ABSOLUTELY POSTCOLONIAL
WRITING between the SINGULAR and the SPECIFIC
Peter Hallward
King's College London
'Peter Hallward's book is perhaps the key theoretico-political
intervention of the last decade -- one of those few where one cannot but
exclaim: "Finally the word we were all secretly waiting for!" One can
only hope that his critique of postcolonial theory will set in motion
the much-delayed liberation of the academic Left from the postmodern
jargon which has long dominated cultural studies. If ever a book was a
weapon, this is it!'
-- Slavoj Zizek, Institute for Social Studies, Ljubljana
'A brilliant refusal of its established terms of engagement, this book
marks a major advance in thinking through and beyond postcolonial
theory.'
-- Diana Brydon, Professor of English, University of Western Ontario
'Bringing a real philosophical intelligence to bear on the field, this
extremely important book is a singular intervention in every sense of
the word.'
-- Keith Ansell Pearson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick
'This monumental study transforms the terms within which critical
understanding of postcolonial culture has been conducted. Lucid,
difficult, highly original and sometimes contentious, Hallward's
stimulating book provides a new bench-mark for all future debate in this
field.'
-- Paul Gilroy, Professor of Sociology and African American Studies,
Yale University
CONTRARY to its usual characterisation in terms of plurality,
particularity and resistance, this book argues that the postcolonial is
best understood as an ultimately *singular* or non-relational category.
A singularity is something that generates the medium of its own
existence, to the eventual exclusion of other existences. Drawing on the
philosophies of Gilles Deleuze and Alain Badiou and guided by
comparisons with Buddhism and Islam, _Absolutely Postcolonial_ defends
this approach both through a detailed critique of postcolonial theory
and through comparative, comprehensive readings of four very different
contemporary writers: Edouard Glissant, Charles Johnson, Mohammed Dib,
and Severo Sarduy. Along the way, it also looks to some of these same
writers for resources with which we might develop a relational or
specific alternative to the postcolonial paradigm that has become so
influential in literary and cultural studies.
CONTENTS
Abbreviations. Preface. Acknowledgements
Introduction: singular or specific?
1 Postcolonial theory
I Postcolonial singularity. II Postcolonial specifications. III The
Marxist counter-attack. IV Towards a concept of the specific. V Edward
Said, between territory and de-territorialisation
Excursus I A postcolonial world?
2 Edouard Glissant: from nation to Relation
I The critical consensus. II Original and outcome: Glissant's
*totalite*. III National redundance, dialectical *depassement*. IV
Against folklore, against Creole. V _La Lezarde_ (1958): the promise of
national consciousness. VI _Malemort_ (1975): the dialectic *en panne*.
VII _La Case du commandeur_ (1981): despair and transition. VIII
_Mahagony_ (1987), _Tout-monde_ (1993): beyond national consciousness.
IX Beyond specificity: _Poetique de la Relation_ (1990) and after
Excursus II On the nation and its alternatives
3 Charles Johnson and the transcendence of place
I Critical contexts. II Johnson and the Good Thing. III Phenomenological
implications. IV Allmuseri immanence. V Becoming-impersonal. VI Writing
on the plane of immanence. VII The costs of singularisation
Excursus III The universal and the transcendental
4 Mohammed Dib and the 'alam al-mithal: between the singular and the
specific
I Models of development. II Territory deferred. III Toward the limits of
the specific. IV Ta'wil, Ishraq and the 'alam al-mithal. V Towards
extinction. VI And then?
Excursus IV Return to the specific
5 Severo Sarduy: _sunyata_ and beyond
I Territorial beginnings. II _Gestos_ (1963): toward paralysis of the
'sensory-motor schema'. III Organisation by frame. IV Sarduy's neo-
baroque. V _De donde son los cantantes_ (1967): at the limits of *lo
cubano*. VI Empty foundations. VII The Buddhist path. VIII _Cobra_
(1972). IX _Maitreya_ (1978). X Sarduy's singular univocity. XI
_Colibri_ (1984) and the renewal of situation. XII _Cocuyo_ (1990) and
disorientation. XIII From death to dying. XIV _Pajaros de la playa_
(1993)
Conclusion
Notes. Bibliography. Index
PETER HALLWARD teaches at King's College London and is the author of
_Subject to Truth: The Philosophy of Alain Badiou_ (2002).
Absolutely Postcolonial: writing between the singular and the specific
ANGELAKI HUMANITIES series, volume 3
December 2001
234x156mm 433pp
HB 0-7190-6125-3 GBP49.99/US$74.95
PB 0-7190-6126-1 GBP18.99/US$35.95
Published by MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
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ANGELAKI HUMANITIES
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