Said captures the basic
thought behind colonialism and
imperialism.
3. Joseph Conrad and the fiction of
autobiography
4. “Orientalism” (1978). He talks about
culture of Eastern countries like India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh. (NON-
EUROPEAN STEREOTYPES)
• Born in Jerusalem with his family
until the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. His
family became refugees in Egypt and
then in Lebanon.

14. WORKS OF EDWARD SAID
◦ “Orientalism” (1798)
◦ Taught at John Hopkins university where, as professor, he authored a
variety of text including Orientalism, his most influential work.
◦ Chastises the literary world for not talking colonialism or imperialism
seriously.
◦ According to said, 19th century Europeans tried to justify their territorial
conquests by propagating a belief called orientalism. (stereotype that non
Europeans were indolent, thoughtless, sexually immoral, unreliable
and demented.
◦ Said argued that Europeans conquerors failed to realize that all human
knowledge can be viewed through one’s political, cultural and ideological
framework.

15. WORKS OF EDWARD SAID
◦ “culture and imperialism (1993)
◦ Said captures Basic thought behind colonialism and imperialism i.e “they
are not like us and for that reason deserved to be ruled”
◦ Colonized became “the other”, the “not me”
◦ Abolish the established binary opposition of “the west/ the other”

16. FRANTZ FANON

17. FRANTZ FANON
◦ Born in the French colony of Martinique (1925-1951)
◦ Fought with the French in World War II
◦ Studied medicine and psychiatry in France
◦ He provided postcolonialism with two influential texts.

18. Works of Frantz Fanon
1. “Black skin, white mask” (1952)
• Fanon used psychoanalytic theory to examine the
condition of black under French colonial rule.
• He asserts that both colonized (e.g., the Other-any
person defined as different from”) and the colonizer
suffer “psychic warping,” oftentimes causing “a collapse
of the ego”
• He believed that as soon as the colonized (black living
in Martinique) were forced to speak the language of the
colonizers (French), they accepted or coerced into
accepting the collective consciousness of the French,
thereby identifying blackness with evil and whiteness
with purity or righteousness.

19. Works of Frantz Fanon
2.The wretched of the Earth (1961)
• Argues that an entirely new world must come into being
to overcome the binary system in which black is evil and
white is good.
• He also develops in this work one of his major concern:
the problem of the “Native Bourgeoisie” who take on the
power after the colonial powers have either peacefully
departed or are driven out.
• In such situation, the proletariats (the wretched of the
earth) are left on their own in worst situation than before.

20. GAYATRI CHAKRAVORTY
SPIVAK (MAJOR WORKS)
by
syeda Joveria termizi

21. INTRODUCTION
Indian-American scholar, literary theorist, and
feminist critic.
professor of comparative literature noted for her personal
brand of deconstructive criticism, which she called
“interventionist.”
Spivak describes herself as a “para-disciplinary, ethical
philosopher”

22. MAJOR WORKS
4. Spivak discusses the lack of an
account of the Sati practice, leading her to
reflect on whether the subaltern can even
speak
1 . An essay
3. Spivak writes about the process, the
focus on the Eurocentric Subject as they
disavow the problem of representation;
and by invoking the Subject of Europe
2. Established Spivak among the ranks of
feminists who consider history,
geography, and class when thinking about
women
"Can the Subaltern
Speak",

23. co-founder of postcolonial theory,
◦ Her A Critique of Postcolonial Reason, published in 1999, explores how major works
of European metaphysics
◦ In this work, Spivak launched the concept of "sanctioned ignorance" for the "reproducing and
foreclosing of colonialist structures
◦ Spivak coined the term "strategic essentialism", which refers to a sort of temporary solidarity
for the purpose of social action.
◦ For example, women's groups have many different agendas that potentially make it difficult for
feminists to work together for common causes. "Strategic essentialism" allows for disparate
groups to accept temporarily an "essentialist" position that enables them able to act cohesively

24. CHINUA ACHEBE
(MAJOR WORKS)
BY KINZA MUMTAZ

25. INTRODUCTION
◦ Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe, 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013)
was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958), often
considered his best, is the most widely read book in modern African literature. He won the Man
Booker International Prize in 2007.
◦ Chinua was inspired by the storytelling tradition while growing up, which was combined with
traditional events and ceremonies. He started writing as a career at a very young age. His early
literary pieces that appeared in his school magazines were the mouthpieces of his literary
excellence. He highlighted the collective details of life in Nigeria in contrast with Christian
institutions in most of those pieces.

