Post-colonial literatures.

Colonialism played a significant role in the lives of many people writing in English around the
world. Post-colonial literature is characterised by a sense of separateness and displacement
(because this people lost their cultural identity) and the quest of identity. English text came from
different places of the world, colonised by England.
The countries that belonged to the British Empire share some characteristics, like:
 the process of emancipation
 fight for cultural and political independence
 the use of English
 colonization.

The language of power.

All these countries have asserted themselves by underlining their independence from British
political and cultural traditions. But English has been imposed as an official language in some
countries like Africa, India and the West Indies. This language of power and colonial
administration, but also of education and learning, is now the vehicle of some of most significant
writing of the 20th century: it has become the language of power.

The appropriation of English.

What is fundamental in the development of post-colonial literature is that English language has
been appropriated and modified by these societies. They have transformed English into distinctive
national varieties by the introduction of variation in pronunciation and vocabulary.

The nations involved can be divided into two groups: “settler colonies” and the “invaded colonies”.

The “settler colonies”

In the settler colonies (Canada, Australia and New Zeland), the land was occupied by white
European colonists who took it from the indigenous populations. These settlers missed so much
their culture that they try to reproduce it there. At first they tried to deal with the feeling of
isolation and displacement by clinging to their traditions, values and language. But then writers
started appreciating this countries, developing strong sense of national pride, and rejecting British
values and culture.

 In Australia, the aboriginal population was at best neglected, at worst attacked and
exploited by the newcomers, and they are still regarded as inferior by many New
Australian.
 The situation in New Zeland is somewhat different. When the white settlers arrived there,
they found an advance and complex culture among the indigenous Maoris, who have
maintained their identity and continue to live according to traditions established long
before the arrival of the white settlers.
  In Canada there is lots of tension: this part of the North American Continent was colonised
twice over, bye the French and the British, with the result that French and English are both
official languages.

The “invaded colonies”

In the case of invaded nations such as India, Africa and West Indies, indigenous peoples were
subjected through violence and oppression in their own territories. Writers of these countries did
not have to adapt to alien climates or landscapes, but they were deprived of their cultures,
religious beliefs and local languages: they experienced a deep psychological fracture. People had
to learn English, to absorb a culture that had nothing to do with their environment.

 In African countries tension between the native and immigrant populations has often led to
violence and discrimination. Blacks had little opportunity for education, and were thus kept
in a subordinate position as the servants of the ruling white population. White European
treated black empolyees rather as they treated children or domestic animals: not
necessarily brutally, but on the assumption that they were by nature inferior beings.
 Finally, in the West Indies, another situation prevails. The descendants of African, Indian
and white European immigrants live side by side and have each made their contribution to
the varieties of English spoken in the Caribbean.