Postcolonialism: WTF? An Intro to Postcolonial Theory

In this month's episode of What the Theory?, we're diving into postcolonialism with an intro to postcolonial theory in literature, film and culture.

We'll be looking at the ideas of Edward Said (as laid out in his book Orientalism), Gayatri Spivak (Can the Subaltern Speak?), Homi Bhabha (The Location of Culture) and Stuart Hall (The West and Rest).

In particular, this postcolonialism crash course hopes to give you an insight into how some of these core ideas of post-colonialism can be used to analyse cultural texts through the critical lens of postcolonial theory. As such, we'll put these ideas into action in discussing James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar and Ryan Coogler's 2018 film Black Panther.

Further Reading

Orientalism by Edward Said
US: https://amzn.to/2EEviba
UK: https://amzn.to/2Vx1PFW

Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction by Robert J.C. Young
US: https://amzn.to/2VvIg0C
UK: https://amzn.to/2NzCgRC

Postcolonial Theory and Avatar by Gautam Basu Thakur
US: https://amzn.to/2TaCkgZ
UK: https://amzn.to/2NBe9SG

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

References

Barry, P. (1995) Beginning Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Eligon, John (2018) /Wakanda Is a Fake Country, but the African Language in ‘Black Panther’ Is Real/. The New York Times. [Online] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us... [18 October 2018].

Hall, S. (1996) ‘The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power’. in S. Hall and B. Gieben [eds] Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 275-331.

Sanginga, N. A. (2018) A Portion Of Pan-Africanism In “Black Panther”. The Mac Weekly. [Online] https://themacweekly.com/2018/03/a-po... [20 October 2018].

Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

Spivak, G. C. (2010 [1988]) ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’. in R. Morris [ed] Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea. New York: Columbia University Press.

Wong (Omowale), D. (2018) The Black Panther: An Anti-Colonial Pan-African Superhero. Huffpost. [Online] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/... [20 October 2018].