Coloniality at Large: Latin America and the Postcolonial Debate

by Mabel Moraïa (Editor)

Overview

Postcolonial theory has developed mainly in the U.S. academy, and it has focused chiefly on nineteenth-century and twentieth-century colonization and decolonization processes in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Colonialism in Latin America originated centuries earlier, in the transoceanic adventures from which European modernity itself was born. Coloniality at Large brings together classic and new reflections on the theoretical implications of colonialism in Latin America. By pointing out its particular characteristics, the contributors highlight some of the philosophical and ideological blind spots of contemporary postcolonial theory as they offer a thorough analysis of that theory’s applicability to Latin America’s past and present.

Written by internationally renowned scholars based in Latin America, the United States, and Europe, the essays reflect multiple disciplinary and ideological perspectives. Some are translated into English for the first time. The collection includes theoretical reflections, literary criticism, and historical and ethnographic case studies focused on Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, the Andes, and the Caribbean. Contributors examine the relation of Marxist thought, dependency theory, and liberation theology to Latin Americans’ experience of and resistance to coloniality, and they emphasize the critique of Occidentalism and modernity as central to any understanding of the colonial project. Analyzing the many ways that Latin Americans have resisted imperialism and sought emancipation and sovereignty over several centuries, they delve into topics including violence, identity, otherness, memory, heterogeneity, and language. Contributors also explore Latin American intellectuals’ ambivalence about, or objections to, the “post” in postcolonial; to many, globalization and neoliberalism are the contemporary guises of colonialism in Latin America.

Contributors: Arturo Arias, Gordon Brotherston, Santiago Castro-Gómez, Sara Castro-Klaren, Amaryll Chanady, Fernando Coronil, Román de la Campa, Enrique Dussel, Ramón Grosfoguel, Russell G. Hamilton, Peter Hulme, Carlos A. Jáuregui, Michael Löwy, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, José Antonio Mazzotti, Eduardo Mendieta, Walter D. Mignolo, Mario Roberto Morales, Mabel Moraña, Mary Louise Pratt, Aníbal Quijano, José Rabasa, Elzbieta Sklodowska, Catherine E. Walsh

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822341697
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	07/16/2008
Series:	Latin America Otherwise
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	640
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Mabel Moraña is the William H. Gass Professor in Arts and Sciences and Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Washington University, St. Louis.

Enrique Dussel is Professor of Ethics at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa and a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Carlos A. Jáuregui is Associate Professor of Spanish and Anthropology at Vanderbilt University.

Table of Contents

About the Series vii

Acknowledgments ix

Colonialism and Its Replicants / Mabel Morana, Enrique Dussel, and Carlos A. Jauregui 1

Part One. Colonial Encounters, Decolonization, and Cultural Agency

America and the Colonizer Question: Two Formative Statements from Early Mexico / Gordon Brotherston 23

Thinking Europe in Indian Categories, or, "Tell Me the Story of How I Conquered You" / Jose Rabasa 43

Creole Agencies and the (Post)Colonial Debate in Spanish America / Jose Antonio Mazzotti 77

Part Two. Rewriting Colonial Difference

European Transplants, Amerindian In-laws, African Settlers, Brazilian Creoles: A Unique Colonial and Postcolonial Condition in Latin America / Russell G. Hamilton 113

Posting Letters: Writing in the Andes and the Paradoxes of the Postcolonial Debate / Sara Castro-Klaren 130

Unforgotten Gods: Postcoloniality and Representations of Haiti in Antonio Benitez Rojo's "Heaven and Earth" 158

Part Three. Occidentalism, Globalization, and the Geopolitics of Knowledge

Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Social Classification / Anibal Quijano 181

The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference / Walter D. Mignolo 225

(Post)Coloniality for Dummies: Latin American Perspectives on Modernity, Coloniality, and the Geopolitics of Knowledge / Santiago Castro-Gomez 259

Remapping Latin American Studies: Postcolonialism, Subaltern Studies, Post-Occidentalism, and Globalization Theory / Eduardo Mendieta 286

Developmentalism, Modernity, and Dependency Theory in Latin America / Ramon Grosfoguel 307

Part Four. Religion, Liberation, and The Narratives of Secularism

Philosophy of Liberation, the Postmodern Debate, and Latin American Studies 335

The Historical Meaning of Christianity of Liberation in Latin America / Michael Lowy 350

Secularism and Religion in the Modern/Colonial World-System: From Secular Postcoloniality to Postsecular Transmodernity / Nelson Maldonado-Torres 360

Part Five. Comparative (Post)Colonialisms

Postcolonial Theory and the Representation of Culture in the Americas / Peter Hulme 388

Elephants in the Americas? Latin American Postcolonial Studies and Global Decolonization / Fernando Coronil 396

The Latin American Postcolonialism Debate in a Comparative Context / Amaryll Chanady 417

Postcolonial Sensibility, Latin America, and the Question of Literature / Roman de la Campa 435

In the Neocolony: Destiny, Destination, and the Traffic in Meaning / Mary Louise Pratt 459

Part Six. Postcolonial Ethnicities

Peripheral Modernity and Differential Mestizaje in Latin America: Outside Subalternist Postcolonialism / Mario Roberto Morales 479

(Post)Coloniality in Ecuador: The Indigenous Movement's Practices and Politics of (Re)Signification and Decolonization / Catherine E. Walsh 506

The Maya movement: Postcolonialism and Cultural Agency / Arturo Arias 519

Bibliography 539

Contributors 609

Index 615

Editorial Reviews

The collection, which extends to over 600 pages, is both rich and substantial and is likely to provide a valuable, illuminating and corrective resource for scholars of both Latin American and postcolonial studies.

Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory - James Proctor

With a complexity and depth rarely seen in collections of this type, Coloniality at Large will provide food for thought for generations to come.

A Contracorriente - Ricardo D. Salvatore

Ambitiously conceived and judiciously executed, this volume offers a timely as well as comprehensive study of modern Latin American culture and history from the perspective of postcolonial theories. . . . Highly recommended.

Choice - Q. E. Wang

[T]he book is one of the first projects to bring together scholars from different regions and academic systems of the Atlantic. As a result, this compilation offers wide-ranging perspectives and critiques associated with the challenge of discussing Latin America with critical viewpoints in language that is not overly cryptic. This volume is bound to become a referential work for scholars in the field of Latin American Studies and a useful teaching tool for graduate-level courses."

The Americas - Fabrício Prado

In Coloniality at Large, leading postcolonial literary scholars provide thoughtful and incisive insights into the lasting effects of colonial domination in Latin America.”—Patricia Seed, editor of José Limón and La Malinche: The Dancer and the Dance


“Mapping out the current state of a particularly important field of study from an interdisciplinary perspective, Coloniality at Large consists of twenty-three essays by a veritable ‘who’s who’ in Latin American cultural studies.”—Debra A. Castillo, author of Redreaming America: Toward a Bilingual American Culture

From the Publisher

[T]he book is one of the first projects to bring together scholars from different regions and academic systems of the Atlantic. As a result, this compilation offers wide-ranging perspectives and critiques associated with the challenge of discussing Latin America with critical viewpoints in language that is not overly cryptic. This volume is bound to become a referential work for scholars in the field of Latin American Studies and a useful teaching tool for graduate-level courses."

The Americas - Fabrício Prado