Introduction to Postcolonial Theory and Literature

2. 2-The Origins and Controversy over the Term

Postcolonial theory is a post-positivist theory set of different theories as it has developed out of four European traditions of thought: Marxism, psychoanalysis, post structuralism, and feminism. It is an academic discipline featuring methods of intellectual discourse that analyze, explain, and respond to the cultural legacies of colonialism and imperialism. This is a theory which is based upon aspects of colonialism and its effects which have persisted remarkably even after the dissolution of colonial dominance.

   Taken literally, it denotes the period after the end of colonialism with the premise that the era of colonial control is over for good and new, and a humanistic stage is beginning. Most ex-colonized nations involved in that traumatic experience of living under colonial rule are independent. They are still, in fact, under economic, political, ideological, and cultural dominance for their former European colonizers. So, the opponents to this term propose a more proper term Neo-colonialism/imperialism. It is worthy to mention the difference between colonialism and imperialism. Colonialism refers initially to the practice of planting and securing colonies for economic exploitation, and it was used primarily by the Europeans. Imperialism, on the other hand, is the attitudes, ideologies, and structures which sustain the practice of colonialism. Imperialism changes its form but the essence is the same.