On Postcolonial Poetics in the Era of Post-theory

Since the end of the 1970s, postcolonialism has become one of the most popular literary/cultural theories all over the world and exerted immense influence on the fields of literary and cultural studies. Many scholars have kept on thinking and reflecting on the innovative perspectives and unique ideas brought about by postcolonial theories up to now. They have been much valued and continuously studied by many because postcolonial theories are concerned with the precarious cultural conditions of the third world and the so-called postcolonial heritage. They also vehemently question the suppression of the minorities and the marginalized communities in the multi-ethnic societies in the West and call for social justice and the co-existence of different ethnic groups and classes. The postcolonial poetics include at least four dimensions: diasporic poetics, the minority theory, the hybridization theory and cosmopolitanism. In the era of “post-theory,” postcolonial poetics is in urgent need for self-reflection and re-adjustment to the contemporary conditions of an increasingly globalized world. It not only needs to return to literariness in practical criticism but also to continue with its natural concerns for social equality and justice. In the main time, postcolonial poetics also needs to strengthen its dimension of practice and contextualization.