Abstract
The present paper proposes an alternative to the well-established notion that postcolonial literature is still a marginal literary category in the twenty-first century, trying to demonstrate that, in fact, postcolonial voices have long occupied a forefront position in the reception of the critics and general public alike, gradually turning their books into both successful marketable products and ideological weapons. Reasons may vary from the readers’ mere interest in becoming acquainted with the culture of a perpetual other that has moved closer in space after the fall of the colonial empires to guilt for the past treatment of these territories and of their peoples. From the radical approaches to postcolonialism in the 1950s-1960s, which have now become classical theoretical texts, to the cultural and historical affirmation in the 1980s and reaffirmation of identity, in the context of rising Islamophobia after 9/11, writers labelled as postcolonial now push the boundaries, heading straight to the centre of the Western Canon. Asserting their identity, either in `je suis l’autre’ fashion or by highlighting their hybridity, the literary voices of the East are no longer just an exotic niche of English literature. A good case in point is Mohsin Hamid, Pakistani-British author whose novels, nominated for important Western literary prizes, provide a fresh perspective of what means to be the other in the eyes of the West.
Highlights
The present paper proposes an alternative to the well-established notion that postcolonial literature is still a marginal literary category in the twenty-first century, trying to demonstrate that, postcolonial voices have long occupied a forefront position in the reception of the critics and general public alike, gradually turning their books into both successful marketable products and ideological weapons
Reasons may vary from the readers’ mere interest in becoming acquainted with the culture of a perpetual other that has moved closer in space after the fall of the colonial empires to guilt for the past treatment of these territories and of their peoples
Categorie cu debut și parcurs inițial marginal, evoluând dinspre granițele îndepărtate ale fostelor imperii coloniale din secolul al XIX-lea și din prima jumătate a secolului al XX-lea spre Europa și Statele Unite, literatura postcolonialistă de expresie engleză începe să câștige notorietate în anii 19701980, mai întâi în mediul academic, odată cu dezvoltarea Studiilor culturale și a Materialismului cultural, inspirate de stânga radicală și preocupate de analizarea relațiilor de putere la toate nivelurile culturale
Summary
The present paper proposes an alternative to the well-established notion that postcolonial literature is still a marginal literary category in the twenty-first century, trying to demonstrate that, postcolonial voices have long occupied a forefront position in the reception of the critics and general public alike, gradually turning their books into both successful marketable products and ideological weapons.
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