Postcolonial Research Articles

Azeem Rafiq, an Object or a Subject? “Can the Subaltern Speak?”

In the extant scholarship, there remains a paucity of research underscoring how Western media frame the identity of Muslim men athletes from diverse backgrounds who challenge the colonial sporting institution (e.g., cricket) with the allegation of racism. There is also a significant lacuna in literature exploring how the identity of a Muslim man athlete is shaped in Eastern media, ensuing his racial accusations against a Western sporting institution. This study aimed to analyze the media’s depiction of Azeem Rafiq after his racism allegations against Yorkshire Cricket Club, contrasting British and South Asian perspectives through neo-Orientalism and postcolonial theory within media framing scholarship. We analyzed data through textual and thematic analysis. The study results unearth that while Rafiq was heralded as a voice against racism by the British media, some media outlets focused on the narratives of exoticism, otherness, and the mysterious “Orient” while discussing Rafiq’s personality. Further, some Pakistani and Indian media outlets portrayed the Western world as a monolithic entity. The study findings also uncovered that numerous times, the Club’s sponsors’ responses were framed within financial and administrative narratives, often overshadowing the underlying issue of structural racism.

Krumme tæer

Squirming perspectives. Shame in the intersection of queer, feminist, and postcolonial theories gives a critical introduction to the ways in which queer theories have recently turned to the concept of shame. Taking my starting point in Tomkins and Sedgwick, I show why queer theorists have suggested shame as an essential part of subject formation as well as a possible strategy for queer resistance. However, I also present a range of important (primarily postcolonial and crip theoretical) criticisms that have been raised against the queer celebration of shame and its presumed universal qualities. Turning to Sara Ahmed’s phenomenological investigations of shame as a performative phenomenon, I suggest the critical investigation of the effects of such universalisations as the more pressing question for queer shame theories.

Regained Screens: Contemporary Documentary Film Culture in Lithuania

The focus of this article is contemporary documentary film culture in Lithuania. Through the case study of the Vilnius Documentary Film Festival (VDFF), I would like to argue that documentary culture has been going through a process of hybridisation in recent years. Firstly, I will outline the context of the global situation of documentary cinema, then I will show the origin and importance of VDFF in that context. I will use postcolonial studies and decoloniality to explain the process of contemporary documentary film culture in Lithuania. My research is contextualised in the new field of film festivals research in film studies. The article is based on a few semi-structured interviews, detailed analyses of catalogues of few events in Lithuania before VDFF and catalogues of VDFF, and an analysis of international festivals’ research texts.

نظرية ما بعد الاستعمار والمقاومة الثقافية: استعادة الصوت والعقل

The importance of this study lies in its attempt to monitor the efforts of cultural resistance in the context of postcolonial theory. It aims to address two problems that lie at the heart of this resistance: the restoration of the suppressed voice, and the occupied mind of the colonized. The study is guided in addressing these two problems by the cultural approach, which provides the researcher with mechanisms and procedures that enable him to extrapolate the cultural phenomenon and its representations in its various manifestations, so he works on analyzing, describing and interpreting it. The study showed that the former colonists, when they possessed the language and various tools of expression, provided new creative and critical experiences, and a cultural discourse that differs from the speech of the colonizers, and works to undermine the foundations on which it was based.

Postcolonialism and Anglican Theology

As the demographics of the Anglican Communion have shifted to the Global South, it has to adopt a postcolonial and polycentric model of mutual relationships. Postcolonial theory helps us examine Anglican history and theology through the lenses of colonialism and empire. This essay offers several examples of postcolonial critique of Anglican theology and elucidates the concept of hybridity in theology. It analyzes the revisions of the Book of Common Prayer in New Zealand/Aotearoa and Brazil as attempts to contextualize liturgy and proposes visions for theology in the Anglican Communion.

