Deconstruction and the Postcolonial
At the Limits of Theory
Distributed for Liverpool University Press
288 pages
|
6 x 9
|
© 2007
Postcolonial studies have transformed how we think about subjectivity, national identity, globalization, history, language, literature, and international politics. Until recently, the emphasis has been almost exclusively within an Anglophone context, but the focus of postcolonial studies is shifting to a more comparative approach.
One of the most intriguing developments has been within the Francophone world. A number of genealogical lines of influence are being drawn, connecting the work of the three figures most associated with the emergence of postcolonial theory–Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, and Gayatri Spivak–to an earlier generation of predominantly postructuralist French theorists. Within this emerging narrative of intellectual influences, the importance of the thought of Jacques Derrida and the status of deconstruction have been acknowledged, but not adequately accounted for. In Deconstruction and the Postcolonial, Michael Syrotinski reconsiders the underlying conceptual tensions and theoretical stakes of what he terms a "deconstructive postcolonialism" and argues that postcolonial studies stands to gain ground in terms of its political forcefulness and philosophical rigour by turning back to, and not away from, deconstruction.
One of the most intriguing developments has been within the Francophone world. A number of genealogical lines of influence are being drawn, connecting the work of the three figures most associated with the emergence of postcolonial theory–Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, and Gayatri Spivak–to an earlier generation of predominantly postructuralist French theorists. Within this emerging narrative of intellectual influences, the importance of the thought of Jacques Derrida and the status of deconstruction have been acknowledged, but not adequately accounted for. In Deconstruction and the Postcolonial, Michael Syrotinski reconsiders the underlying conceptual tensions and theoretical stakes of what he terms a "deconstructive postcolonialism" and argues that postcolonial studies stands to gain ground in terms of its political forcefulness and philosophical rigour by turning back to, and not away from, deconstruction.
Jane Hiddleston
'An insightful, provocative and challenging book.'
Jane Hiddleston, University of Oxford
Jane Hiddleston, University of Oxford
Contents
Introduction
PART I: POSTCOLONIAL DECONSTRUCTION
1. Deconstruction in Algeria (Derrida ‘himself’)
2. Hybridity Revisited
3. Spivak Reading Derrida: An Interesting Exchange
PART II: DECONSTRUCTION AND POSTCOLONIAL AFRICA
4. Defetishizing Africa
5. Reprendre: Mudimbe’s Deconstructions
6. Violence and Writing in the African Postcolony: Achille Mbembe and Sony Labou Tansi
PART I: POSTCOLONIAL DECONSTRUCTION
1. Deconstruction in Algeria (Derrida ‘himself’)
2. Hybridity Revisited
3. Spivak Reading Derrida: An Interesting Exchange
PART II: DECONSTRUCTION AND POSTCOLONIAL AFRICA
4. Defetishizing Africa
5. Reprendre: Mudimbe’s Deconstructions
6. Violence and Writing in the African Postcolony: Achille Mbembe and Sony Labou Tansi
Conclusion: (Postcolonial Blanchot?)
Bibliography
Bibliography
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