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I think a common misrepresentation of the term postcolonialism lies in a lack of respect for its complexity. Authors of postcolonial literature like Caryl Phillips, Arundhati Roy, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez do not simply write stories that aim to portray their own cultures. These writers aim for much more...

Some writers, like Chinua Achebe, discuss colonialism at the time of colonization, providing us with a sort of history lesson taken from the perspective of the colonized. Other writers, like Caryl Phillips, discuss how the effects of colonization still exist in today's modern society. The idea then, of postcolonial writing, is not only to provide us with alternative literature from our normal canon, but to also challenge the idea of the status-quo by creating an opposing point of view from the accepted occidental outlook. (Deena, 2000)

Take the picture above, for example. It is an unbelievably interesting picture because it alludes to the large divide between what's typically considered the 'global north' and the 'global south'. Many people look at this picture and immediately draw a relationship between the number of lights a region has and its overall level of development. We look at the occidental, countries such as the United States and those in western Europe, and we see the enormous distinction in luminance between those regions and regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. We see barely any light in the continent of Africa at all. All we see is darkness in those areas...also a product of western canon.

Joseph Conrad depicts this western perspective with great clarity in his book Heart of Darkness, which takes readers through a series of nightmares in the Belgian Congo. His book is revolutionary though, because not only does it portray the 'darkness' of the Congo region, it also goes into great detail discussing the 'darkness' of the European's cruel treatment to the African natives.

So what does this map tell us? Nothing we don't already know, or at least think we know. If we define development in terms of luminescence, as this map has defined it for us, we limit ourselves to focusing only on a linear form of development. There is, in fact, much more to the idea of development. A region with much less lights might have a much richer cultural foundation. A country with less industry could have a much better socio-economic structure.

Take Cuba for example: if we look at the map, we see darkness in comparison to many of its Caribbean neighbors. How can it be that one of the 'darkest' countries on this map has one of the best health care and primary education systems in the world? The answer lies in the fact that human development and economic development are not the same thing.

The example of this map shows us only one perspective provided by postcolonial authors and scholars. The photos tacked to the top of the map depict a collage of notable authors and images of every day life in a great many parts of the world. To the right you will find a list of pages. These pages, distinguished by topic, aim to provide a multifaceted analysis on various postcolonial works, their themes, meanings, and lessons learned.