Notes on the "Post-Colonial"

Author(s): Ella Shohat

Source: Social Text, No. 31/32, Third World and Post-Colonial Issues (1992), pp. 99-113
Published by: Duke University Press
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Notesonthe "Post-Colonial"
ELLA SHOHAT

The academicoppositionto theGulfWarmobilizeda number

of familiar
terms- "imperialism," "neo-colonialism," "neo-imperialism"- in a

verbalcounter-strike
againsttheNew WorldOrder.But conspicuously
absent fromthe discussionwas the term"post-colonial,"even from
advocates.Giventheextraorspeechesmadeby itsotherwise
prominent
circulation
of
the
term
in
recent
academic
conferences,
dinary
publications and curricularreformulations,this sudden invisibilitywas
somewhatpuzzling.Was this absence sheercoincidence?Or is there
abouttheterm"post-colonial"thatdoes notlend itselfto a
something
media's GulfWar
geopoliticalcritique,or to a critiqueof thedominant
macro-narratives?
Whenlinesdrawnin thesandstillhauntThirdWorld
geographies,it is urgentto ask how we can chartthe meaningof the
"post-colonial."It is frommyparticular
positionas an academicArabJewwhoseculturaltopographies
are(dis)locatedinIraq,Israel/Palestine,
and theU.S.A. thatI wouldlike to exploresomeof thetheoretical
and
of the"post-colonial."
politicalambiguities
of positionalities,
Despiteits dizzyingmultiplicity
post-colonialthehas
not
the
addressed
of
of theveryterm
location
ory
curiously
politics
In
I
what
to
an
of
follows, propose begin interrogation
"post-colonial."
theterm"post-colonial,"
its
raisingquestionsabout ahistoricaland uniand its potentially
versalizingdeployments,
depoliticizing
implications.
The risinginstitutional
endorsement
of theterm"post-colonial"and of
post-colonialstudiesas an emergentdiscipline(evidentin MLA job
announcements
is
callingforspecializationin "post-colonial
literature")
fraughtwithambiguities.My recentexperienceas a memberof the
multiculturalinternationalstudies committeeat one of the CUNY
branchesillustrates
some of theseambiguities.In responseto our proposal, the generallyconservativemembersof the college curriculum
committee
resistedanylanguageinvokingissuessuchas "impestrongly
rialismand thirdworldistcritique,""neo-colonialism
and resistingculturalpractices,"and "thegeopoliticsof culturalexchange."Theywere
at thesightof theword"post-colonial."
visiblyrelieved,however,
Only
thediplomaticgestureof relinquishing
theterrorizing
terms"imperialin favorofthepastoral"post-colonial"
ism"and"neo-colonialism"
guaranteedapproval.
99

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100

Notesonthe"Post-Colonial"

hereis notmerelyto anatomizetheterm"post-colonial"

My intention
and institutionbut
semantically, to situateit geographically,
historically
its
doubts
about
The
while
politicalagency. questionat stake
raising
ally,
arebeingadvancedinthe"post-colonial?"
is this.Whichperspectives
For
whatpurposes?And withwhatslippages?In thisbriefdiscussion,my
produced
pointis neitherto examinethevarietyof provocativewritings
norsimplyto essentializetheterm
undertherubricpost-colonialtheory,
butratherto unfoldits slipperypoliticalsignifications,
"post-colonial,"
ofitstheointentions
whichoccasionallyescape theclearlyoppositional
and
HereI willarguefora morelimited,
reticalpractitioners.
historically
one whichsitutheoretically
specific,usageof theterm"post-colonial,"
atesitin a relationalcontextvis-a-visother(equallyproblematic)
categories.
The "post-colonial"did not emergeto fill an emptyspace in the
its wideadaptaanalysis.On thecontrary,
languageof political-cultural
on the
tionduringthelate eightieswas coincidentwithand dependent
"Third
World."
of
The
the
an
older
that
of
terminologeclipse
paradigm,
ical shiftindicatesthe professionalprestigeand theoreticalaura the
issues haveacquired,in contrastto themoreactivistauraonce enjoyed
by "ThirdWorld"withinprogressiveacademiccircles.Coined in the
all those
fiftiesin Francebyanalogyto thethirdestate(thecommoners,
"Third
who wereneitherthenobilitynortheclergy),the term
World"
currencyin bothacademicand politicalcontexts,
gained international
of the
in referenceto anti-colonialnationalistmovements
particularly
theseventiesas wellas to thepolitical-economic
fiftiesthrough
analysis
of dependencytheoryand worldsystemtheory(Andr6GunderFrank,
SamirAmin).
ImmanuelWallerstein,
crisisaroundtheconThe lastdecade has witnesseda terminological
worlds
The
three
"Third
World."
the
of
theoryis indeed,as many
cept
For
criticshave suggested,
highlyproblematic.' one thing,thehistorical
ofverycomplexand
a number
processesofthelastthreedecadesoffered
politicallyambiguousdevelopments.The period of so-called "Third
Worldeuphoria"- a briefmomentin whichit seemedthatFirstWorld
wouldwalkarmin armtowardglobal
leftistsand ThirdWorldguerrillas
- has given way to the collapse of the Soviet Communist
revolution
of thehoped-for
model,thecrisisof existingsocialisms,thefrustration
revolution(with Ho Chi Minh,FrantzFanon,and Che
tricontinental
of the
Guevaraas talismanicfigures),therealizationthatthewretched
earthare not unanimously
(nor necessarilyallies to one
revolutionary
another),and therecognitionthatinternationalgeo-politicsand theglobal
economic systemhave obliged even socialist regimesto make some kind
of peace withtransnationalcapitalism. And despite the broad patternsof
geo-political hegemony,power relations in the Third World are also
World struggle,furdispersed and contradictory.The First World/Third

