Postcolonial Whiteness: A Critical Reader on Race and Empire

by Alfred J. López (editor)

Postcolonial Whiteness examines the interrelations between whiteness and the history of European colonialism, as well as the status of whiteness in the contemporary postcolonial world. It addresses two fundamental What happens to whiteness after empire, and to what extent do white cultural norms or imperatives remain embedded in the postcolonial or postindependence state as a part—acknowledged or not—of the colonial legacy? Presenting a wide range of critical and theoretical responses, the contributors explore these questions by focusing on such diverse topics as the legacy of Princess Diana; queer self-expression; the changing situation of Gypsy, or Romani, minorities in Eastern Europe; literature, including Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Caryl Phillips's Cambridge, and Gothic impact on the literature of Australia; reconstruction of white South African social identity; cross-cultural discussions of mental illness; Freud's case history of the Wolfman; and Australia's national anthems.

Genres: Race, History, