The Post-Colonial Studies Reader

by Bill Ashcroft (editor), Gareth Griffiths (Editor), Helen Tiffin (Editor)

The essential introduction to the most important texts in post-colonial theory and criticism, this second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to include 121 extracts from key works in the field. Leading, as well as lesser known figures in the fields of writing, theory and criticism contribute to this inspiring body of work that includes sections on nationalism, hybridity, diaspora and globalization. The Reader’s wide-ranging approach reflects the remarkable diversity of work in the discipline along with the vibrancy of anti-imperialist writing both within and without the metropolitan centres. Covering more debates, topics and critics than any comparable book in its field, The Post-Colonial Studies Reader is the ideal starting point for students and issues a potent challenge to the ways in which we think and write about literature and culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theory, Reference, Cultural Studies, School, Politics, Academic

616 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[rory (jess' version)]

i hope my prof will explain this thoroughly or i would lose my mind

[Ryan Brady]

Essays Read:

Edward Said - "From Orientalism"
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak - "Can the Subaltern Speak? (Abbreviation)"
Tsenay Serequeberhan - "The Critique of Eurocentrism"
Helen Tiffin - "Post-Colonial Literatures and Counter-Discourse"
Frantz Fanon - "National Culture"
Benedict Anderson - "Imagined Communities"
Timothy Brennan - "The National Longing for Form"
Kristen Holst Petersen - "First Things First: Problems of a Feminist Approach to African Literature"
Ketu H. Katrak - "Decolonizing Culture: Toward a Theory for Postcolonial Women's Texts"
Chandra Talpade Mohanty - "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Eyes and Colonial Discourses"
Peter Hulme - "Columbus and the Cannibals"
Derek Walcott - "The Muse of History"
Thomas MaCaulay - "Minute on Indian Education"
Alfred W. Crosby - "Ecological Imperialism"
Richard Grove - "Green Imperialism"
Val Plumwood - "Decolonizing Relationships With Nature"
William Baldridge - "Reclaiming Our Histories"
R.S. Sugirtharajah - "Postcolonializing Biblical Interpretation"

Read for Dr. Shumona Dasgupta's Postcolonial Literature course - UMW - Fall 2015.

[José Gouveia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for research.

[gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

dense af but a great foundational text

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful resource.

[Raina Isabela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to my prof for not explaining it at all in class :)

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This group of essays wants, more than anything, both depth and breadth. But can you have both in a 500-page reader? Ashcroft and company do a great job at assembling all kinds of brief excerpts from post-colonial discourse. At the same time, there's so much missing. It's not really their fault, as creating any anthology is a thankless and never-ending chore. I just wonder whether ALL the articles in some of the sections were necessary, and where the potent demonstration of a certain aspect of post-colonial studies' evolution (delightfully shown in chapters on Hybridity or Representation and Resistance) disappeared to in the very superficial treatments of other subjects like the Body, the Environment or, especially, the Sacred.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no use posting updates for this reader, as I won't be reading the entire thing (nowhere close to it, I'm afraid). It's full of excerpts of 121 of the more important texts related to post-colonial studies. As judged by the page numbers, each text only gets a few pages to itself. As such, the book is very good for orientation, but mostly leaves out a good part of the original argumentation.

Then again, you simply can't put everything into one single reader. It is what it is, a very good organised reader: you can find excerpts per topic, which is extremely handy and gives you most relevant texts within seconds. Definitely can be put to good use when you're studying about post-colonial theory.

[Simone Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much finding what I knew I'd find. Which means moving on to reading far afield with these debates in mind can begin now. Most of my problems with some critics who shall go unnamed for now have to do with matters of authenticity and the Western demand for its performance by the other and the concomitant view that learning about the other is not possible (a view of difference that I find rather conveniently radical).

[Mujibur Rohman · Rating 3 out of 5]

buku yang ingin mencakup semua penulis poskolonial. namun sayang, sebagai bunga rampai penulisan poskolonialisme buku ini hanya memuat sebagai kecil gagasan masing-masing penulisnya.

[Vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I read it, good intro to postcolonial theory and provides insight into the major issues...many of the articles are over 30 years old now so this is a good starting point but don't stop there.

[Mills College Library]

820.9358 P857 2006