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101

EllaShohat

takesplace notonlybetweennations(India/Pakistan,
thermore,
Iraq/Kubut
also withinnations,withthe constantly
wait),
changingrelations
and subalterngroups,settlerand indigenouspopulabetweendominant
in
a situationmarkedby waves of post-independence
as
as
well
tions,
toFirstWorldcountries
and the
(Britain,France,Germany,
immigrations
ThirdWorldcountries
U.S.) andtomoreprosperous
(theGulfstates.)The
notionof thethreeworlds,in short,flattens
masksconheterogeneities,
andelidesdifferences.
tradictions,
Thiscrisisin "ThirdWorld"thinking
enthuhelpsexplainthecurrent
a new designationforcriticaldissiasm forthe term,"post-colonial,"
fromcolonialrelationsandtheir
courseswhichthematize
issuesemerging
aftermath,
coveringa longhistoricalspan(includingthepresent.)Dropfrom"post-colonialism,"
theadjective"post-colopingthe suffix"ism"
attachedto thenouns,"theory,"
nial" is frequently
"space,""condition,"
while
often
substitutes
for
it
the
"intellectual,"
adjective"ThirdWorld"
in relationto the noun"intellectual."The qualifier"ThirdWorld,"by
morefrequently
contrast,
accompaniesthenouns,"nations,""countries"
and "peoples."More recentlythe"post-colonial"has been transformed
intoa noun,used bothin thesingularand theplural("postcolonials"),
thesubjectsof the"postcolonialcondition."2
The finalcondesignating
secrationof the termcame withtheerasureof the hyphen.Oftenbuttressedby thetheoretically
connotedsubstantive
the
"post-coloniality,"
academic(cultural)
"post-colonial"is largelyvisiblein Anglo-American
studiesin publicationsof discursive-cultural
analysesinflected
by poststructuralism.3
marksa contemporary
Echoing "post-modernity,"
"postcoloniality"
condition
orepoch.4Theprefix"post,"then,aligns"poststate,situation,
colonialism"witha seriesofother"posts"- "post-structuralism,"
"postmodernism,"
"post-marxism,"
"post-feminism,"
"post-deconstructionism"
- all sharingthenotionof a movement
beyond.Yet whilethese"posts"
referlargelytothesupercession
ofoutmoded
aestheticand
philosophical,
the"post-colonial"
politicaltheories,
impliesbothgoingbeyondanti-colonialnationalist
as wellas a movement
theory
beyonda specificpointin
thatof colonialismandThirdWorldnationalist
In that
history,
struggles.
sense theprefix"post"alignsthe"post-colonial"withanothergenreof
"posts"- "post-war,"
"post-coldwar,""post-independence,"
"post-revolution"- all of whichunderlinea passage into a new periodand a
closureofa certainhistorical
eventorage, officially
stampedwithdates.
Althoughperiodizationsand the relationshipbetween theoriesof an era
and thepracticeswhichconstitutethatera always formcontestedterrains,
it seems to me thatthe two genresof the "post" are nonethelessdistinct
in theirreferentialemphasis,the firston disciplinaryadvances characteristic of intellectualhistory,and the latteron the strictchronologies of
historytout court. This unarticulatedtensionbetween the philosophical

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102

Notesonthe"Post-Colonial"

I wouldargue,parand thehistoricalteleologiesin the"post-colonial,"

of
some
the
of
underlies
conceptualambiguities theterm.
tially
Since the"post"in the"post-colonial"
suggests"after"thedemiseof
withan
colonialism,it is imbued,quiteapartfromits users'intentions,
from
India
into
Spreading
Anglo-Ameriambiguousspatio-temporality.
can academiccontexts,the"post-colonial"tendsto be associatedwith
ThirdWorldcountrieswhichgainedindependence
afterWorldWarII.
to
World
of the
However,italso refers theThird
diasporiccircumstances
last fourdecades- fromforcedexile to "voluntary"immigration
In somepost-colonial
withinFirstWorldmetropolises.
texts,suchas The

Empire WritesBack: Theoryand Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures,

toincludeall Englishliterary
theauthorsexpandtheterm"post-colonial"
bycolonialism:
bysocietiesaffected
productions
of African
...theliteratures
Australia,
countries,
Canada,
Bangladesh,
Caribbeancountries,
India,Malasia,Malta,New Zealand,Pakistan,
andSriLankaareall postSingapore,SouthPacificIslandcountries,
Theliterature
oftheUSA shouldalso be placedin
colonialliteratures.
thiscategory.
positionofpower,andthe
Perhapsbecauseofitscurrent
naturehasnotbeen
it
has
its
role
neo-colonizing
played, postcolonial
with
the
its
centre
But
relationship
metropolitan
recognized.
generally
for
as it evolvedoverthelast twocenturieshas beenparadigmatic
Whateachoftheseliteratures
has
literature
everywhere.
post-colonial
in commonbeyondtheirspecialanddistinctive
regionalcharacterisformoutof theexperience
in theirpresent
of
ticsis thattheyemerged
thetension
colonizationand assertedthemselves
by foregrounding
theirdifferences
from
withtheimperialpower,and by emphasizing
of theimperialcentre.It is thiswhichmakesthem
theassumptions
distinctively
post-colonial.

national-racial
formulation
This problematic
collapsesverydifferent
- theUnitedStates,Australia,and Canada,on theone hand,
formations
and Nigeria,Jamaica,and India,on theother- as equally"post-colonial." PositioningAustraliaand India, forexample,in relationto an
imperialcenter,simplybecause theywere bothcolonies,equates the
to theEuropeansat the"center"
relationsof thecolonizedwhite-settlers
totheEuropeans.Italso
withthatofthecolonizedindigenous
populations
ThirdWorldnations
assumesthatwhitesettlercountriesand emerging
whiteAustrabrokeaway fromthe"center"in thesame way.Similarly,
as
are placed in thesame"periphery,"
lians and AboriginalAustralians
vis-a-visthe"center."Thecriticaldifferthoughtheywereco-habitatants
in Ausences betweentheEurope'sgenocidaloppressionof Aboriginals
tralia, indigenous peoples of the Americas and Afro-diasporic
communities,and Europe's dominationof European elites in thecolonies
are leveled withan easy strokeof the"post." The term"post-colonial,"in
this sense, masks the white settlers' colonialist-racistpolicies toward
indigenouspeoples not only beforeindependencebut also afterthe offi-

