A Study of Postcolonial Theory of Crisis Identity And Literature

Abstract

During the second half of the twentieth century a new era arose when many countries gained independence, transitioning from colony to country. According to literary critics and theorists, the term “postcolonial” is defined as all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day. Colonialism has had an immeasurable influence on history of the world, societies and individuals. It has penetrated the larger issues of culture, race, gender, and identity. Most themes that postcolonial theory and literature deal with are race, gender, ethnicity, identity and culture. One of the controversial issues of post colonialism is the question of identity and culture. In the modern world with the increase of immigrant numbers, hybrid nations, and constitutions of countries with different cultural diversities, the question of identity came to the surface. Theorists have paid a great attention to identity issues. Franz Fanon’s argued about the consequences of colonialism and the change formed by the experience of immigration. For Edward Said, the central point of identity construction is the ability to resist and to recreate oneself as a postcolonial, anti-imperialist subject. At the same time, postcolonial novelists especially writers in former British colonies attracted the attention of readers and literary prizes. These novelists exposed and expressed the conditions of identity crises that emerged in postcolonial period. Their novels rarely avoided or escaped from the presence of Diasporas and exile and matters connected to identity.