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Unit 4 · Literary Criticism and Theory English · December 2023

Which of the following statements are valid for postcolonial theory and literature?

  1. A. Abrogation, resistance and assertion form the basis of postcolonial thought.
  2. B. Postcolonial theory upholds binaries such as master/slave, white/black, coloniser/colonised.
  3. C. Weep Not, Child is the first English novel by an East African writer, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
  4. D. Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea is based on the experiences of colonised Africans.
  5. E. Homi K. Bhabha, Edward W. Said and Gayatri Spivak are key postcolonial thinkers.

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Correct answer: C. (A), (C) and (E) only

Explanation

Postcolonial theory deconstructs colonial binaries rather than upholding them, and Wide Sargasso Sea centres a white Creole heiress in Jamaica and Dominica. Weep Not, Child (1964) is the first English novel by an East African, and Said, Spivak and Bhabha are the 'holy trinity' of the field.

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