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EllaShohat

103

cial breakfromtheimperialcenter,whilealso de-emphasizing

neocolonial globalpositionings
ofFirstWorldsettler-states.
I am notsuggesting
thatthisexpandeduse of the"post-colonial"is
or
The phrase "post-colonial society" might
typical paradigmatic.6
evoke
Third
World
nation-states
afterindependence.
However,
equally
of
the
thedisorienting
space
"post-colonial"generatesodd couplingsof
the"post"andparticular
theassignment
ofperspecgeographies,
blurring
tives.Does the"post"indicatetheperspective
and locationoftheex-colonized(Algerian),theex-colonizer
(French),theex-colonial-settler
(Pied
Noir), or thedisplacedhybridin FirstWorldmetropolitans
(Algerianin
is shared,
France)?Since theexperienceof colonialismand imperialism
albeitasymmetrically,
by (ex)colonizerand (ex)colonized,itbecomesan
easy moveto applythe"post"also to FirstWorldEuropeancountries.
Since mostoftheworldis nowlivingaftertheperiodofcolonialism,the
"post-colonial"can easilybecomea universalizing
categorywhichneutralizessignificant
betweenFranceand Algeria,
geopoliticaldifferences
Britainand Iraq, or the U.S. and Brazilsince theyare all livingin a
effacement
of perspectives,I
"post-colonialepoch." This inadvertent
should add, resultsin a curiousambiguityin scholarlywork.While
colonialdiscourserefersto thediscourseproducedbycolonizersin both
thecolonyand themotherland
discurand,at times,to itscontemporary
sive manifestations
in literature
and mass-mediated
culture,"post-colonial discourse"does notreferto colonialistdiscourseafterthe end of
colonialism.Rather,it evokes the contemporary
theoreticalwritings,
on theleft,andwhich
placedinboththeFirstandThirdWorldsgenerally
attemptto transcendthe(presumed)binarismsof ThirdWorldistmilitancy.
the"post-colonial"rendersa probApartfromits dubiousspatiality,
lematictemporality.
in the"post"
First,thelack of historicalspecificity
leads toa collapsingofdiversechronologies.
Colonial-settler
states,such
as thosefoundintheAmericas,
NewZealand,andSouthAfrica,
Australia,
forthemostpart,in theeighteenth
and ninegainedtheirindependence,
teenthcenturies.Most countriesin Africaand Asia, in contrast,
gained
some in the nineteenthirties
independencein the twentieth
century,
(Iraq), othersin thenineteenforties(India,Lebanon),and stillothersin
the nineteensixties(Algeria,Senegal) and thenineteenseventies(Angola, Mozambique),whileothershave yetto achieveit. Whenexactly,
then,does the"post-colonial"
begin?Whichregionis privilegedin such
a beginning?Whatare the relationships
betweenthesediversebeginnings? The vague startingpoint of the "post-colonial" makes certain
differentiations
difficult.It equates earlyindependencewon by settler-colonial states, in which Europeans formedtheirnew nation-statesin nonEuropean territoriesat the expense of indigenouspopulations,with that
of nation-stateswhose indigenous populations struggled for indepen-

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104

Notesonthe"Post-Colonial"

dence againstEurope,butwon it,forthemostpart,withthetwentieth

collapseofEuropeanEmpires.
century
the"post"in the"post-colonial"
in relationtoThird
If one formulates
Worldistnationaliststrugglesof thefiftiesand sixties,thenwhattime
framewould applyforcontemporary
anti-colonial/anti-racist
struggles
forPalestinian
carriedunderthebannerofnationalandracialoppression,
writersforexample,like Sahar Khalifehand MahmoudDarwish,who
with"post-colonial"writers?
writecontemporaneously
Shouldone suggest that theyare pre-"postcolonial?"The unifiedtemporalityof
risksreproducing
thecolonialdiscourseofan allochro"postcoloniality"
nic other,livingin anothertime,still laggingbehindus, the genuine
or
postcolonials.The globalizinggestureofthe"postcolonialcondition,"
of locationand temporality,
downplaysmultiplicities
"post-coloniality,"
as well as thepossiblediscursiveandpoliticallinkagesbetweeen"postor anti-neo-colonial
colonial" theoriesand contemporary
anti-colonial,
In
discourses.
other
anti-colonial
and
and
words,
contemporary
struggles
centralAmericaandtheMiddle
resistant
discoursesfrom
anti-neocolonial
disEast to SouthernAfricaand thePhillipinescannotbe theoretically
of theall too familiardiscourses
missedas epigons,as a mererepetition
andsixties.DespitetheirpartlyshareddiscourseswithThird
ofthefifties
thesecontemporary
Worldnationalism,
strugglesalso mustbe historiin
discontext,whenthe"non-aligned"
cized, analyzed a present-day
in
Such
an
the
air.
courseof revolutionsis no longer
approachwould
of a temporal
theimplicitsuggestion
transcend
"gap" between"post-coin themelonial" and thepre-"postcolonial"
discourses,as exemplified
intheIntifada.7
Whathastobe
discoursesandstruggles
langeofresistant
and sameness,rupture
of difference
then,is therelationship
negotiated,
and continuity.
inhibits
Since,on one level,the"post"signifies"after,"itpotentially
Formal
of whatone mightcall "neo-coloniality."
forcefularticulations
the
meant
end
First
has
of
countries
for
colonized
rarely
independence
in
1923
did
not
formal
Worldhegemony.
prevent
independence
Egypt's
whichprovokedthe1952revoEuropean,especiallyBritish,domination
lution.AnwarSadat's openingto the Americansand theCamp David
as a reveraccordsin theseventieswereperceivedby Arabintellectuals
withthe
as was Egyptiancollaboration
sion to pre-Nasserimperialism,
U.S. duringtheGulfwar.8The purposeof theCarterDoctrinewas to
(our oil) in theGulf,which,
partiallyprotectperennialU.S. oil interests
withthehelpofpetro-Islamicist
regimes,havesoughtthecontrolofany
formal"creIn LatinAmerica,similarly,
forcethatmightpose a threat.9
ole" independencedid not preventMonroe Doctrine-stylemilitaryinterventions,or Anglo-Americanfree-tradehegemony.This process sets the
historyof Central and South America and the Caribbean apart fromthe
restof thecolonial settler-states;fordespitesharedhistoricaloriginswith

