Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction

Something odd is going on here. You have a string of reviewers who have obviously read the book giving this book five-star ratings, and several reviewers, who give no evidence of having read it at all, giving it one-star ratings. Obviously some people are objecting to this book on principle. I have no idea why. The one-stare reviews are dismissive with generic one sentence summaries that tell you absolutely nothing about the content or the book. If they had actually read it, the review would given some indication as to why it was so bad.

Young has clearly worried about the situation around the globe in those areas we think of as being characterized by being postcolonial. He is concerned to have those of us living in the developed world to see things from a different perspective, from the point of view from those suffering injustices or viewing the world situation from their own standpoints, rather than from the way the world's dominant nations lay them out. He discusses a number of concepts that help limn the postcolonial condition and that delineate the key concepts in ongoing discussions. One of the things I always like about the Very Short Introductions are the bibliographies and reading guides. The one in this one is wide-ranging, and in addition to theoretical works also suggests some literary works. I strongly approve of this. One of the foremost figures in the postcolonial debate is Edward Said, who often said that perhaps the best way to understand the situation in the Arab world was to read Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy, which tells of the affect the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire had on a family in Egypt.

If you are interested in postcolonialism, you will definitely find this book useful. Just ignore the irrelevant one-star reviewers. If such individuals had actually read the book they would be able to discuss it. I enjoyed this one so much that I fully intend to read Young longer book also entitled POSTCOLONIALISM.