Historia

Postcolonialism (postcolonial theory, postcolonian studies, or post-colonial theory) is a specifically postmodern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Postcolonialism is defined in anthropology as the relations between nations and areas they colonized and once ruled. [1] Postcolonialism comprises a setoftheories found amongst history, anthropology, philosophy, linguistics,[2] film, political science, architecture, human geography, sociology, Marxist theory, feminism, religious and theological studies, and literature.
A single, definitive definition of postcolonial theory is controversial; writers have strongly criticized it as a concept embedded in identity politics. Postcolonial theory – asepistemology, ethics, and politics – addresses matters of identity, gender, race, racism and ethnicity with the challenges of developing a post-colonial national identity, of how a colonized people's knowledge was used against them in service of the colonizer's interests, and of how knowledge about the world is generated under specific relations between the powerful and the powerless, circulatedrepetitively and finally legitimated in service to certain imperial interests
Often, previously colonized places are homogenized in western discourse under an umbrella label such as the ‘Third World’. Postcolonialism demonstrates the heterogeneity of colonized places by analyzing the uneven impact of Western colonialism on different places, peoples, and cultures.[7] This is done by engaging with thevariety of ways in which “relations, practices and representations” of the past is “reproduced or transformed”, and studying the connections between the “heart and margins” of the empire.[7] Moreover, postcolonialism recognizes that there was, and still is, resistance to the West. This resistance is practiced by many, including the subaltern, a group of marginalized, and least powerful.Post-colonialist thinkers recognize that many of the assumptions which underlie the "logic" of colonialism are still active forces today.[8]. Some postcolonial theorists make the argument that studying both dominant knowledge sets and marginalized ones as binary opposites perpetuates their existence as homogenous entities. Homi K. Bhabha feels the postcolonial world should valorize spaces of mixing; spaceswhere truth and authenticity move aside for ambiguity. This space of hybridity, he argues, offers the most profound challenge to colonialism. (Bhabha, 1994: 113) Critiques that Bhabha ignores Spivak's stated usefulness of essentialism have been put forward. Reference is made to essentialisms' potential usefulness. An organized voice provides a more powerful challenge to dominant knowledge -whether in academia or active protests.
-------------------------------------------------
Goals
In terms of postcolonial theory, the ultimate goal is accounting for and combating the residual effects of colonialism on cultures.[8] It is not simply concerned with salvaging past worlds, but learning how the world can move beyond this period together, towards a place of mutual respect.
A key goal ofpost-colonial theorists is clearing space for multiple voices. This is especially true of those voices that have been previously silenced by dominant ideologies – subalterns. It is widely recognized within the discourse that this space must first be cleared within academia. Edward Said, in his book Orientalism, provides a clear picture of how the scholars who studied what used to be calledthe Orient (mostly Asia) disregarded the views of those they actually studied – preferring instead to rely on the intellectual superiority of themselves and their peers. This attitude was forged by European imperialism.
Postcolonial theory provides a framework that destabilizes dominant discourses in the West, challenges “inherent assumptions”, and critiques the “material and discursive legacies of...