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EllaShohat

105

the
NorthAmerica,includingthegenocideof theindigenouspopulation,
enslavementof Africans,and a multi-racial/ethnic
these
composition
dominaregionshavebeensubjectedtopoliticalandeconomicstructural
thanthatof recently
tion,on some levels moresevere,paradoxically,
ThirdWorldcountriessuch as Libya and even India. Not
independent
Mexican intellectuals
and independent
labor unionshave
accidentally,
excoriatedtheGringostroika
0oof therecentTradeLiberalization
Treaty.
did notobviatetheneedforCubanor NicaraguanFormalindependence
in PuertoRico. The
or fortheIndependista
movement
stylerevolutions,
once popularin theThirdWorldcontext,specifically
term"revolution,"
initiatedby officialindependence,
but
assumeda post-colonialmoment,
neo-colonialhegemony.
whosecontenthadbeena suffocating
carrieswithit theimplication
thatcolonialThe term"post-colonial"
ism is now a matterof thepast,undermining
colonialism'seconomic,
in thepresent.The "post-colopolitical,and culturaldeformative-traces
over
the
that
nial"inadvertently
fact
eveninthe
glosses
globalhegemony,
in
war
forms
other
than
overt
colonial
rule.As a
era,persists
post-cold
of
new
historical
a
the
term
comwhen
signifier
epoch,
"post-colonial,"
with
comes
neo-colonialism,
pared
equippedwithlittleevocationofcontemporary
powerrelations;it lacksa politicalcontentwhichcan account
fortheeightiesand nineties-style
U.S. militaristic
in Grainvolvements
andforthesymbiotic
linksbetweenU.S.
nada,Panama,andKuwait-Iraq,
politicaland economicinterestsand those of local elites. In certain
racialand nationaloppressionsreflectclearcolocontexts,
furthermore,
nialpatterns,
forexampletheoppression
ofblacksbyAnglo-Dutch
Europeansin SouthAfricaandintheAmericas,theoppressionofPalestinians
and MiddleEasternJewsby Euro-Israel.The "post-colonial"leaves no
forthestruggles
ofaboriginals
in Australiaandindigenous
space,finally,
in
the
other
ofFourthWorldpeoples
Americas,
words,
peoplesthroughout
First
dominated
both
World
multi-national
and byThird
by
corporations
Worldnation-states.
The hegemonicstructures
and conceptualframeworks
generatedover
thelastfivehundred
yearscannotbe vanquishedby wavingthemagical
wandofthe"post-colonial."
The 1992unification
ofEurope,forexample,
countriessuchas Britain,
strengthens
cooperationamongex-colonizing
andItalyagainstillegalimmigration,
stricter
France,Germany
practicing
borderpatrolagainstinfiltration
diverse
Third
World
by
peoples:Algerians, Tunisians,Egyptians,Pakistanis,Sri Lankans, Indians, Turks,
meanSenegalese,Malians,andNigerians.Thecolonialmasternarrative,
while, is being triumphantly
re-staged.Millions of dollars are poured into
internationalevents planned for the quincentenaryof Columbus's socalled voyages of discovery,climaxingin theGrandRegatta,a fleetof tall
ships from40 countries leaving fromSpain and arrivingin New York
Harbor forU.S. IndependenceDay, theFourthof July.At the same time,

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106

Noteson the"Post-Colonial"