Social, Spatial and Material Conditions for Mattering: Newly Arrived Young Migrants’ Possibilities to Matter in Everyday Life in a Swedish School

Mattering as a central part of well-being has not been studied in the context of newly arrived young migrants in Swedish schools. Neither have studies on mattering included material and spatial conditions. This article draws on data collected from ethnographic fieldwork to address this. The theoretical contribution is based on the combination of the concept of mattering with Ahmed’s feminist and postcolonial theory of orientation and a critical view of lived experience as social and bodily orientation devices. Combining these theoretical frameworks, we explore social, spatial and material conditions for mattering in newly arrived youths’ everyday school lives. The overall outcome of our analysis illustrates that mattering is not only a question of social relations but also related to spatial and material dimensions. A conclusion is that Swedishness as an unspoken norm of whiteness is ‘built into the walls’ of Swedish schools and that (in)directly discriminates newly arrived young migrants.

Power and Agency: A Critical Analysis of the Role of Mistresses in Francophone African Literature

In the context of postcolonial literature, mistresses are often portrayed as subjugated concubines seeking job opportunities, career advancement, and income security in societies that are characterised by stark social inequalities. In environments lacking social justice, adulterous concubinage becomes entrenched in social and political norms. This study examines the portrayal of mistresses in francophone African literature, highlighting their integral roles in society's economic and political spheres. Through critical discourse analysis, feminist theory, and postcolonial theory, the study reveals that gendered power dynamics are central to the framing of mistresses. This analysis underscores the complex and active roles of mistresses in the socio-political landscape of francophone African literature. Contrary to traditional passive roles, mistresses are depicted with significant agency, enabling them to influence decisions by wielding power leverage over their philandering partners who hold important positions in the societies.

Types of Visibility: Disruption, Consent & Contemporary Politics

This paper analyses representations of the coming-of-age process in contemporary narrative films that challenge dominant social and political ideologies. Through an intersectional analysis of Tomboy (2011), Girlhood (2014), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), all of which were directed by Céline Sciamma; Inxeba (2017) by John Trengove, and Moffie (2019) by Oliver Hermanus, I demonstrate how specific scenes and sequences expose and critique gender, race, class, and sexuality norms. Drawing from feminist, queer, and postcolonial theories, I identify three types of visibility across the films: disruption, consent, and contemporary politics. The analysis reveals how the selected films contest dominant cinematic gazes and scopic regimes by giving visibility to diverse identities and experiences. I argue that this study yields generative insight into the complexities of the coming-of-age process on the body as it is represented in contemporary narrative film.

Can First Parents Speak? A Spivakean Reading of First Parents’ Agency and Resistance in Transnational Adoption

This article analyses the search strategies of first families in Bolivia contesting the separation of their children through transnational adoption. These first parents’ claims to visibility and acknowledgement have remained largely ignored by adoption policy and scholarship, historically privileging the perspectives of actors in adoptive countries, such as adoptive parents and adoption professionals. Filling in this gap, we discuss the search strategies employed by first families in Bolivia who desire a reunion with their child. Drawing on Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s feminist postcolonial theory, we analyse ethnographic fieldwork with fourteen first families in Bolivia. We read how the agency of first parents, severely limited by the loss of legal rights through the adoption system, is caught in a double bind of dependency and possibility. While hegemonic adoption discourse portrays first parents as passive and consenting to the adoption system, the results of our study complicate this picture. Moreover, we argue that the search activity of the first parents can be read as a claim and request to revise and negotiate their consent to transnational adoption. Ultimately, we read first parents’ search efforts as resistance to the closed nature of the adoption system, which restricts them in their search for their children.

The Suppression and Liberation of Malcolm’s Personal Agency: Malcolm X and His Religio-Racial Understanding of White People

Although the canonical interpretation by scholars of the life and thought of Malcolm X suggest that he would experience a major shift in his views on race, this author contends that Malcolm’s post-Hajj declarations about the white race were his beliefs about white people all along. It is not denied that Malcolm himself assisted in the construction of his Hajj experience being understood as an epiphany moment in regard to his views on race. However, a postcolonial studies reading that aims to uncover the agency of subaltern subjects provides a lens for a critical look at his words and actions throughout his life and provides a different explanation. Engaging with Judith Weisenfeld’s religio-racial theory, it is argued that Malcolm conceded to the Nation of Islam’s beliefs about race through suppressing his personal beliefs because of his acceptance of the overall mission of the group.

