Postcolonial/Subaltern Feminism

Postcolonial theory is a growing and a contentious field. While postcolonial scholars are divided over the precise definition of the term postcolonial and what it encompasses, this theory deals with the ways societies have been colonized, centering on the key concept of otherness, also referred to as the subaltern. Postcolonialism emphasizes that colonized subjects are highly diverse in their characteristics, conventions, and traditions and belong to cultures that are constantly evolving. Consequently, they are not only “other” to the colonizers but also are different from one another and from their own pasts and should not be generalized into a single group. The rise of postcolonialism in the West has often been attributed to the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism, published in 1978, which is a critique of Western conceptualizations of the Orient. However, modern postcolonial theory essentially emerged out of the writings of Indian subaltern theorists. These scholars used the particular experiences of colonialism in India as a model to understand contemporary [Page 655]relations of domination and subjugation but in many cases also sought to maintain a strong bond with the culture of the ex-colonizer.

Postcolonial scholars believe that all contemporary racial, ethnic, and cultural oppressions can be attributed to Western colonialisms. Postcolonialism addresses the ways colonized people have served the interests of colonizers, how knowledge of colonized peoples is produced and used, and the ways the literature and practices of the colonial powers are used to justify colonialism through binary oppositions stemming from the European colonial era (for instance, the colonized being portrayed as emotional and decadent, the West being portrayed as principled and progressive). Instead of simply reversing this negative polarization, postcolonial theories focus on reempowering subjects who were marginalized by colonial rule. Consequently, they have been eager to seek structural similarities, continuities, conjunctures, and alliances between the postcolonial oppressions experienced by people, both in formerly colonized populations in developing countries and among immigrant populations in the West.