Ani Loomba: Colonialism/Postcolonialism. The New Critical Idiom Series. New York: Routledge. 1998. 289 pp. $16.95 Robert J. C. Young: Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003. 178 pp. $9.95

Abstract

Ania Loomba, a professor of English, utilizes multiple Shakespearean examples to illustrate postcolonial theory (The Tempest in particular). Robert J. C. Young, also a professor of English, instead uses a montage approach, providing “real world” examples of postcolonial theory before working backwards towards a definition or some exposition on power relations. A middle road between these two authors’ works might be one that quotes not Caliban (the postcolonial posterchild) but his master/oppressor, Prospero. Referring to the duplicitous brother who overthrew him as Duke of Milan, Prospero describes Antonio as “one/Who having, unto truth by telling of it,/ Made such a sinner of his memory,/ To credit his own lie,—he did believe/He was indeed the duke.” In other words, Prospero’s brother, by performing the duties associated with the Duke, came to believe that he was the Duke. Antonio’s hierarchical relationships—with his brothers, with his peers, with his subjects— led to the creation of a specific type of knowledge. In this realm of knowledge, it is right for Antonio to seize power from Prospero. This enforced paradigm shift (Antonio’s actions creating the parameters in which “truth” is created) was labeled by Nietzsche as “will-to-knowledge.”