Postcolonial Melancholia

by Paul Gilroy

In an effort to deny the ongoing effect of colonialism and imperialism on contemporary political life, the death knell for a multicultural society has been sounded from all sides. That's the provocative argument Paul Gilroy makes in this unorthodox defense of the multiculture. Gilroy's searing analyses of race, politics, and culture have always remained attentive to the material conditions of black people and the ways in which blacks have defaced the clean edifice of white supremacy. In Postcolonial Melancholia, he continues the conversation he began in the landmark study of race and nation 'There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack' by once again departing from conventional wisdom to examine--and defend--multiculturalism within the context of the post-9/11 politics of security.



This book adapts the concept of melancholia from its Freudian origins and applies it not to individual grief but to the social pathology of neoimperialist politics. The melancholic reactions that have obstructed the process of working through the legacy of colonialism are implicated not only in hostility and violence directed at blacks, immigrants, and aliens but in an inability to value the ordinary, unruly multiculture that has evolved organically and unnoticed in urban centers. Drawing on the seminal discussions of race begun by Frantz Fanon, W. E. B. DuBois, and George Orwell, Gilroy crafts a nuanced argument with far-reaching implications. Ultimately, Postcolonial Melancholia goes beyond the idea of mere tolerance to propose that it is possible to celebrate the multiculture and live with otherness without becoming anxious, fearful, or violent.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Theory, Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy, Academic

170 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Paul Gilroy is an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar who is Professor of the Humanities and the founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racism at University College, London.

Reviews

[gold cs · Rating 5 out of 5]

paul gilroy’s phrasing and rhetorical style are what made this book so compelling to me. sure, the argument is good and sound, but it’s not really new at most of its pressure points (I am reading this 20 years after publication). it hinges on the kinds of affective experiences that the practice of continually propelling race as a central political force (whether overtly or quietly) creates, and wonders about how we squirm and flail without stark colonial structures in place. in doing this project, the writing captures how racisms and antiracisms feel. I could do without the commentary on Sacha Baron Cohen and The Office, but I guess cultural studies professors in the early 2000s are gonna do that. incredible stuff

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updated Review: The two halves of Gilroy's book--The Planet and Albion--have different but related foci. The Planet focuses on the background and theory Gilroy calls global humanism, which he posits as an anti-racial alternative to civilizationism and neoliberal cosmopolitanism. Gilroy proposes a complex balance between a kind of world citizenship and a politics of the local. His goal is to destabilize the nation-state as a site of nationalist and racist purity, but also to avoid the facile neoliberal politics of consumption, homogenization, and unrestricted movement of capital. My major critique of this section would be that it seems a bit too general, despite Gilroy's stated purpose of confronting a complex real world problem of racism.
Part II, Albion, is much more focused on England/Great Britain, and in this section he really develops the idea of postcolonial (or more properly, post-imperial) meloncholia. He argues that Britain has been unable to come to terms with its grief and guilt over the loss of its imperial power and prestige, and that the influx of immigrants from the Commonwealth has compounded British guilt because the immigrant represent the real impact of the frequently brutal colonial project. But then, the feelings of hatred and resentment become a new source of guilt, which gets further internalized, making it even more difficult for Britain to come to terms with its imperial past.
Gilroy proposes moving past this impasse through the politics of global humanism, which would undermine the nationalist fantasies developed to support the nation-state as well as the civilizationialist fantasy underpinning the war on terror. Instead he encourages us to see ourselves as citizens of a shared and dynamic world, but simultaneously as individuals shaped by a confluence of identity categories and experiences.

Original Review: A very readable work by Gilroy, this theoretical text examines Britain as a post-colonial site. Gilroy looks at race relations in post-imperial Britain, and examines struggles to redefine 'Britishness' after disappearance of empire and ethnic homogeneity in England.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

what a great writer (and smart dude.) but, in the end, his critique was kind of underwhelming in light of the fact that it was kind of a convoluted read. i agree with the stuff he says about essentialized cultural and civilizational difference being fucked up (and how it a) allows white england to get away with a lot of shit, as well as b) white england to justify its postcolonial melancholia), but his explanation of why racialized minorities subscribe to these views... well, there is no explanation for it (certainly not an affective one).

also, isn't he essentially saying that england needs to address its history of racism...which activists have always said? and they're actually doing something about it?

ho hum?

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Gilroy approaches issues relating to race and nationalism from a British perspective, but when the United States embarks on another ridiculous spate of imperialistic and xenophobic nonsense I often return to Postcolonial Melancholia to remind myself why it's important and meaningful to cultivate a critical perspective on how culture shapes and is shaped by race relations. Although I dearly wish this weren't the case, this book becomes more relevant with each passing year.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book in 2023, particularly under the hothouse politics of Florida, can't help but make its ideas feel more prescient than ever. The notion of "postcolonial melancholia" is a vital concept in coming to terms with various countries' nationalist discourses that are intimately tied with racist and racialized hierarchies. Although Gilroy speaks mainly about Britain, he notes: "I do not see the larger mechanism at work here as something that is uniquely relevant to Britain." The postcolonial melancholia, for example, can be redeployed to the United States in our failure to come to terms with our original sin: slavery and indigenous genocide. One can see the criminalizing of discussions of CRT, Black history, and other subaltern histories as nothing less than a postcolonial melancholia that refuses to acknowledge how settler-colonial ideas and practices still permeate our society. But the only way to move beyond such practices and limited ways of thinking is by grapping with their histories and their inheritances upon the present. This is difficult since it requires that we engage in "the painful obligations to work through the grim details of imperial and colonial history and to transform paralyzing guilt into a more productive shame that would be conducive to the building of a multicultural nationality that is no longer phobic about the prospect of exposure to either strangers or otherness" (99).

Heady stuff but necessary, like much of Gilroy's work. Highly recommend it even though it can at times be a slog to get through given his highly elaborate and complex sentences.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest: his writing is incredibly dense and a lot of it went over my head. I had to read this in a short amount of time, so I couldn't dedicate enough time to trying to extrapolate his meaning from the more complicated sentences. So while this definitely isn't a bad work by any means, and communicates a lot of vitally important messages, my appreciation of it suffered as I wasn't able to fully grasp all of it. I think perhaps I became too used to Foucault's clear outlines and logical structure and found myself a little lost in the organization of this text. I'd love to come back to it at a time when I can read more slowly and carefully. I do love the concept of postcolonial melancholia for how clearly it articulates contemporary racism, and this text has definitely influenced how I see those issues.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal book about racism in the modern world. Postcolonial melancholia "the insecure and anxious nation" that is like a bully in the playground. Important read.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a dense but insightful read. Very prescient of Brexit and MAGA given that it was written in the early 2000s.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

was not expecting a thorough discussion of Ali G in a Paul Gilroy book but here I am sitting on my couch, surprised!

[Zebulon · Rating 3 out of 5]

En mêlant des éléments aussi différents que les analyses de textes de philosophes (Foucault, Montesquieu...), de rappeurs, en se penchant sur les films de l'étonnant Sacha Baron Cohen, ou plus généralement en analysant la culture populaire, Paul Gilroy déconstruit le traumatisme de l'histoire coloniale et analyse les ressorts du populisme et du nationalisme.

[Stephanie Polsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written and gives your real insight in the perspective of postcolonial subjects negotiating lives in Britain today and the historical events that have shaped their societal perception. I found it hugely inspiring for my own writing in the subject.