Postcolonial theory examine that ways in which colonial or imperialist conceptions of the world are portrayed in literature and media texts. It focuses on the fact that much of the media represents the third world or previously colonialized parts of the world as the “other”—as “non-Western”, i.e., as “backward,” “uncivilized” “mysterious,” “undeveloped,” “primative,” and “dangerous.” These perceptions stem from 19th and early 20th century conceptions of the world in which Western powers still controlled much of the world—for example, in 1914, European countries controlled 85% of world. In his study of “Orientalism,” Edward Said (1978) demonstrated how “Orientalism” was a racist and sexist discourse for a superior European perception of the Orient as exotic, mysterious, erotic, different, and non-white or “other.” Postcolonial literary critics have examined texts such as The Heart of Darkness to note how Conrad portrays African from a European perspective. Asians, Middle-Easterns, Africans, or Muslins in Hollywood films continue to be portrayed in ways that reflect European/American stereotypes of these regions and their cultural practices.

Edward Said, On Orientalism

Edward Said, The Myth of “The Clash of Civilizations”

For further reading on postcolonial theory:
Postcolonial Studies [Emory University]
Political Discourse: Theories of Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies

Webquest: The British Empire and the Legacy of Colonialism

For abstracts of the following books on postcolonial theory, see The Untimely Past.

For further reading on postcolonialism:

Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (1998). Key concepts in post-colonial studies. New York: Routledge, 1998.

Coundouriotis, E. (1999). Claiming history: Colonialism, ethnography, and the novel. New York: Columbia University Press.

Curran, J., & Park, M. (Eds.). (2000). De-Westernizing media studies. New York: Routledge.

Dirks, N. (Ed.). (1992). Colonialism and culture. Ann Arbor, MI.

Dirlik, A. (1997). The postcolonial aura: Third world criticism in the age of global capitalism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Guha, R. (1997). Dominance without hegemony: History and power in colonial India. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

McLaren, P. (Ed.). (2001). Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and Pedagogy. New York: James Nicholas.

Moore-Gilbert, Bart. (1997). Postcolonial theory: Contexts, practices, politics. London: Verso.

Prakash, G. (1995). After colonialism: Imperial histories and postcolonial displacements. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

Spivak, G. C. (1999). A Critique of postcolonial reason: Toward a history of the vanishing present. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Module 4: Word document

Applying Critical Perspectives to an Ad

Rhetorical/Audience Analysis

Semiotic Theory

Poststructuralist/ DeconstructivistTheory: Interrogating Language Codes/Categories

Critical Discourse Analysis

Psychoanalytic Theories

Feminist Criticism

Postmodern Theory

Postcolonial Theory

References