Poststructuralism and postcoloniality : the anxiety of theory /

Looking at the interplay between poststructuralism and "postcolonialism by a writing persona unsure about how to write about otherness," this book examines texts by theorists such as Jacques Derrida, Helene Cixous, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Roland Barthes, and Julie Kristeva, searching for a voice likely to minimize their inscription within the space in relation to the "ethnic other" they attempt to comprehend. Hiddleston underlines the troubled nature of the pairing of poststructuralism and postcolonialism by foregrounding either incompatibility with the mainstream identity or a misunderstanding of the terrains gazed at, thus foregrounding even further alterity. She depicts the theorists in their dealing with the question of colonialism in which their own lives were implicated. The common thread is textual anxiety and the skepticism about neutrality. Instead of being a pad for stability, the nation becomes a location of contention and anxiety. Requiring a grasp of modern theory, this book deals with issues debated by Philip Leonard in Nationality between Poststructuralism and Postcolonial Theory (CH, Sep'06, 44-0135) and Homi Bhabha in The Location of Culture (1994). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. K. M. Kapanga University of Richmond