Postcolonialism and the Native American Experience: A Theoretical Perspective

Authors

  • Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/asiatic.v3i1.425

Abstract

Taking the common understanding of “postcolonial as independence†to task, the present paper challenges some of the fundamental assumptions circulating in the field at a theoretical level, and pleads for a radical overhauling of the postcolonial project to accommodate the indigenous peoples’ cultural resistance in the postcolonial framework. While doing so, it destabilises the very idea of a postcolonial settler literature, thereby placing it in the colonial discourse. By using native American culture as a prototype of postcolonial experience, the paper argues for the restoration of indigenous cultural practices, and then turns them into a critique of Western civilisational complexes. The attempt then is made to locate the agenda of postcolonialism in the narratives of resistance where decolonisation of mind and history is realised.

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Author Biography

Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

Dr. Jyotirmaya Tripathy is in the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. His areas of interest are quite varied, which include culture studies, postcolonial theory, gender studies and alternative approaches to development. His edited volume After Globalization: Essays in Religion, Culture and Identity was published by Allied Publishers, New Delhi, in 2007.

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Published

2009-06-15

How to Cite

Tripathy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, J. (2009). Postcolonialism and the Native American Experience: A Theoretical Perspective. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 3(1), 40–53. https://doi.org/10.31436/asiatic.v3i1.425

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Articles