Postcolonial literary theory through a reading of the novels "White teeth" by Z. Smith and "Ciganin, ali najljepši" by K. Novak

Postkolonijalna teorija i kritika bave se književnošću bivših kolonijalnih zemalja. Ne postoji jedna metodologija ili teorija koja bi olakšala njihovo proučavanje. Svako je kolonijalno iskustvo drugačije, zajedničke su im predodžbe koje su o njihovim kulturama stvorili kolonizatori, stoga je to polazišna točka ovih teorija. Najvažnije što iz ove teorije protječe jest nastojanje da se ukinu globalizirani konstrukti „drugosti“ u društvu, da se narodi koji su dosada tretirani kao drugi sklone s margine društva. Postkolonijalnu književnost, teoriju i kritiku između ostalog zanima i pitanje iseljeništva i života u dijaspori. Kritički angažman koji preispituje ulogu književnosti u proizvodnji drugosti u kontekstu kolonijalizma danas se naziva postkolonijalnom kritikom, a književnost nastalu u procesu preispitivanja položaja koloniziranih u odnosu na eurocentrične kulturne modele naziva se postkolonijalnom književnošću. Kao primjer postkolonijalne književnosti izabrani su romani Bijeli zubi Z. Smith i Ciganin, ali najljepši K. Novaka. Analizirani su književni postupci pomoću kojih ovi romani predstavljaju književnu artikulaciju problema „drugosti“.Postcolonial literary theory deals with the literature of former colonial countries. There is no single methodology or theory to facilitate their study. Each colonial experience is different, what they all have in common are the ideas created by the colonizers about their cultures,and therefore this is the starting point of postcolonial theories. The most important thing that follows from postcolonial theory is the attempt to abolish the globalized constructs of "otherness" in society, to remove the peoples who have hitherto been treated as “others” from the margins of society. Postcolonial literature and theory are also interested in the issue of emigration and the life in the diaspora. Critical engagement that examines the role of literature in the production of “otherness” in the context of colonialism is called postcolonial literary theory, and literature produced in the process of reconsidering the position of the colonized in relation to Eurocentric cultural models postcolonial literature. The novels White Teeth by Z. Smith and Ciganin, ali najljepši by K. Novak, were chosen as examples of postcolonial literature. This thesis then presents an analysis of the literary procedures by which these novels constitute the literary articulation of the problem of "otherness"