Colonialism/Postcolonialism

Recommended on courses across academic disciplines and around the world, Ania Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism is accepted as the essential introduction to this vibrant and politically charged area of literary and cultural study.

This remarkably comprehensive yet accessible guide to the historical and theoretical dimensions of colonial and postcolonial studies introduces and examines:

• key features of the ideologies and history of colonialism


• the relationship of colonial discourse to literature


• challenges to colonialism, including anticolonial discourses


• recent developments in postcolonial theories and histories


• issues of sexuality and colonialism, and the intersection of feminist and postcolonial thought.

With extended coverage of emerging debates around globalization, as well as a fully updated bibliography, this second edition will continue to serve as the ideal guide for students new to colonial discourse theory, postcolonial studies or postcolonial theory.

Ania Loomba is Catherine Bryson Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. Her recent publications include Shakespeare, Race and Colonialism (2002) and Postcolonial Shakespeares (1998; co-edited with Martin Orkin). She has published widely in the fields of postcolonial studies, South Asian writing, Shakespeare and early modern literature.