Notes on the ‘post-colonial’

The ‘post-colonial’ did not emerge to fill an empty space in the language of political-cultural analysis. On the contrary, its wide adaptation during the late eighties was coincident with and dependent on the eclipse of older paradigm, that of ‘Third World.' The terminological shift indicates the professional prestige and theoretical aura the issues have acquired, in contrast to more activist aura once enjoyed by ‘Third World’ within progressive academic circles. In that sense the prefix ‘post’ aligns the ‘post-colonial’ with another genre of ‘posts’ - ‘post-war, ' ‘post-cold war, ' ‘post-independence, ' ‘post-revolution’ - all of which underline a passage into new period and a closure of a certain historical event or age, officially stamped with dates. Since the ‘post’ in ‘post-colonial’ suggests ‘after’ demise of colonialism, it is imbued, quite apart from its users’ intentions, with an ambiguous spatio-temporality. Spreading from India into Anglo-American academic contexts, ‘post-colonial’ tends to be associated with Third World countries which gained independence after World War II.