is beingperformed
via theview-from-the-shore
an anti-colonial
narrative
American
commemorations
of annihilated
Native
the
communiprojects,
andplansforsetting
theU.S. andtheAmerican
tiesthroughout
continent,
up blockadesat thearrivalofthereplicasofColumbus'scaravels,sailing
when
intoU.S. ports.What,then,is themeaningof "postcoloniality"
conflictspersist?Despitedifferent
historicalcontexts,
certainstructural
theconflictbetweentheNativeAmericanclaimto theirlandas a sacred
view of land as alienable
and communaltrustand theEuro-American
the same. How thendoes one negotiate
remainsstructurally
property
ofa "post-colonial"
withintheframework
whose
samenessanddifference
and deemphasizes
sameness?
"post"emphasizesrupture
culturesare markedbythetensionbetweentheofficial
Contemporary
end of directcolonial rule and its presenceand regeneration
through
withinthe FirstWorldand towardthe
neo-colonialism
hegemonizing
thenationalist
elites.
ThirdWorld,oftenchannelledthrough
patriarchal
The "colonial"in the"post-colonial"
tendstobe relegatedtothepastand
a
markedwitha closure- an impliedtemporalborderthatundermines
For
whatever
the
thrust.
connotations
philosophical
potentialoppositional
"
anddiscontinuities,
ofthe"post"as an ambiguouslocusofcontinuities
of
a
lure
the
"after"
the
evokes
of
itsdenotation
teleological
"post"
that
on
one
level
conflicts
with
clearingofa conceptualspace
celebratory
thenotionof "neo."
also suggestscontinuities
The "neo-colonial,"likethe"post-colonial"
butitsemphasisis on thenewmodesandformsofthe
anddiscontinuities,
old colonialistpractices,not on a "beyond."Althoughone can easily
intoThirdWorldcountries(more
imaginethe"post-colonial"travelling
academythanvia India),the"post-cololikelyvia theAnglo-American
in African,MiddleEasternand LatinAmerican
nial" has littlecurrency
historicalsense
intellectualcircles,exceptoccasionallyin therestricted
colonial
rule.
of
the
end
oftheperiodimmediately
following
Perhapsitis
of
theless intenseexperience neo-colonialism,
accompanied
bythestrong
of
multitudes cultures,languagesand
sense of relativelyunthreatened
ethnicitiesin India, thatallowed forthe recurrent
usage of theprefix
India,where"post"post"overthatof the"neo." Now thatdebt-ridden
has had to place itselfunderthetutecolonialdiscourse"has flourished,
MonetaryFund,and now thatits non-aligned
lage of theInternational
with
foreignpolicyis givingwayto politicaland economiccooperation
theterm"neo-colonial"willbecomemore
theU.S., one wonderswhether
pervasivethan"post-colonial."'2
The "post-colonial" also formsa critical locus for moving beyond
anti-colonial nationalistmodernizingnarrativesthat inscribeEurope as
an object of critique, toward a discursive analysis and historiography
addressing decentered multiplicitiesof power relations (for example,
between colonized women and men,or betweencolonized peasantryand

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EllaShohat

107

thebourgeoisie).The significance
of suchintellectual
projectsstandsin
ironiccontrastto the term"post-colonial"itself,whichlinguistically
ofthecolonialnarrative.
onceagain,thecentrality
The"postreproduces,
ofprogression
in whichcolonialismremains
colonial"impliesa narrative
ina marchoftimeneatlyarranged
thecentralpointofreference,
fromthe
which
but
leaves
its
the
relation
to
new
formsof
to
"post,"
ambiguous
pre
colonialism,i.e. neo-colonialism.
theterm"post-colonial"
in relationto othertermssuchas
Considering
and
allows formutualillumination
"neo-colonial" "post-independence"
of theconcepts.Although
"neo-colonial,"like"post-colonial,"
impliesa
of
a repetition
withdifference,
passage,ithastheadvantage emphasizing
of colonialismthrough
a regeneration
othermeans.The term"neo-colonialism"usefullydesignatesbroadrelationsof geo-economic
hegemony.
Whenexaminedinrelationto"neo-colonialism,"
theterm"post-colonial"
undermines
a critiqueof contemporary
colonialiststructures
of dominatherepetition
and revivalof the"neo." The
tion,moreavailablethrough
term"post-independence,"
meanwhile,invokesan achievedhistoryof
theanalyticalfocusto theemergent
nation-state.
In
resistance,shifting
thissense,theterm"post-independence,"
because
it
precisely
impliesa
nation-state
telos, providesexpandedanalyticalspace forconfronting
suchexplosiveissuesas religion,ethnicity,
genderandsexual
patriarchy,
noneof whichare reducibletoepiphenomena
ofcolonialism
orientation,
and neo-colonialism.
Whereas"post-colonial"suggestsa distancefrom
celebratesthenation-state;
butby atcolonialism,"post-independence"
to
the
it
nation-state also makesThirdWorldregimes
tributing
power
accountable.
The operationof simultaneously
and distancingthecoloprivileging
nial narrative,
the"in-between"
framework
movingbeyondit,structures
of the "post-colonial."This in-betweeness
becomesevidentthrougha
kindof commutation
test.Whileone can positthedualitybetweencoloand evenneo-colonizer/neo-colonized,
it does notmake
nizer/colonized
muchsense to speak of post-colonizers
and post-colonized.
"Colonialism"and "neo-colonialism"
both
and
the
imply
oppression
possibilityof
resistance.Transcending
suchdichotomies,
theterm"post-colonial"
posits no clear domination,
and calls forno clear opposition.It is this
structured
ambivalenceof the "post-colonial,"of positinga simultaneouslyclose and distanttemporalrelationto the "colonial," thatis
academiccontext.It is also thisfleeting
appealingin a post-structuralist
quality,however,thatmakesthe"post-colonial"an uneasytermfora

geopolitical critiqueof thecentralizeddistributionof power in theworld.

Post-colonial theoryhas dealt most significantlywithculturalcontradictions, ambiguities, and ambivalences. 13 Through a major shift in
emphasis,it accounts fortheexperiencesof displacementof ThirdWorld
peoples in the metropolitancenters,and the culturalsyncretismsgener-

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108

Notesonthe"Post-Colonial"

worldsintersections,
ated by theFirst/Third
issues less adequatelyaddressedby ThirdWorldnationalist
and worldsystemsdiscourses,more
The"beyond"ofpost-colorootedin thecategoriesofpolitical-economy.
in thissense,seemsmostmeaningful
nial theory,
whenplacedinrelation
discourse.The term"post-colonial"
to ThirdWorldnationalist
wouldbe
ifarticulated
as "post-First/Third
moreprecise,therefore,
Worldstheory,"
or "post-anti-colonialcritique,"as a movementbeyonda relatively
binaristic,fixedand stablemappingof powerrelationsbetween"coloand "center/periphery."
Such rearticulations
nizer/colonized"
suggesta
morenuanceddiscourse,whichallowsformovement,
andfluidmobility
ity.Here, the prefix"post" would make sense less as "after"thanas
following,going beyondand commenting
upon a certainintellectual
movement- thirdworldistanti-colonialcritique- ratherthan beyond

- colonialism;for here "neo-colonialism"

a certainpoint in history
thesituation
ofneo-colonized
wouldbe a less passiveformofaddressing
anda politicallymoreactivemodeofengagement.
countries,
Post-colonialtheoryhas formednotonlya vibrantspace forcritical,
even resistant
butalso a contestedspace,particularly
since
scholarship,
somepractitioners
of variousEthnicStudiesfeelsomewhat
displacedby
theriseofpost-colonialstudiesin NorthAmerican
Englishdepartments.
of theterm"post-colonial"is on
If therisinginstitutional
endorsement
is itnotalso
theone handa successstoryforthePCs (politicallycorrect),
Before
a partialcontainment
of the POCs (people of color)?
PO-CO
becomes the new academic buzz-word,it is urgentto addresssuch
intheNorthAmerican
schisms,specifically
context,14, whereone has the
impressionthatthe "post-colonial"is privilegedpreciselybecause it
seemssafelydistantfrom"thebellyofthebeast,"theUnitedStates.The
of thesecracksand fissuresis crucialif ethnicstudiesand
recognition
post-colonialstudiesscholarsare to forgemoreeffectiveinstitutional
alliances.
it reHavingraisedthesequestionsabouttheterm"post-colonial,"
mainsto addresssomerelatedconcepts,and to exploretheirspatio-temin
and"syncretism"
of"hybridity"
The foregrounding
poralimplications.
imbrication
of
mutual
calls
attention
to
the
studies
"central"
post-colonial
and "syncretism"
allow negotiacultures."Hybridity"
and "peripheral"
whichresult
andsubjectpositionings
of identities
tionof themultiplicity
andexileswithout
fromdisplacements,
policingtheborders
immigrations
lines. It is largelydiasporic
of identity
along essentialistand originary
ThirdWorldintellectualsin the FirstWorld,hybridsthemselves,not
whichsituatestheThirdWorld
coincidentally,who elaboratea framework
intellectualwithina multiplicityof culturalpositionalitiesand perspectives. Nor is it a coincidence, by the same token,thatin Latin America
"syncretism"and "hybridity"had already been invoked decades ago by
diverse Latin Americanmodernisms,whichspoke of neologisticculture,

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EllaShohat

109

The culturally
ofcreolite,ofmestizaje,andofanthropophagy.'5
syncretic
of the Brazilianmodernists
of the nineteentwenties,the
protagonists
coinedbyMariode Andrade,
character"
"heroeswithout
mightbe seenas
avant
cannibalist
The
theoriesof the
la
lettre.
hybrids"
"postcolonial
and theirelaborations
in theTropicalistmovement
Brazilianmodernists,
of thelatenineteensixtiesand earlynineteen
seventies,simplyassumed
thatNew Worlderswere culturallymixed,a contentiousamalgamof
African,
European,Asian,andArabidentities.
indigenous,
At thesame time,theproblematic
spatio-temporality
implicitin the
fortheconceptualization
term"post-colonial"has repercussions
of the
The rupture
theory.
implicitin the"post"has
past in post(anti)colonial
in therelationship
betweenpastand presentin post-colobeen reflected
reference
to notionsof hybridity.
nial disourse,withparticular
At times,
the anti-essentialist
emphasison hybrididentitiescomes dangerously
close to dismissing
all searchesforcommunitarian
originsas an archaeological excavationof an idealized,irretrievable
past. Yet, on another
or for
level,whileavoidinganynostalgiafora prelapsarian
community,
and
the
we
must
also
ask
fall,
anyunitary transparent
identity
predating
whether
itis possibleto forgea collectiveresistance
without
a
inscribing
communalpast. Rap musicnarratives
and video representations
which
resistant
invocations
of Africaand slaveryare a case in point.
construct
For communities
whichhave undergone
brutalruptures,
nowin theproa collectiveidentity,
cess of forging
no matterhow hybridthatidentity
hasbeenbefore,during,
andaftercolonialism,
theretrieval
andreinscriptionofa fragmented
siteforforging
pastbecomesa crucialcontemporary
A notionof thepastmightthusbe negotia resistant
collectiveidentity.
notas a staticfetishized
ateddifferently;
phasetobe literally
reproduced,
butas fragmented
setsofnarrated
memories
andexperienceson thebasis
ofwhichtomobilizecontemporary
A celebration
communities.
ofsyncretismandhybridity
inconjunction
withquestions
perse, ifnotarticulated
ofhegemony
andneo-colonialpowerrelations,
runstheriskofappearing
to sanctify
thefaitaccompliofcolonialviolence.
Thecurrent
discursive
ofpalimpsestic
metropolitan
privileging
syncretismsmustalso be negotiatedvis-a-visFourthWorldpeoples. It must
account,forexample,forthe paradoxicalsituationof the indigenous
Kayapo in theAmazonforestwho,on theone hand,use video-cameras
and thusdemonstrate
theirculturalhybridity
and theircapacityformimicry,butwho,on theother,use mimicry
preciselyin orderto stagethe
ofpreserving
theessentialpracticesandcontours
oftheirculture,
urgency
includingtheirrelationto therainforestand thecommunalpossession of
land. The defacto acceptance of hybridityas a productof colonial conquest and post-independencedislocationsas well as therecognitionof the
impossibilityof going back to an authenticpast do not mean that the
politico-culturalmovementsof various racial-ethniccommunitiesshould

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110

Notesonthe"Post-Colonial"

stop researchingand recyclingtheirpre-coloniallanguagesand culcelebration

ofhybridity
risksan anti-essentures.'6Post-colonial
theory's
towardthosecommunities
tialistcondescension
obligedbycircumstances
toassert,fortheirverysurvival,a lostandevenirretrievable
past.In such
cases, theassertionof culturepriorto conquestformspartof thefight
If thelogicofthepost-structurformsofannihilation.
againstcontinuing
weretakenliterally,
thentheZuni in Mexargument
alist/post-colonial
ico/U.S.wouldbe censuredfortheirsearchforthetracesof an original
in Australiacriticizedfortheirturnto
culture,and theJindyworobak
The
Aboriginallanguageand cultureas partof theirown regeneration.
question,in otherwords,is not whetherthereis such a thingas an
it wouldbe possible
homogeneous
past,and ifthereis whether
originary
thepastis unjustifiably
to it,or evenwhether
idealized.Rather,
to return
of thepast,
thequestionis: who is mobilizingwhatin thearticulation
what
identifications
and
and in the
identities,
representations,
deploying
nameof whatpoliticalvisionand goals?
in relationto the
and positionalities
locations,identities,
Negotiating
if
crucial
is
is
violenceof neo-colonialism
hybridity not to becomea
As a descriptive
ofhegemony.
catch-allterm,
figurefortheconsecration
betweenthediversemodalitiesof
"hybridity"
perse failsto discriminate
forexample,forcedassimilation,internalized
self-rejection,
hybridity,
and creative
culturalmimicry,
politicalcooptation,social conformism,
racisttropes
The reversalof biologicallyand religiously
transcendence.
- thehybrid,
- on theone hand,and thereversalof antithesyncretic
on theother,shouldnotobscurethe
colonialistpuristnotionsofidentity,
In contexts
suchas Latin
of
hybridity."
agency "post-colonial
problematic
in hybridterms,through
articulated
America,nationhoodwas officially
anddiscursive
an integrationist
ideologywhichglossedoverinstitutional
hasalso beenusedas partofresistant
racism.Atthesametime,hybridity
inLatin
movements
andtropicalist
critique,forexamplebythemodernist
of
location
and
America.As in the term"post-colonial,"thequestion
betweenhybridities,
has to be addressed,i.e. thedifferences
perspective
around
ofEuropeansandtheiroff-shoots
or morespecifically,
hybridities
thediffertheworld,andthatof (ex)colonizedpeoples.Andfurthermore,
ences amongand betweenThirdWorlddiasporas,forexample,between
AfricanAmericanhybrids
speakingEnglishin theFirstWorldand those
in
of Afro-Cubans
andAfro-Brazilians
speakingSpanishandPortuguese
theThirdWorld.
of
is susceptibleto a blurring
like the"post-colonial,"
"Hybridity,"
difin
a
be
examined
must
non-universalizing,
"Hybridity"
perpectives.
ferentialmanner,contextualizedwithinpresentneo-colonial hegemonies.
discourse
The cultural inquiry generated by the hybridity/syncretism
needs re-linkingto geopolitical macro-levelanalysis. It requiresarticulation with the ubiquity of Anglo-Americaninformationalmedia (CNN,

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EllaShohat

111

of theGulfWar,with
BBC, AP), as wellas witheventsof themagnitude
ofpopulations.
transfers
ThecollapseofSecond
itsmassiveandtraumatic
Worldsocialism,it shouldbe pointedout,has notalteredneo-colonial
increasedanxietyamongsuch
policies,andon somelevels,hasgenerated
as thePalestiniansand SouthAfricanBlacks
ThirdWorldcommunities
concerningtheirstruggleforindependencewithouta Second World
counter-balance.
of "post-colonial"
as a theoretical
frametendsto sugThe circulation
neo-colonialism
and
the
Worldand Fourth
of
Third
a
gest supercession
evenirrelevant
Worldas unfashionable,
categories.Yet,withall itsprob"Third
World"
does
still
retain
valueas a conveterm
heuristic
lems,the
nientlabel forthe imperializedformations,
includingthosewithinthe
in broadpolitiFirstWorld.The term"ThirdWorld"is mostmeaningful
cal-economicterms,andbecomesblurredwhenone addressesthedifferently modulatedpolitics in the realm of culture,the overlapping
The conceptof "Third
identities.
contradictory
spaces of inter-mingling
if
it
World"is schematically
is
productive
placed undererasure,as it
were,seenas provisionalandultimately
inadequate.
Atthispointin time,replacingtheterm"ThirdWorld"withthe"postandcontradictions
colonial"is a liability.Despitedifferences
amongand
withinThirdWorldcountries,
theterm"ThirdWorld"containsa common
Withinthe North
projectof (linked) resistancesto neo/colonialisms.
Americancontext,morespecifically,
it has becomea termof empowercoalitionsofvariouspeoplesofcolor."Perhaps,
mentforinter-communal
it is thissense of a commonprojectaroundwhichto mobilizethatis
discussions.If theterms"post-colonial"
missingfrompost(anti)colonial
and"post-independence"
inrelationto
stress,indifferent
ways,a rupture
"Third
colonialism,and the "neo-colonial"emphasizescontinuities,
World"usefullyevokesstructural
commonalities
of struggles.
The invocationof the"ThirdWorld"impliesa beliefthatthesharedhistoryof
racismformsufficient
and internal
commongroundfor
neo/colonialism
alliancesamongsuchdiversepeoples.If one does notbelieveorenvision
suchcommonalities,
thenindeedtheterm"ThirdWorld"shouldbe disof alliance and mobilizationbetweenthe
carded.It is this difference
thatsuggestsa relational
concepts"ThirdWorld"andthe"post-colonial"
usage of theterms.My assertionof thepoliticalrelevanceof suchcateandeventhatof themoreproblematic
Third
goriesas "neo-colonialism,"
and FourthWorldpeoples,is notmeantto suggesta submissionto intellectual inertia,but to pointto a need to deploy all the conceptsin
differential
and contingent
manners.
In sum, the concept of the "post-colonial" must be interrogatedand
contextualizedhistorically,geopolitically,and culturally.My argumentis
not necessarily thatone conceptual frame is "wrong" and the other is
"right,"but thateach frameilluminatesonly partial aspects of systemic

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Noteson the"Post-Colonial"

