Colonialism, postcolonialism, decoloniality 3600-IN-KPD-OG(L)

The seminar aims to introduce participants to main issues of colonialism, postcolonial theory, and decolonial thought and practice. The principal (though not exclusive) area of study is South Asia.
During the course, we will analyze the cultural, psychological, and political mechanisms and effects of European colonialism. We will also try to answer the following questions, among others: How did the colonial experience change the colonized world? What elements of the colonial legacy shape the present? How did colonialism influence the self-image of the inhabitants of the colonized world? Did / how did colonialism also change the colonizer? How can we talk/write about the postcolonial world without falling into the trap of colonial stereotypes? How can we objectively dismantle colonial and racist arguments?
During the course, key texts of postcolonial theory and decolonial thought will be analyzed (see: Literature), and the possibilities that these trends offer for understanding the contemporary (post)colonial world will be pointed out.
After completing the course, participants will be able to use the tools and lexicon of postcolonial theory and decolonial thought to analyze culture and social and political issues, participate in current theoretical discussions, efficiently identify elements of colonial and racist discourse, and factually deconstruct them.

PLAN

1. A brief introduction to the history and issues of colonialism.
2. Foucault: power-knowledge, discourse. Colonial discourse. Edward Said's Orientalism.
3. The colonial system and race.
4. Race and scientific racism.
5. Psychoanalysis and the colonial subject.
6. Postcolonial readings of literature. "Kim" by R. Kipling, "Story of the Warrior and the Captive" by J.L. Borges.
7. Intersections: gender, feminism, and (post)coloniality.
8. Colonial visions of the world: India as a colonial construct.
10. The gaze that changes: colonialism and religions, of South Asia.
11. Reversed Orientalism: Indology and ideology in Nazi Germany. Poland and colonialism: Haiti, Conrad, and Sienkiewicz's "W pustyni i w puszczy".
12. Contestations: Frantz Fanon. Nationalism.
13. Decoloniality. Aníbal Quijano's "The coloniality of power".
14. A decolonized museum, a decolonized tourist?
15. Imperium i rasa dzisiaj. Summary.

Type of course

general courses

Mode

Classroom

Course coordinators

Jakub Wilanowski-Hilchen

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to use the tools and lexicon of postcolonial theory and decolonial thought to analyse cultural, social and political issues, participate in current theoretical discussion, proficiently identify elements of colonial and racist discourse and factually deconstruct them.

Assessment criteria

Final written exam.

Practical placement

n/a

Bibliography

Essentials:

Gandhi, Leela, "Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction", Columbia University Press: New York 2019

Loomba, Ania, "Colonialism/Postcolonialism", Routledge: London and New York 2015

Mignolo, Walter D. and Catherine E. Walsh, "On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis", Duke University Press: Durham 2019

Quijano, Aníbal, "Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America", Nepantla, No. 3, Duke University Press, Durham: 2000

Extended reading:

Andrews, Kehinde, "The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World", Penguin: London 2022

Borges, J.L. "Story of the Warrior and the Captive", in: "The Aleph and Other Stories", Penguin Classics: London 2004

Chibber, Vivek, "Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital", Navayana: New Delhi 2013

Delphy, Christine, Separate and Dominate. Feminism and Racism after the War on Terror, Verso: London 2015

D’Hauteserre, Anne-Marie, “Postcolonialism, Colonialism, and Tourism” in: Lew, Alan A., C. Michael Hall i Allan M. Williams (red.), A Companion to Tourism, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford 2004

Dirks, Nicolas B., Castes of Mind, Princeton University Press: Princeton 2001

Inden, Ronald, “Orientalist Constructions of India”, Modern Asian Studies 20, 3 (1983)

King, Richard, “Orientalism and the Modern Myth of “Hinduism””, in: Numen, Vol. 46, No. 2 (1999), pp. 146-185 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270313)

Kipling, Rudyard, "Kim", Macmillan and Co. Ltd: London 1902

Kipling, Rudyard, “White Man’s Burden”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Man's_Burden

Lingelbach, Jochen, "On the Edges of Whiteness. Polish Refugees in British Colonial Africa During and After the Second World War", Berghahn Books: Oxford 2020

Lugones, Maria, "Heterosexualism and the Colonial / Modern Gender System", Hypatia vol. 22, no. 1 (Winter 2007) (https://monoskop.org/images/d/d5/Lugones_Maria_2007_Heterosexualism_and_the_Colonial_Modern_Gender_System.pdf)

Nandy, Ashis, "The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism", Oxford University Press: Delhi 2009

Schopen, Gregory, Archaeology and Protestant Presuppositions in the Study of Indian Buddhism, in: History of Religion Vol. 31, No. 1 (Aug., 1991), pp. 1-23. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062872)

Smith, David, Orientalism and Hinduism, in: Gavin Flood (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford 2003

Ureña Valerio, Lenny "A. Colonial Fantasies, Imperial Realities: Race Science and the Making of Polishness on the Fringes of the German Empire, 1840–1920", Ohio University Press, Athens: 2019

Viswanathan, Gauri, “Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism”, in: Gavin Flood (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford 2003

Films:

African Mirror, dir. Mischa Hedinger (2019)

Concerning Violence, dir. Göran Hugo Olsson (2014)

Exterminate All the Brutes, dir. Raoul Peck (2021) (HBO)

Secrets of the Tribe, dir. José Padilha (2010) (Netflix)

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3600-IN-KPD-OG(L) in USOSweb