Literature for Our Times - Postcolonial Studies in the Twenty-First Century - Introduction by Bill Ashcroft

Sep 19, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra

Edited collection presenting postcolonial studies for the twenty-first century, organized around conceptual and methodological questions of postcolonial literature. Covers readings of world literature, imperial scholarship, race and ethnicity, and the politics of speech. Includes discussions of translation and cultural encounters, diasporic literatures, gendered bodies, indigenous literatures, dalit literature and caste, the city, and themes of terrorism, trauma, and ethics of reading. Ends with acknowledgements, notes, and an index.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages677

Reading Time17 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Preface and Acknowledgements

Introduction: A Convivial Critical Democracy – Post-Colonial Studies in the Twenty-First Century

THE IDEA OF (POSTCOLONIAL ) LITERATURE : CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

The Commonwealth Legacy: Towards a Decentred Reading of World Literature

Global Literary Refractions: Reading Pascale Casanova’s The World Republic of Letters in the Post-Cold War Era

Not (Yet) Speaking to Each Other: The Politics of Speech in Jamaica Kincaid’s Postcolonialism

Frailty and Feeling: Literature for Our Times

Spaces of Desire: A Pleasant Séjour in Robert Kroetsch’s The Hornbooks of Rita

Literature for Our Times CROSS Readings in Post / Colonial UL TU RES Literatures and Cultures in English 145 S ERIES E DITORS Gordon Collier Bénédicte Ledent Geoffrey Davis (Giessen) (Liège) (Aachen) C O-F O U N D I N G E DITOR 􀁧Hena Maes–Jelinek Literature for Our Times Postcolonial Studies in the Twenty-First Century Edited by Bill Ashcroft, Ranjini Mendis, Julie McGonegal, and Arun Mukherjee Introduction by Bill Ashcroft Amsterdam-New York, NY 2012 Cover image: Gordon Collier (based on Susan Point, Into the Light) Back cover image: Susan Point (Musqueam – Coast Salish) Into the Light (2008; serigraph; 59.1 x 136.5 cm) courtesy of the artist [www.susanpoint.com](www.susanpoint.com) [Cover design:](Cover design:)[ ](Cover design:)Inge Baeten The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation-Paper for documents-Requirements for permanence”. ISBN: 978-90-420-3453-2 E-Book ISBN: 978-94-012-0739-3 © Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam – New York, NY 2012 Printed in The Netherlands To the memory of Meenakshi Mukherjee (*Kolkata 1937–†Hyderabad 2009) Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgements RANJIN I M END IS xi Introduction: A Convivial Critical Democracy – Post-Colonial Studies in the Twenty-First Century BILL ASHCROFT xv THE IDEA OF (POSTCOLONIAL ) LITERATURE : CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES The Commonwealth Legacy: Towards a Decentred Reading of World Literature FRANK SCHULZE–ENGLER Global Literary Refractions: Reading Pascale Casanova’s The World Republic of Letters in the Post-Cold War Era DEBJANI GANGUL Y Not (Yet) Speaking to Each Other: The Politics of Speech in Jamaica Kincaid’s Postcolonialism LINCOLN Z . SHLENSKY Frailty and Feeling: Literature for Our Times PAUL SHARRAD Spaces of Desire: A Pleasant Séjour in Robert Kroetsch’s The Hornbooks of Rita KNELA BUREU RAMOS 3 15 37 53 69 AFTER SAID : IMPERIAL SCHOLARSHIP , RACE , AND ETHNICITY From Indomania to Indophobia: Thomas De Quincey’s Providential Orientalism DANIEL SANJ IV ROBERTS Rebels of Empire: The Human Idiom in Ruskin Bond’sA Flight of Pigeons SATISH C . AIKANT 91 103 TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS A Multi-Centred Globe: Translation as the Language of Languages NG 􀃗 G 􀂴 WA T HI ONG ’ O 117 Ng􀃗g􀂴’s Wizard of the Crow and the Edifice Complex JOHN C . HAWLEY 125 Re-membering the Dismembered: Ng􀃗g􀂴 wa Thiong’o, Language, Resistance, and Identity-Formation MUMIA G . OSAAJI 137 Scars of Language in Translation: The ‘Itchy’ Poetics of Jam Ismail ELENA BASILE 151 English in the Languages of Cultural Encounters ROBERT J . C . YOUNG 165 LITERATURES OF DIASPORA AND MI GRAN CY The Missing Link: Transculturation, Hybridity, and / or Transculturality? SISSY HELFF 187 Drickie Potter and the Annihilating Sea: Reading Jamaica Kincaid’s Waves of Nothingness JOHN CLEMENT BALL 203 Bhangra Boomerangs: Re-Imagining Apna Punjab ANJA LI G ERA ROY 221 “Trading Places in the Promised Lands”: Indian Pilgrimage Paradigms in Postcolonial Travel Narratives DOROTHY LANE 245 Writing as Healing: Fijindians – The Twice Banished? KAVITA IVY NANDAN 269 GENDERED BODIES To Veil or Not to Veil: Muslim Women Writers Speak Their Rights FER OZA J US SAW ALLA 289 Gendered Bodies in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus CHERYL ST OBIE 307 Bearing Witness: Gender, Apocalypse, and History MARILYN ADLER PAPAYANIS 327 INDIGENOUS LITERATURES , LITERATURE S OF T HE LAND : AN ETHOS FOR THESE TIMES Literature of the Land: An Ethos for These Times JEANNE TTE ARMSTRONG 345 Masculindians: The Violence and Voyeurism of Male Sibling Relationships in Recent First-Nations Fiction SAM MC KEGNEY 357 From Noble Savage to Brave New Warrior? Constructions of a Māori Tradition of Warfare MICHAELA MOUR A–KOÇO 􀀋 LU 369 A Native Clearing Revisited: Positioning Philippine Literature CHEL

FAQs

What is the overall focus of the book Literature for Our Times?

It focuses on postcolonial studies in the twenty-first century, framing postcolonial literature through conceptual, methodological, and critical perspectives.

Which major topics are covered besides the core idea of postcolonial literature?

It also addresses imperial scholarship, race and ethnicity, translation and cultural encounters, diasporic and transcultural literatures, gendered bodies, indigenous literatures, dalit literature, the city, and terrorism, trauma, and ethics of reading.

How is the book structured in terms of reading and interpretation?

The table of contents shows thematic sections that guide multiple interpretive angles—conceptual frameworks, translation studies, comparative literary readings, and ethical approaches to post-conflict and literary testimony.

Sep 19, 2026

Uploaded by Ezra