Post-Colonial Criticism

1. POST-COLONIAL
CRITICISM

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand the
impact of colonialism
on literature and
culture.
01.
Appreciate the
importance of post-
colonial perspectives in
expanding literary
analysis.
02.
Engage in articulate and
constructive discussions
about post-colonial
perspectives.
03.

3. INTRODUCTION
Post-colonial Criticism is particularly effective at
helping us see connections among all the domains of
our experience. The psychological, ideological, social,
political, intellectual, and aesthetic in ways that show
us just how inseparable these categories are in our life
experience of ourselves and our world.

4. In addition, post-colonial theory offers us a framework for
examining the similarities among all critical theories that
deal with human oppression, such as Marxism, Feminism,
Gay, Lesbian, and Queer Theories, and African American
Theory.

5. Post-colonial Criticism is similar to cultural
studies but it assumes a unique perspective on
literature and politics that warrants a separate
discussion.

6. What isPost Colonial Criticism?
""...refers to a field of intellectual inquiry that
explores and interrogates the situation of
colonized people both during and after
colonization. Post-colonial literature and
theory are often, but not always, anti-
imperialist in character." (Bedford, 394)

7. KEY CONCEPTS/TERMS
• Diaspora: The displacement and scattering of a people, often caused
by colonialism and its aftermath.
• Mimicry: Imitation of the dress, manners, and language of the
dominant culture by the oppressed one. (Bhabha)
• Hybridity/Syncretism: The quality of cultures that have characteristics
of both the colonizers and the colonized. Marked by tension and
conflicts, they are continually changing and evolving.
• Double vision/Double consciousness: A sense of being part of both the
colonized and the colonizing cultures, with all the conflicts and
contrasts that involves. It is characteristic of indigenous peoples and
later settlers.

8. • Subalterns: People of inferior status. Subaltern writers seek to make
their marginalized cultures known and valued for their past and
present. From a British military term that refers to a low-ranking
subordinate officer; it is used in postcolonial theory to designate the
colonized, whom Europeans considered to be subject races.
• "Othering": The assumption that those who are different from oneself
are inferior beings.
• "The Other": One who is different from oneself and thus inferior.
• Unhomliness: The sense of belonging to neither the world of the
colonizer or the colonized, of being culturally displaced (Bhabha)

9. • Eurocentrism: The assumption that European ideals and experiences
are the standard by which all other cultures are to be measured and
judged inferior.
• Hegemony-Antonio Gramsci suggested the ruling classes were able
to dominate other classes and the agenda because they successfully
argued their elite interests were the interests of everyone.
• Orientalism – Edward Said: describes a tradition, both academic and
artistic, of hostile and deprecatory views of the east by the west. This
often implies essentialising and prejudiced outsider interpretations of
Eastern cultures and peoples.
• (Orient = Not western / not Eurocentric ; Occident – west.)

10. KEY THEORISTS
•Edward Said
-Theory: Orientalism
•Franz Fanon
-Theory: Colonialism and its Effects on Identity
•Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
-Theory: Subaltern Studies and "Can the Subaltern Speak?"

11. KEY THEORISTS
EDWARD SAID
• Theory:Orientalism
- refers to the way Western cultures have historically represented
the East (primarily the Middle East and Asia) in a manner that
reinforces Western dominance and superiority. It involves the
exoticization, stereotyping, and simplification of Eastern cultures,
often to serve colonial interests and justify imperialist agendas.

12. KEY THEORISTS
FRANTZ FANON
•Theory:Colonialism and its Effects on Identity
- It explores the psychological and existential effects
of colonialism on both the colonizer and the
colonized.

13. KEY THEORISTS
GAYATRI SPIVAK
•Theory: Subaltern Studies and "Can the Subaltern
Speak?"
- It focuses on the voices and experiences of
marginalized groups, particularly women and the
subaltern.

14. WHAT POST-COLONIALCRITICS DO?
► Reject claims of universalism
► Examine representation of other cultures
► Show how literature is silent on matters of imperialism and colonialism
► Foreground questions of diversity and cultural difference
► Celebrate 'cultural polyvancy (belonging to more than one culture)
► Assert that marginality, plurality and 'Otherness' are sources of energy
and potential change

15. Effectsof colonizationin the followingaspects:
Postcolonial criticism in the Philippines examines the impact
of colonial history on literature, culture, and identity. Scholars
analyze how the Philippines' history of Spanish and American
colonization influences narratives, power structures, and the
construction of national identity in literature and other forms
of expression. This approach aims to deconstruct colonial
ideologies and explore the complexities of postcolonial
experiences in the Filipino context.

20. The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra,
mixed-race heir of a wealthy clan, returning
home after seven years in Europe and filled
with ideas on how to better the lot of his
countrymen. Striving for reforms, he is
confronted by an abusive ecclesiastical
hierarchy and a Spanish civil administration
by turns indifferent and cruel. The novel
suggests, through plot developments, that
meaningful change in this context is
exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.

22. NOTABLECHARACTERS
• JuanCrisostomoIbarra:The maincharacterandthe sonofDonRafael
Ibarra.Herepresentsthe idealisticandprogressiveFilipinowho wantsto
reformthesociety.
• MariaClara:The love interestofIbarraandthe daughterofCaptainTiago
andDoña PiaAlba.She representstheimageof theFilipinain thenovel.
• PadreDamaso:The formerparishpriestof SanDiegowho is thebiological
fatherofMariaClara.He representsthecorruptandabusiveSpanishfriars
who oppress theFilipinos.

23. Thankyou
verymuch!

24. PRESENTEDBY:
Madaiton, Elliah Febe Marie
Mondares, Rosalie
Naparan, Rhea Jean
Pangan, Abegail
Rayo, Rommel
Sajo, Kimberly
Seballa, Nicole
Yanos, Christine
BSED-ENGLISH-3B

25. REFERENCES
https://www.erhsnyc.org/ourpages/auto/2016/5/17/53610856/Postcolonial%20Criticism.pdf
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/619695938/POSTCOLONIAL-
CRITICISM?fbclid=IwAR3pU0XT3-
aSkqiNmRmEYBKOW1dSJuyMXGEdTfDQAST9m2rNCwvMhvRDswM
https://slideplayer.com/slide/14034340/?fbclid=IwAR1_k1prVUGpUdUpfQroBCqcsjTA8n1wJR
xZQyR7dq8xOkQ2d1FUX0zsT7o
https://slideplayer.com/slide/14034340/?fbclid=IwAR1_k1prVUGpUdUpfQroBCqcsjTA8n1wJR
xZQyR7dq8xOkQ2d1FUX0zsT7o
https://media-studies.com/post-colonialism-key-concepts/
https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl210jj/postcolonial.htm?fbclid=IwAR0C3jHg-
8gkZmrrkHjkiYD1rtNhZ4Q_RVW--
HRbx40JUoMSZmW8NwRJbsE#:~:text=Postcolonial%20literary%20criticism%20utilizes%20m
any,or%20in%20formerly%20colonized%20countries
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-criticism-and-
theory/postcolonial-literary-theory/