Colonialism Unit

No Longer At Ease (1960) is a novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. The story takes place in the years prior to Nigeria’s independence from the British Empire and focuses on Obi Okonkwo. Obi is a young Nigerian man who returns home after studying English in Britain and finds a job in the civil service. He finds himself situated within the conflict between African and Western culture, raising questions about his identity and worldview. No... Read No Longer at Ease Summary

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No Telephone to Heaven is the critically-acclaimed 1987 sequel to Michelle Cliff’s first novel, Abeng. This novel continues the semi-autobiographical story of Cliff’s Jamaican-American heroine, Clare Savage. Clare—just as Cliff—was born in Jamaica, moved to New York, and pursued university studies in London.The novel opens with Clare traveling across the Jamaican countryside with a revolutionary resistance group. The group members have settled on farmland formerly owned by Clare’s grandmother. They use this land to grow food... Read No Telephone to Heaven Summary

One of the foundational texts of postcolonial studies, Edward W. Said’s Orientalism was published in 1978. Up until this point, the term “Orientalism” was used to describe Western scholarship, thinking, and art about “the Orient,” generally Asia and the Middle East. In his book, Said interrogates both the term and ideology of Orientalism. He asserts that the West paints these cultures as exotic and “Other,” using essentialism and stereotypes to situate the West as superior... Read Orientalism Summary

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn is a seventeenth-century novella that tells the story of the eponymous hero, the prince and heir to the throne of the African country of Cormantien. Oroonoko’s story is related to us by a nameless female narrator, the daughter of the Lord Governor of Surinam, an English colony where Oroonoko will find himself a slave. Oroonoko’s tale is one of an exemplary man who falls in love with an exceptional woman, Imoinda. However... Read Oroonoko Summary

Our Sister Killjoy, or, Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (1977) is a novel by Ata Ama Aidoo (1942-2023). It was Aidoo’s debut novel, with an experimental style that switches between prose and free verse poetry. Aidoo, a Ghanaian writer, tells the story of Sissie, or Our Sister Killjoy, a young Ghanaian woman who travels around Europe before eventually returning home. She spends most of the narrative in Germany, where she befriends a young German mother... Read Our Sister Killjoy Summary

Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is a historical fiction novel that was first published in 1977. Ngũgĩ is a Kenyan author who has written novels, plays, short stories, and essays that typically center on Kenyan and African politics and the effects of colonialism and neocolonialism on the region. Petals of Blood explores the lives of Kenyans after the Mau Mau Rebellion and subsequent independence in the small village of Ilmorog, as well as its development... Read Petals of Blood Summary

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Written by Salman Rushdie in 1983, Shame takes place in a fictionalized version of the city of Quetta in Pakistan. Although several characters are based on historic Pakistani politicians, the novel incorporates elements of magical realism to create a richly nuanced fable whose philosophical message transcends the boundaries of the ordinary. The novel explores themes of Shame Versus Shamelessness, the partition of Pakistan through Partition and Duality, and The Systemic Misogyny of Patriarchal Societies. Shame... Read Shame Summary

Nadine Gordimer’s “Six Feet of the Country” is one of the seven short stories in her collection of the same name (1956). Gordimer, who was born and lived in South Africa, often explored the country’s racial issues in the context of apartheid. She received numerous literary awards, including the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature. This short story concerns the death of a native of Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe). When the young man’s family wants to give... Read Six Feet of the Country Summary

Swami and Friends, set in British-colonial India in the year 1930, begins with an introduction to Swaminathan and his four principal friends: Somu, Sankar, Mani, and the Pea. Swaminathan appreciates his friends’ dramatically different personalities, and these differences only strengthen their powerful bond. The arrival of Rajam, who is the son of Malgudi’s new police superintendent, changes everything. Initially, Swaminathan and Mani despise Rajam, but the three boys become best friends after confronting him. Likewise... Read Swami and Friends Summary

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The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation, originally published in 2003 by Oxford University Press, is a popular history book by American cultural historian Jim Cullen. As an overview and critical analysis of the American Dream, this book adds some meat to the bones of a traditionally ambiguous concept. Cullen maintains an optimistic outlook about the usefulness of the various American Dreams and about the promise of America, despite... Read The American Dream Summary

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, published in 1968, is a debut novel by Ayi Kwei Armah, one of the most noteworthy writers of postcolonial Ghana. Armah was born in Takoradi, Ghana, in 1939. He was educated at schools in Ghana and private institutions in America, including Harvard University. He has also worked as a translator, scriptwriter, and a university lecturer.The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born focuses on life in post-independence Ghana and... Read The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Summary

The Bone People (1984) by Keri Hulme was the first New Zealand novel to receive the Booker Prize. It also earned a number of other awards, including the 1984 New Zealand Book Award and the Pegasus Award for Maori Literature. A native of Christchurch, Hulme grew up on the South Island. She comes from a large, diverse, multicultural family of English, Scottish, and Maori descent. After finishing high school, the writer began working as a... Read The Bone People Summary

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