EDWARD SAID: THE POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND THE LITERATURE OF DECOLONIZATION (original) (raw)

This paper attempts an exploration of the literary theory of postcolonialism, which traces European colonialism of many regions all over the world, its effects on various aspects of the lives of the colonized people and its manifestations in the Western literary and philosophical heritage. Shedding light on the impact of this theory in the field of literary criticism, the paper focuses on Edward Said's views for the simple reason that he is considered the one who laid the cornerstone of this theory, despite the undeniable role of other leading figures. This theory is mainly based on what Said considers the false image of the Orient fabricated by Western thinkers as the primitive "other" in contrast with the civilized West. He believes that the consequences of colonialism are still persisting in the form of chaos, coups, corruption, civil wars, and bloodshed, which permeates many ex-colonies. The powerful colonizer has imposed a language and a culture, whereas those of the Oriental peoples have been ignored or distorted. Referring to some works of colonial and postcolonial novelists, the paper shows how being free from the repression of imperialism, the natives could, eventually, produce their own culture of opposition, build their own image, and write their history outside the frame they have for long been put into. With such writers, Conrad's Heart of Darkness can never be read the same after Achebe's criticism, nor can Bronte's Jane Eyre after Jean Rhys's postcolonial parallel novel Wide Sargasso Sea. Introduction This paper attempts an exploration of postcolonialism, a literary theory, which traces European colonialism of many regions all over the world, its effects on various aspects of the lives of the colonized people in general, and its manifestations in Western literary and philosophical heritage in particular throughout the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, in addition to the emergence of the literature of opposition and resistance in the ex-colonies. The purpose of this study is to shed light on this theory and the remarkable impact it has left in the field of literary criticism. The paper will focus on Edward Said's views and ideas by exploring his most important books and articles, for the simple reason that Said is considered the one who laid the cornerstone of this theory, despite the importance of other leading figures such as Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha in this respect. Edward Said, the Palestinian American, and the notable academic and lecturer, had been the professor of comparative literature at Colombia University for a long time until his death of leukemia in 2003. Said's name came to light when his book Orientalism was published in 1978 and laid the ground for the theory of postcolonialism, sparking a storm of controversy, which didn't die with Said's decease.