Political, Passionate, Engaging and Effective

books:


	• Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) Robert J. C. Young Oxford University Press, USA, 2003 - 200 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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A brilliant book--it could change your life

If you don't want to have any of your views challenged or at least put in question, then don't read this book. You can learn from this book: it tells you about a different world, which is probably not your own. If you just want someone to tell you about the world you already know, then there are many many other books around that do that. This book takes you on a journey of discovery around the earth, showing you what it looks like, how it feels, when the third world comes first, not last. It will be different, it may make you feel uncomfortable, you may feel that it is turning your world upside down, but its an amazing, positive and heartening experience you will never forget.

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Helpful book.

This book is a general review of the postcolonial literature. It's realy easy to understand because the use of language is not complex and the concepts are very well explained. After rreading this book you will have the required knowledge to read a postcolonial piece of work. I recommend this book for someone who is reading postcolonial literature for the first time. :)

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Political, Passionate, Engaging and Effective

In the introduction the author tells us that "Postcolonialism is about turning the world upside down and looking at it from a different perspective, that is, from the perspective of the disenfranchised people, a majority of whom come from the developing world" (2). The author then proceeds to show us the world from "their" eyes. His approach is unconventional; he presents "a montage" in which we see the bombing of Baghdad from an Iraqi's perspective, the plight of the homeless peasants in Brazil, the rape and torture of Algerians by the French in colonial Algeria, the forced unveilings of Muslim women under the American imposed Shah in Iran, the displacement of 200,000 Adivasi villagers because of the World Bank sponsored construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the CIA's overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, the president of the newly liberated Congo, and mass starvation in countries with surpluses of food. These slices of the lives and struggles of the disenfranchised peoples make the reader feel their pain and suffering. We experience the injustices of the world and view the imposition of Western culture and values as a form of violence and oppression; we come to understand the Third World's ambivalent, if not hostile, feelings toward the West.

This may seem radical since the Western world prefers to ignore the harsh realties that exist in developing nations and within its own societies. The prosperous are taught that current systems (political and economic) promise equality, justice and prosperity for all and that our interventions overseas have been of a benevolent nature. Thus, by showing another perspective, a perspective in which all these ideas are turned upside down, may strike the uninitiated as subversive. But, that's precisely the point. Postcolonialism specifically seeks to subvert the West's understanding of itself (as good), of different cultures (as inferior) and of its relation to these cultures (as kind and beneficial). It argues that all understandings of historical relations, as well as all forms of knowledge, are inherently political as they authorize one group's view of reality over another's.

A previous reviewer claims that this work reads like a pamphlet. I think this is because it has an emotional impact on the reader, which can be particularly disconcerting for someone who has never seen the world from this perspective and is resistant to giving it any validity. But, this glimpse of the world through the eye's of the Westerner's Other is also what makes this introduction so unique and effective. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming acquainted with this subject on an intellectual and emotional level. However, if you're looking for a critique of Postcolonialism, this is not the book for you.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Postcolonialism explores the political, social, and cultural effects of decolonization, continuing the anti-colonial challenge to western dominance. This lively and innovative account of both the history and key debates of postcolonialism discusses its importance as an historical condition, and as a means of changing the way we think about the world. Key concepts and issues are considered, with reference to particular cultural and historical examples, such as the status of aboriginal people, cultural nomadism, Western feminism, the innovative fiction of Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, and the postcolonial cities of London, Bombay and Cairo. The work of theorists such as Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, and Gayatri Spivak are woven into the discussion, making this fascinating subject relevant and accessible to a wider audience.

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