Postcolonialism: Critiquing the Eurocentric views of the world

Postcolonialism has become one of the most recognisable concepts in academic and intellectual circles over the last four decades. This article begins by distinguishing two dimensions of the concept. The first is a simple, temporal and factual dimension, whereby postcolonial merely connotes the historical period that has come into existence after colonisation by European powers ended. 

The second dimension refers to the intellectual framework that has made significant contributions to academic debates. This article will focus on the second dimension. Postcolonial theory has adopted an extremely critical stance towards European colonialism and more generally towards the attitude dubbed as Eurocentrism. Eurocentrism or Eurocentric perspectives refers to the worldviews that place Europe at the center of historical, intellectual, and cultural narratives. 

Postcolonial theory challenges these Eurocentric narratives by opposing the values associated with the 18th-century European Enlightenment.

From a postcolonial perspective, Enlightenment ideals – such as rationality, progress, and universalism – often served to justify colonial exploitation and cultural domination. Therefore, postcolonial theory rejects such measures and seeks to foster a more inclusive understanding of global history and culture.

Edward Said and the rise of postcolonial theory

This intellectual stance against the Enlightenment has then committed postcolonial theory to the position that decolonised societies should not be measured against the standards of colonial countries – a process that inevitably portrays them as deficient. Among the most influential figures associated with the rise and origins of postcolonial theory is Edward Said – a distinguished academic from Columbia University.

Said, a professor of comparative literature wrote Orientalism (1978), a book that was to acquire the status of a modern classic in his lifetime. He died in September 2003 from a rare form of leukemia. During his visit to India in December 1997, Said delivered a lecture titled Responses to Orientalism at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi where he expressed his surprise at the iconic status the book had achieved.

Said’s book talked about three different forms of Orientalism: British, French and American spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The British and French variants were grounded in the discipline of philology or the study of languages, while the American variant emerged through area studies programmes – academic programmes that focus on a specific region of the world. Said argued that Orientalism was a particular colonial attitude or disposition of wanting to know about the lands of the east (the Orient). The knowledge generated through this process was not academically detached but facilitated the control of colonies. 

In Said’s own words, Orientalism was ‘a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience’. Theoretically speaking, Said was drawing from the intellectual insights of the French philosopher Michel Foucault whose ideas on power, knowledge and discourse convincingly suggested that power – conventionally understood as flowing from repressive force – actually emanated from knowledge. The knowledge gained and garnered in the manner of Oriental scholars studying the societies of the east constructed a discourse that shaped the ‘reality’ of the Orient.

Key thinkers of postcolonialism  

To reiterate, what makes postcolonial theory so intellectually distinct is its opposition to Eurocentrism and the Enlightenment. This stemmed from Said’s intellectual position on Orientalism whereby he crucially drew insights from Michel Foucault. Foucault, in turn, was inspired by the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose influential and powerful writings marked a significant departure from the core ideals of the Enlightenment such as universal morality, and linear progress.

On account of its origins in literary theory, postcolonial theory has tended to emphasise the element of the discursive – how colonialism and its legacies are perpetuated through systems of knowledge, language, and cultural representations. Over time, postcolonial theory has spread its influence into other disciplines such as political science and history. In political science, it has manifested itself in terms of providing insights into the post-colonial state where the work of scholars like Sudipta Kaviraj on what he calls “the enchantment of the Indian state” assumes significance. 

Postcolonial theory and its influence have also been visible in the writings of political scientist Partha Chatterjee, especially in his well-known writings on nationalism.

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Chatterjee took issue with the arguments of the well-known theorist of nationalism, Benedict Anderson. In his book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1983), Anderson argued that nationalism was ‘modular’ – a universal model that could be adopted by colonised countries in their struggle for independence from colonial domination. 

Chatterjee argued passionately that if nationalism was to be accepted as ‘modular’, it meant the forfeiting of even the possibility of post-colonial societies imagining their own forms of nationalism. In this spirited postcolonial critique of what was a Marxist argument by Anderson, Chatterjee was bringing out the exceptionality and difference of post-colonial societies, questioning the need to slavishly make them measure up to Western and European models of nationalism.

Critics of postcolonial theory

In the discipline of history, the voluminous writings of the Subaltern school – beginning with the works of historian Ranajit Guha and expanding to include some of the most distinguished scholars in South Asian history – stand as a testament to the profound impact of postcolonial theory on disciplines beyond literary theory. The year 1987 saw the publication of Selected Subaltern Studies which included a foreword and endorsement by Edward Said. Subaltern studies emphasised a history from below and the agency of those overlooked by top-down nationalist historical accounts.

While the influence of postcolonial theory is significant, its critics have raised concerns about its jargon-laden and inaccessible style. They have also pointed to its overly eclectic use of theoretical frameworks. While its philosophical roots in the writings of Foucault and Nietzsche have been recognised, postcolonial theory has also borrowed extensively from Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci. In fact, the subaltern school, which has been considered to be the most influential extension of postcolonial theory, derived the term ‘subaltern’ from Gramsci’s writings. 

Critics of the subaltern school and postcolonial theory more generally, such as Aijaz Ahmad, have noted the theoretical inconsistencies in this regard, pointing out that the Marxist and materialist background of Gramsci’s writings did not sit well with the largely discursive focus of postcolonial theory.

One of the most prominent critics of postcolonial theory is the sociologist Vivek Chibber, who, in his book Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital (2006), acknowledges the “remarkable” and “salubrious” beginnings of postcolonial theory in literary studies. However, Chibber bewails its rapid spread to other disciplines, which, in his view, has resulted in a “conceptual inflation” and an overreach on the part of postcolonial theory.

Post Read Questions

What is Eurocentrism, and how does it shape historical and cultural narratives? How does postcolonial theory critique Eurocentric worldviews?

What is the significance of Edward Said’s book Orientalism in the field of postcolonial theory?

Why does Partha Chatterjee critique Benedict Anderson’s notion of modular nationalism in the context of post-colonial societies?

What are the main criticisms Aijaz Ahmad has raised against postcolonial theory, particularly regarding its theoretical inconsistencies?

(Amir Ali is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

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