Decolonization Struggles in Postcolonial Literature
Freedom fighters in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean fought colonialism. People like Mahatma Gandhi in India, Patrice Lumumba in Zaire (now Congo), Amilcar Cabral in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, Toussaint Louverture in Haiti tackled the colonial powers through politics.
Without them, decolonization wouldn't have happened. But decolonization isn't just a political thing: it's also a cultural and mental thing.
That's where the writers come in. Postcolonial writers aren't just interested in decolonizing the political structures. They're interested in decolonizing the mind, to use a phrase made famous by the postcolonial Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Decolonizing the mind means different things for different writers, but the idea is always to gain mental and cultural liberation from the structures and philosophies of colonialism.
Chew on This
Check out how the struggle for independence is played out between a group of South Indian villagers and the British in Raja Rao's Kanthapura.
Chinua Achebe points to corruption, lies and deceit as ruining hopes for decolonization in Nigeria in these quotations from No Longer At Ease.