Deconstruction and the Postcolonial: At the Limits of Theory

Postcolonial studies have transformed how we think about subjectivity, national identity, globalization, history, language, literature, and international politics. Until recently, the emphasis has been almost exclusively within an Anglophone context, but the focus of postcolonial studies is shifting to a more comparative approach.

One of the most intriguing developments has been within the Francophone world. A number of genealogical lines of influence are being drawn, connecting the work of the three figures most associated with the emergence of postcolonial theory–Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, and Gayatri Spivak–to an earlier generation of predominantly postructuralist French theorists. Within this emerging narrative of intellectual influences, the importance of the thought of Jacques Derrida and the status of deconstruction have been acknowledged, but not adequately accounted for. In Deconstruction and the Postcolonial, Michael Syrotinski reconsiders the underlying conceptual tensions and theoretical stakes of what he terms a "deconstructive postcolonialism" and argues that postcolonial studies stands to gain ground in terms of its political forcefulness and philosophical rigour by turning back to, and not away from, deconstruction.