Absolutely postcolonial: Writing between the singular and the specific

by Peter Hallward

Overview

Contrary to its usual characterisation in terms of plurality, particularity and resistance, this book argues that the post-colonial is best understood as an ultimately singular or non-relational category. A singularity is something that generates the medium of its own existence, to the eventual exclusion of other existences. Drawing on the philosophies of Gilles Deleuze and Alain Badiou and guided by comparisons with Buddhism and Islam, Absolutely postcolonial defends this approach both through a detailed critique of postcolonial theory and through comparative, comprehensive readings of four very different contemporary writers: Edouard Glissant, Charles Johnson, Mohammed Dib, and Severo Sarduy. Along the way, it also looks to some of these same writers for resources with which we might develop a relational or specific alternative to the postcolonial paradigm that has become so influential in literary and cultural studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780719061264
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	01/31/2002
Series:	Angelaki Humanities
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

Peter Hallward teaches at King's College London, and is the author of Subject to Truth: The Philosophy of Alain Badiou (2002)

Table of Contents

Introduction: Singular or specific?

1. Postcolonial theory

2. Edouard Glissant: from nation to Relation

3. Charles Johnson and the transcendence of place

4. Mohammed Dib and the 'alarm al-mithral: between the singular and the specific

5. Severo Sarduy: sunyata and beyond

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"A brilliant refusal of its established terms of engagement, this book marks a major advance in thinkin g through and beyond postcolonial theory."

"Peter Hallward's book is perhaps the key theoretico-political intervention of the last decade - one of those few where one cannot but exclaim: 'Finally the word we were all secretly waiting for!' One can only hope that his critique of postcolonial theory will set in motion the much-delayed liberation of teh academic Left from the postmodern jargon which has long dominated cultural studies. If ever a book was a weapon, this is it!"

"This monumental study transforms the terms within which critical understanding of postcolonial culture has been conducted. Lucid, difficult, highly original and sometimes contentious, Hallward's stimulating book provides a new bench-mark for all future debate in this field."

"Bringing a real philosophical intelligence to bear on the field, this extremely important book is a singular intervention in every sense of the word."

From the Publisher