Postcolonial Studies and Literature: An Introduction

This lecture provides a comprehensive introduction to postcolonial literature as well as to the methods and approaches of postcolonial theory. In the first part of the lecture we will take a look at the history of British/English colonialism and then explore definitions of colonialism and postcolonialism. In the second part we will concentrate on the main theoretical concepts such as orientalism (Said), knowledge and power (Foucault), hybridity and 'Third Space' (Bhabha). In the third part of this lecture, we will put our knowledge into practice, focus on literature and work with a representative selection of colonial and postcolonial texts. An extensive bibliography will be provided at the beginning of the term.