From Inculcation to Liberation: Pop Culture-Addled Snipers in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper and Alba Sotorra's Game Over

Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2014) and Alba Sotorra's Game Over (2015) explore the inculcating pull of pop myths on soldiers. Eastwood's biopic focuses on Chris Kyle, American military history’s most lethal sniper. Sotorra's documentary Game Over considers Djalal, an Iranian Catalan youth who moves from being an America-idolizing gamer to a sniper in Afghanistan. Initially, they see themselves as Western cowboys and perfect soldiers. War, however, leaves them disillusioned and traumatized. Via distinct generic formats (documentary v. feature film) and nationally determined political frameworks (US v. Spain), they ask: can mythologies fueling the post-9/11 war machine empty it of its force? Mobilizing postcolonial, disability, and trauma studies, this comparative analysis theorizes how objects of soft power can both harden a soldier’s mind and liberate it from the battlefield’s thrall. Ultimately, the article reveals contrasting, potentially limited strategies subjects across cultures deploy to break the hold of American visions of power.

Discourse, Power, and the Body A Study of Postcolonialism in the Works of J.M. Coetzee

J.M. Coetzee, one of the most esteemed authors in the English-speaking world today, exhibited clear postcolonial tendencies in his early works. In his later writings, he gradually shifted his focus away from the South African context to explore themes such as rewriting classics, marginalized communities, and immigration. This paper, rooted in Foucault's theory of discourse-power and theories of the body, examines Coetzee's reflections and critiques of the discourse-power relationship and social disciplinary practices in his works. Furthermore, drawing from postcolonial scholars like Homi Bhabha, the paper investigates the consistent central-peripheral colonial geometric relationships in Coetzee's works and summarizes the strategies of "appropriation" and "mimicry" as means to challenge and subvert these power dynamics.

The Discourse of Secession in Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s House of Stone

ABSTRACT This article examines the depiction of the discourse of secession in Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s House of Stone (2018). Borrowing insights on secession from international law and drawing on postcolonial concepts of identity formation and the theory of ethnicity as entry points, the article highlights the elusive nature of nation in Zimbabwe and affirms that the secessionist calls are a manifestation of the Ndebele people’s struggles against the dialectics of otherness. The central argument advanced in this article is that the secession addressed in Tshuma’s novel is a particular instance of an ethnic group’s re-imagination of its identity that is given form and impetus by a past legacy that includes historical imaginations and memories of experiences in post-independence Zimbabwe. In addition, the article argues that this ethnic exclusiveness that is rendered under the political rubric of secession is in stark contrast to the common and shared imaginings of a single nation that is built upon the tenets of basic unity and the existence of a single set of shared principles as postulated by postcolonial theorists. Thus, the article concludes by highlighting the contested and paradoxical nature of secession since it can be viewed on the one hand as a negative rebellion against the status quo or, on the other hand, a positive affirmation of concepts, models and even blueprints for new societies. The article is significant in that it contributes to debates on national identity and contemporary discourses on justice and the accepted frameworks of human rights.

The ‘Comparative African Literatures’ Project: Challenges and Opportunties

ABSTRACT This scholarly inquiry critically scrutinizes the “Comparative African Literatures” paradigm, investigating its capabilities and constraints in transforming the understanding of African literatures through a comparative perspective. The research identifies the current stagnation of the paradigm, attributing it to an absence of appropriate comparative instruments and inadequate scholarly engagement. The study traces the genesis of the paradigm at the juncture of postcolonial theory and comparative literature, employing a rigorous critical methodology. It includes a comprehensive review of pertinent literature and suggests novel research trajectories. The study underscores the indispensability of the paradigm and advocates for its judicious progression to sidestep the pitfalls that other paradigms have encountered in their attempts to encapsulate the authentic Africanness of African literature. Aspiring to contribute to the evolution of the paradigm, the research spotlights its potential ripple effect on the expansive terrain of African literary studies.