112

ofoverlapping
modesofdomination,
collectiveidentities,
andofcontemrelations.
Each
addresses
and
even
poraryglobal
specific
contradictory
worldzones.Thereis a needfor
dynamicsbetweenand withindifferent
- a
moreflexiblerelationsamongthe variousconceptualframeworks
mobileset of grids,a diverseset of disciplinary
as well as cultural-geopoliticallenses- adequateto thesecomplexities.Flexibleyetcritical
notonlyfor
usagewhichcan addressthepoliticsoflocationis important
and differences
pointingout historicaland geographicalcontradictions
historical
andgeographical
butalso forreaffirming
anallinks,structural
ogies,and openingsforagencyandresistance.
Notes
Rhetoricof Otherness
1. See, forexample,Aijaz Ahmad,"Jameson's
andthe'National
Social Text17 (Fall 1987);ArjunAppadurai,
andDifference
inthe
"Disjuncture
Allegory,"'
Global CulturalEconomy,"Public Culture2.2 (1990); RobertStam,"Eurocentrism,
Theoriesof ThirdCinema,"Quarterly
Reviewof Filmand
Afrocentrism,
Polycentrism:
Video vol. 13, nos. 1-3 (Spring,1991); ChandraTalpade Mohanty,
of
"Cartographies
Struggle:ThirdWorldWomenand thePoliticsofFeminism" in ThirdWorldWomenand
AnnRusso,LourdesTorres
thePoliticsof Feminismed. by ChandraTalpadeMohanty,
Press,1991).
(IndianaUniversity
or is ittheechoofpost-modechothelanguageofexistentialism,
2. Does thatcondition
ernism?
and "post-colonialism"
between"post-colonial,"
3. The relationships
"post-coloniality"
haveyetto be addressedmorerigorously.
andpost-colonialism,
see
betweenpost-modernism
4. For a readingof therelationships
thePost-inPostcolonial?,"CritiKwameAnthony
Appiah,"Is thePost-inPostmodernism
cal Inquiry17 (Winter1991).
The EmpireWritesBack: Theoryand
Helen Tiffin,
GarethGriffiths,
5. Bill Ashcroft,
PracticeinPost-ColonialLiteratures
(London:Routledge,1989),p. 2.
6. For a radical formulationof resistantpost-colonialsee GayatriChakravorty
and Value,"in LiteraryTheory
Postcoloniality
Marginality,
Spivak,"Poststructuralism,
eds. (London:PolityPress,1990).
Today,PeterCollierandHelga Geyer-Ryan
7. Read forexample,ZacharyLockmanandJoelBenineds.,Intifada:ThePalestinian
Edward
AgainstIsraeliOccupation(Boston:SouthEndPress,1989),specifically
Uprising
theLastSky(Boston:
andIndependence,"
W. Said,"Intifada
pp.5-22;EdwardW.Said,After
PantheonBooks,1985).
of movements
in oppositionto the
8. This perspectiveexplainsthe harshrepression
linkedto
is intimately
U.S.-Egyptallianceduringthewar.In fact,theCampDavid treaty
oftheEgyptian
theOpenDoor economicpolicywithitsdismantling
publicsector.Referred
of Egypt,USAID is partlyresponsibleforthepositions
to as the shadowgovernment
tookduringtheGulfWar.
EgyptianandmostArabgovernments
to maskthe
of Islamiclaw in Saudi Arabiais linkedto efforts
9. The rigidimposition
withimperial
collaboration
interests.
regime'santi-regional
artist
Guillermo
is thecoinageofMexicanmulti-media
10. "Gringostroika"
Gom6z-Pen~.
the
11. Fordiscussionsofthe"post,"see forexample,RobertYoung,"Poststructuralism:
"The
Reviewvol. 5, nos. 1-2 (1982); R. Radhakrishnan,
End of Theory,"OxfordLiterary
Eventand theEnd of Logocentrism,"
Postmodern
Boundary2, Vol. 12 #1(Fall 1983);
oftheNation,"inHomiK. Bhabha
"PostalPoliticsandtheInstitution
Bennington,
Geoffrey
ed. NationandNarration(London& New York:Routledge,1990)
are on theirway to print,a relevantarticle
12. As thesenoteson the"post-colonial"
20, 1992.
"January,
appearedinTheNation,PrafulBidwai,"India'sPassagetoWashington,
to Theory,"in Questionsof
13. See forexample,Homi K. Bhabha,"The Commitment
FilmInstitute,
ThirdCinema,ed. byJimPinesandPaul Willemen(London:British
1989);
IndianaUniversity
Press,1989).
TrinhT. Minh-ha,Woman,
Native,Other(Bloomington:
ofthe"ThirdWorld"is ambiguous,
14. The "post-colonial"
especiallywhen
replacement
theoriesareconfidently
deployedwithlittleunderstanding
post-structuralist/post-colonial

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Ella Shohat

113

ofthehistorical-material
neo-colonialism,
racism,and anti-colonial
legacyofcolonialism,
to faciledismissalsofFrantzFanon'sformuThese slippageshavecontributed
resistance.
lationsas vulgar.
and theconceptof anthropophagy,
15. On theBrazilianmodernists
see RobertStam,
SubversivePleasures:Bakhtin,CulturalCriticismand Film (Baltimore:JohnsHopkins
Press,1989.)
University
16.Foranother
criticalconsideration
ofhybridity
andmemory
see also ManthiaDiawara,
"The NatureofMotherinDreamingRivers,"ThirdText13 (Winter1990/1991).
andtheNationalist
17. Aijaz Ahmadinhis"'ThirdWorldLiterature'
Ideology"(Journal
critiqueof theusagesof Third
ofArtsand Ideas #17-18,June1989) offersan important
he ignoresthecrucialissue of empowerment
Worldin theU.S. academy.Unfortunately,
ThirdWorldamongdiversepeoplesofcolorinNorthAmerican
taking
placeundertherubric
andacademiccommunities.
intellectual

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