Talk:Postcolonial literature

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[edit] What is post-colonial literature?

This is a subject that genuinely confuses me. Why are Columbian writers considered post-colonial when Columbia has been independant for 150 years? By a similar standard was Nathaniel Hawthorne a post-colonial writer? Is Jaroslav Hasek a post-colonial writer? If not why not? (Similarly Robert Musil and Joseph Roth - Musil has far more to say about empire than almost any writer on the list given). Is The Cantebury Tales a work of post-colonial literature (it uses the English language to build a new sense of Englishness after centuries of Norman oppression!).Badtypist 14:16, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Postcolonial literature is NOT a branch of Postmodernism

Postcolonial literature's agenda is progressive. Generally, Postcolonial lit. seeks to arrive at a definition of local identity that subverts imperial discourse. On the other hand, Postmodernism's agenda begins and ends with the toppling of absolutes. It does not intend progression from one state to another.--Smokinpope 17:58, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

a branch of Postmodern literature Until now, I couldnt find any proof for this, other than that both started after the Second World War and Decolonization. That, however, might be a coincidence.--FlammingoHey 16:20, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Minor issue, maybe

This is not that essential, but this should go to postcolonial, without the hyphen, since not only is it the more common spelling (twice, says google, and texts with "-" then use "postcolonial" afterwards). The difference is very helping in grasping the topic: Post-colonial would make an emphasis on the "post", as opposed to "pre-" etc, while the literature came into existence in the process of decolonization, so a "post-colonial book" is one that was published after gaining independence, while a "postcolonial book", stressed postcolonial, would be one dealing with the postcolonial status. Other opinions? --FlammingoHey 20:40, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

There's a grammar book, Swan's Practical English Usage, saying it's an issue of emphasis, and that in general, the hyphen is falling into disuse. In this case, I'd argue it is a different perspective, but base the decision on the frequency of both spellings --FlammingoHey 20:43, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] authors

The list that used to be there started useless and grew ever less valuable, so here it is; please everyone interested delete a name here and put a sentence into the article about the writer.--FlammingoHey 20:09, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] POV tag

This is one of the most controversial schools of thought in the contemporary academy. There needs to be a section on critics of the post-colonial approachElan26 (talk) 00:59, 20 May 2008 (UTC)Elan26