Conceptual Review of Colonial Beliefs and Attitudes in “Othering” During Postcolonial Africa: Lessons for Nigeria

There has been a growing concern regarding post colonialism and its relative role of colonial beliefs and attitudes in “othering”, and this has, also consequently, been a subject of keen inquiries amongst scholars in contemporary international politics. Most of such inquiries have emerged from a wide range of scholarly disciplines including international relations. The primary aim of this research was to examine the role of colonial beliefs and attitudes in “othering” in postcolonial Africa with reference to Nigerian settings. The specific objectives include investigating colonialism in postcolonial Africa and Nigeria in contemporary international politics. It also examined the association between colonialism and othering in postcolonial Africa and Nigeria within the international politics. The central notion of this study was to present the role of colonial beliefs and attitudes in othering in postcolonial Africa. Efforts were made through conceptual orientations with emphasis on colonialism (that is, colonial beliefs and attitudes, othering) and post colonialism. The paper recommended that there should be a growing call among scholars and practitioners to conceptualise race using more complex historical foundations capturing nuances of gender, ethnicity, and skin tone rather than simplifying race as binary. Postcolonial theory should be carefully studied to provide a strong theoretical foundation to understand race and intersectional identity and also to provide a firm capacity to understand race relationships.

The Visibility of Racism: A Critical Exploration of Marginalization and Identity in Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’

Ralph Ellison’s highly acclaimed novel, ‘Invisible Man’, is a compelling narrative that explores the themes of identity and marginalisation within a deeply polarised society. This literary research paper delves into the intricacies of identity development using postcolonial theory and examines the socio-political consequences of invisibility by conducting a thorough analysis of the protagonist’s journey. Through an analysis of the novel’s socio-cultural perspectives, I explore the process of identity formation as the protagonist, known as the ‘Invisible Man,’ navigates a society that is divided along racial and political lines. The Protagonist’s encounters with deceitful figures of authority, along with his disillusionment within the Brotherhood, expose the manipulation and exploitation that marginalised individuals endure in power structures. This study investigates the mechanisms through which African-Americans experience the dehumanisation of Negroes, which is perpetuated by stereotypes, structural racism, and segregation. Ultimately, this study affirms the significance of ‘Invisible Man’ in ongoing conversations regarding race, identity, and marginalisation.

The State of Political Ethnic Mobilisation among Kenyan Communities in Postcolonial Era, 1963 to 2007 A Case Study of Bukusu People

There is a growing body of scholarly work on political behaviour in Africa that accords much credence to the salience of ethnicity as a rallying point during electoral processes. Yet at the country level, we still understand very little about the interactions between ethnicity and voting behaviour and what demographic groups are more likely or less likely to be susceptible to the effects of ethnic cues, if at all, when voting or expressing support in other ways for political parties. Such features are dominant in Kenyan politics and are characterized majorly through ethnic-based politics where the formation of political parties and coalitions are motivated ethnically. Taking Bukusu as a case example, it is clearly seen how political game and electoral mobilisation is largely contested ethnic terrain. This explains why the majority of the leaders in Bungoma are Bukusu who have had a defining moment and significant effect on political leadership and electoral politics since independence. This paper focused on the state of political ethnic mobilisation among Kenyan communities in postcolonial era, 1963 to 2007with reference to Bukusu people of Bungoma District. The study examines ethnic politics as an instrument for political mileage among the Bukusu people. It is noted herein that since the migration and eventual inception of imperialism, the Bukusu people just like other communities in the country resisted colonisation which eventually cemented them together up to date. Karly Popper’s instrumentalism theory and AchilleMbembe’s postcolonial theory were the two theories used in the study. This study relied heavily on archival materials, oral interviews, and a review of linked secondary literature. Convergence and divergence were produced after thoroughly reviewing, analysing, and compiling all the data. Ex-post facto as a research design was used with purposive and snowball as sampling techniques. Elderly men and women were target population and the sampling size was guided by historical principle of not less than twenty eight participants. It is argued that this data will be useful to policymakers in formulating and comprehending the factors that affect political patterns and behaviour both at the national and local levels. The study should be of importance to historian scholars and more specifically on those who have an interest in state of political ethnic mobilisation among Kenyan Communities.

