Postcoloniality

“Postcolonial theory” has become one of the key issues of scholarly debates worldwide; debates, so the author argues, which have become rather sterile and are characterized by a repetitive reworking of old hackneyed issues, focussing on cultural questions of language and identity in particular. Gradually, a gulf has emerged between Anglophone and Francophone thinking in this area. The author investigates the causes for the apparent stagnation that has overtaken much of the current debate and explores the particular characteristics of French global strategy and cultural policy, as well as the divergent responses to current debates on globalization. Outlining in particular the contribution of thinkers such as Césaire, Senghor, Memmi, Sartre and Fanon to the worldwide development of anti-imperialist ideas, she offers a critical perspective on the ongoing difficulties of France’s relationship with its colonial and postcolonial Others and suggests new lines of thought that are currently emerging in the Francophone world, which may have the capacity to take these debates.

Margaret A. Majumdar is Visiting Professor at the University of Portsmouth and former Honorary Secretary of the Association for the Study of Modern & Contemporary France. Her books include Francophone Studies: The Essential Glossary (Arnold 2003), Transition and Development in Algeria: Economic, Social and Cultural Challenges, co-edited with Mohammed Saad (Intellect 2005), Althusser and the End of Leninism? (Pluto 1995).