Author Profile

Dr. Jane Eyre is a Professor of Post-Colonial Studies and Comparative Literature. After surviving a turbulent early education at the Lowood Institute an institution she later critiqued for its institutionalised Eurocentric assimilation practices she read English at Thornfield College. Her early career as a private tutor exposed her directly to the intersections of Victorian wealth, British imperialism, and the silencing of the subaltern. This lived experience sparked her foundational research into the structural erasures within the 19th-century British literary canon. Dr. Eyre is best known for her groundbreaking monograph, Madness in the Attic: Spatial Politics and the Caribbean Subtext, which re-examined the domestic spaces of English estates as geographical extensions of colonial exploitation. Her theoretical framework heavily integrates the concepts of hybridity and resistance, drawing inspiration from her own life choices to reject colonial patriarchy and reclaim personal sovereignty. She currently divides her time between her research in Ferndean and guest lecturing internationally on marginalisation, structural inequality, and the ethics of the empire. Post-Colonial Theory and English Literature represents the culmination of her lifelong dedication to reading against the grain of imperial narratives.

About The Book

Post-Colonial Theory and English Literature' offers a comprehensive guide to the critical, historical, and literary foundations of postcolonial studies, covering key concepts, themes, and debates within the field. It covers a wide range of topics, including postcolonial literature, feminism, and structuralism, as well as specific theories like Orientalism, and examines how colonialism and postcolonialism have shaped, altered, and resisted dominant literary discourses. The book is designed to provide students and researchers with a thorough understanding of the theoretical framework in postcolonial studies, from foundational political contexts to modern critical discussions. This book examines the political and historical contexts of colonialism, tracing the historical formation and core themes of postcolonial theory. Delves into the mechanics of Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Postmodernism, and broader Critical Theory, laying the philosophical groundwork for literary analysis. Integrates Feminist Theory with postcolonial discourse, analyzing the historical and contemporary realities of women. Analyzes landmark essays and theories from seminal thinkers, featuring detailed explorations of Orientalism, The Subaltern, Hybridity, and the complexities of colonial discourse. This comprehensive guide, Post-Colonial Theory and English Literature, explores the intersection of historical imperialism and modern literary criticism. It maps the evolution of postcolonial studies alongside structuralism, feminism, and postmodernism, offering an essential resource for students navigating complex critical frameworks and foundational texts.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Postcolonial Literature and Critical Theory: Political and Historical Contexts
2. Themes in Theories of Colonialism and Postcolonialism
3. The Formation of Postcolonial Theory
4. Some Issues in Postcolonial Theory
5. Structuralism
6. Post Structuralism and Post Modernism
7. Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences
8. Critical Theory
9. Feminist Theory
10. Postcolonial Literature, Feminism and the Women Today
11. Feminism and Post-Colonialism
12. Signs Taken for Wonders
13. Problems in Current Theories of Colonial Discourse
14. The Scramble for Post-Colonialism
15. Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and The National Allegory
16. Studying Orientalism
17. Orientalism and Beyond
18. The Subaltern-Effect: Negation to Deconstruction Hybridity
19. The Commitment to Theory in The Location of Culture
20. Archetypal Literary Criticism
21. Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Literature: Theorists and Critics
Bibliography
Index