26. MAJOR WORKS
THINGS FALL APART
◦ Chinua Achebe's college work sharpened his interest in indigenous Nigerian cultures.
He had grown up in Ogidi, a large village in Nigeria. His father taught at the missionary
school, and Achebe witnessed firsthand the complex mix of benefit and catastrophe that
the Christian religion had brought to the Igbo people.
◦ In the 1950s, an exciting new literary movement grew in strength. Drawing on
indigenous Nigerian oral traditions, this movement enriched European literary forms in
hopes of creating a new literature, in English but unmistakably African. Things Fall Apart
(1958), Achebe’s first novel, concerns traditional Igbo life at the time of the advent of
missionaries and colonial government in his homeland.
◦ His principal character cannot accept the new order, even though the old has already
collapsed. Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart is one of the masterpieces of 20th century
African fiction.

27. NO LONGER AT EASE
◦ No Longer at Ease is Chinua Achebe's second book and part of what is commonly
referred to as the African Trilogy; this includes Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God.
The title comes from T.S. Eliot's Journey of the Magi. Some critics discern
autobiographical elements in the text.
◦ The novel was published in 1960, which was the year Nigeria became
independent from Great Britain. It explores the themes of the effects of colonialism
on the Nigerian people, the Nigerian character, political and individual corruption,
religion, exile, and redemption. Critic Eustace Palmer describes the book as about
the Nigerian generation who "having been exposed to education in the western
world and therefore largely cut off from their roots in traditional society, discover,
on their return, that the demands of tradition are still strong, and are hopelessly
caught in the clash between the old and the new."

28. Arrow of God
◦ Chinua Achebe’s novel Arrow of God was published in 1964. This is Achebe’s third
novel after his books No Longer At Ease and Things Fall Apart. Together these three
books are often referred to as the African Trilogy. This book was published as part of
the prominent Heinemann African Writers Series.
◦ Arrow of God is set in Igboland in southeastern Nigeria in the second decade of the
twentieth century. The narrative takes place primarily in six federated Igbo villages
called Umuaro (Achebe’s invention). In Arrow of God (1964), set in a village under
British administration, the principal character, the chief priest of the village, whose son
becomes a zealous Christian, turns his resentment at the position he is placed in by the
white man against his own people.
◦ Like the other books in the trilogy, Arrow of God gives an intimate portrayal of a
traditional culture facing the challenges of colonial presence and shifting times.

29. A Man of the People
◦ First published in 1966, A Man of the People offers a critical perspective on
the nature of politics, power, and greed. In his novel, author Chinua
Achebe assumes an "outside" perspective in order to illustrate the profound
effects of governmental corruption. Though the story takes place in an
anonymous African country, it is clear that Achebe was profoundly influenced
by his own experiences with Nigerian politics. However, with this geographical
anonymity, Achebe aimed to portray more generally the conditions and
struggles of neocolonial Africa.

30. Anthills of the Savannah
◦ A 1987 novel by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah is
considered one of the most significant postcolonial novels in recent times. This is his
fifth novel and one of the prominent works to have emerged in his canon. It was
nominated for the 1987 Booker Prize for Fiction, which recognizes the best original
novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom.
◦ Achebe's work was heavily praised upon its release; it narrates the story of an officer
who has risen to power as a result of an effective coup. The political ethos in the
fictional landscape of Kangan is described by three friends: Chris Oriko, Beatrice Okoh,
and Ikem Osodi.

31. WOLE SOYINKA
(MAJOR WORKS)
BY RIMSHA ASHRAF

32. WOLE SOYINKA
◦ Born in 1934, in Western Nigeria, best
known for his works in literature.
◦ Was a play writer, dramatist, novelist, and
also the first African writer who received
Nobel Prize for literature in 1986.
◦ He got his bachelor’s degree in English
literature in 1958.
◦ After graduating from the University of
Leeds, Wole Soyinka continued to study for
a master’s degree while writing plays
drawing on his heritage.

33. MAJOR WORKS
• His first major works, The Swamp Dwellers and The
Lion and the Jewel, date from this period.
• In 1958, The Lion and the Jewel were accepted for
production by the Royal Court Theatre in London.
• The Trials of Brother Jero, expressed his skepticism
about the self-styled elite of black Nigerians who were
preparing to take power from the British colonial
regime.
• Other notable works are: A dance of the forest 1960,
the strong Breed 1964, kongi’s harvest 1964,
madmen and specialist 1970, Death and the king’s
horseman 1975.

34. ◦ Soyinka focuses on fundamental questions
concerning international culture and political identity
formations, the relationship between myth and
history/tradition and modernity, and the unresolved
tension between power as a force for good or evil.
◦ His works conceptualize identity in ways that
promote and modify national perceptions of
‘Africanness.
◦ Overall, what emerges from Soyinka’s work is the
capacity to assume personal and collective choices
that determine the nature of postcolonial existence
itself.
MAJOR WORKS

35. ◦ Soyinka’s works are major and imaginative
contributions to the study of African literature, and
postcolonial cultural theory.
◦ His major work A Dance of the Forest is Nigerian
Nobel Prize winner.
◦ Soyinka gained a large amount of reputation for
his expression towards Western colonialism
through portraying native people's life situations
and their conflicts with the Western colonizers.
MAJOR WORKS