Chrześcijański feminizm w Afryce – kontynentalne dyskursy i lokalne praktyki

<p>This paper discusses selected research topics developed by feminist theologians connected with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. The Circle was established in 1989 and was led for many years by Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a Ghanaian Methodist theologian. Today the Circle attracts women theologians from three generations and various African countries. The paper refers to feminist and postcolonial theories as well as some more African-oriented topics developed in the Circle’s writings. Complex and ambiguous reinterpretations of the so-called African Traditional Religion are framed by references to inculturation and liberation theology. The final part of the paper refers to the concept of “oral theology” and theology in practice. The author’s ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana among Catholic women is mentioned to draw parallels between the theological practical approach and the anthropological concept of lived religion.</p>

Demilitarization of the Russian Front after World War I

This article examines the demilitarization of the Russian Front after World War I. Demilitarization is understood as complex processes associated with the physical transformation of the war landscape and overcoming the toxic legacy of war: freeing the space from the presence of regular armies, military property, and military installations, as well as from the impact of specific war practices such as soil intoxication, water pollution, waterlogging of forests and fields, and deforestation. The aim of this study is to examine the institutions and mechanisms of demilitarization and demobilization of the Russian army in 1917–1918. The theoretical framework of this study draws on environmental history and postcolonial studies that allow the author to consider demilitarization through the prism of interaction with the environment and to understand its features in the former imperial boundaries. The paper works with materials of the Russian military archives, which help reconstruct the mechanisms of demobilization and the practices of demilitarization of the Russian Front. The author concludes that demobilization institutions were created in three stages, from May 1917 to May 1918: the first ones were established by the Stavka in May and supplemented in November 1917, but relatively “functional” demobilization institutions emerged in December and were associated with the Bolshevik administrative transformations. Whereas during the war demilitarization (clearing trenches and their surroundings of the effects of suffocating gases, sanitation, soil reclamation, and collecting weapons from battlefields) was practiced to preserve the army’s fighting ability, chaotic demobilization obscured these environmental issues with trivial problems of transportation and preservation of military property. The continental nature of the demilitarization of the former Russian Front makes it possible to speak of its remilitarisation as early as the summer of 1918.

Arminius Rex: On the Postcolonial Uses of Imperial Languages in, and beyond, International Law

Despite its aspirational name, our discipline has slowly come to understand that ‘international’ law is anything but international. Increasingly, new waves of scholarship have dissected the famous image of the ‘invisible college’, revealing many of its implicit biases and hierarchies in terms of gender, race, or nationality. A promising example of this is the recent surge of interventions that question international law’s Anglo- or Franco-centric past, present, and future. This rising chorus of voices challenge the relevance of French or highlight the violence involved in making English a global lingua franca. While one can sympathise with this critique from a postcolonial perspective, I have grown increasingly wary that some of these contributions end up pleading for an essentialist understanding of local languages in their quest to undermine imperial tongues. Instead, in this essay, I draw from the Germano-Roman mythical figure of Arminius to reflect on the postcolonial uses of imperial languages. Instead of reclaiming the vernacular, I suggest that critical and postcolonial international legal scholars can strategically inherit the legacies of hegemonic languages for anticolonial purposes. Just as Arminius drew from Latin and Rome, the Négritude movement siphoned from French – and even Postcolonial Studies were themselves forged in the crucible of British rule over Egypt and India. We too, I argue, can attempt to use the master’s tools to dismantle his house, at least temporarily.