June 12, 2014

Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship

António Sousa Ribeiro e Margarida Calafate Ribeiro

In the dissertation decolonization is seen from two perspectives. First, from the perspective of post-colonial (literary) theories and the way colonialism and coloniality are brought up within this field. These theories, mostly produced in the Anglophone context, are critical towards colonialism but such scholars as Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha have also been questioned for ending up emphasizing the power of colonialism and the inability to see beyond it. Therefore, from the theoretical and methodological perspective I am interested in searching for de-colonial approaches that would go even beyond the process of decolonization.
The second line of investigation focuses on literature itself and on its possibilities to be part of what can be called decolonization from a wider perspective. I have chosen to limit the discussion to novels. In the novel - due to its assumed European origins - many interesting questions come up, especially in what comes to the social dimension of literature. Following the idea of epistemologies of the South, I am interested in searching the possibilities literature, such as Mozambican, can have in bringing up, discussing and translating epistemologies that have been in the shadow and silenced due to colonialism/modernity/coloniality - through cultural translation.
The role of language in literature is closely related to this theme - how eurocentrism works through the use of languages brought by colonialism and how this eurocentrism can be questioned in various ways. Literature can also be considered as an interesting platform for discussing globalization and the "heritage" of colonialism in a way that may not be possible within other areas of knowledge, through metaphors and (imagined) life stories for example.