Postcolonialism: A Guide for the Perplexed (Guides for the Perplexed) - Hardcover

Nayar, Pramod K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826437001 ISBN 13: 9780826437006

Publisher: Continnuum-3PL, 2010

Synopsis

Postcolonialism as a critical approach and pedagogic practice has informed literary and cultural studies since the late 1980s. The term is heavily loaded and has come to mean a wide, and often bewildering, variety of approaches, methods, politics and ideas. Beginning with the historical origins of postcolonial thought in the writings of Gandhi, Cesaire and Fanon, this guide moves on to Edward Said's articulation into a critical approach and finally to postcolonialism's multiple forms in contemporary critical thinking, including theorists such as Bhabha, Spivak, Arif Dirlik and Aijaz Ahmed. Written in jargon-free language and illustrated with examples from literary and cultural texts, this book addresses the many concerns, forms and specializations' of postcolonialism, including gender and sexuality studies, the nations and nationalism, space and place, history and politics. It explains the key ideas, concepts and approaches in what is arguably the most influential and politically edged critical approach in literary and cultural theory today

About this title

Review:

'Nayar's close attention to literary figurations, the politics of postcolonial theory and the continued relevance of postcolonial approaches to terrorism, cybercultures and globalization makes this book at once an indispensable introduction to the field and a critical evaluation of the literary-political discipline of "postcolonial studies."'--Sanford Lakoff

About the Author:

Pramod K. Nayar is Assistant Professor in English at the University of Hyderabad, India. His most recent books include Packaging Life: Cultures of the Everyday (Sage 2009), Postcolonial Literature: An Introduction (Pearson, 2008), A Short History of English Literature (Cambridge, India, 2000) and English Writing and India, 1600-1920 (Routledge, 2008).

About this edition

• Publisher: Continnuum-3PL
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0826437001
• ISBN 13: 9780826437006
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248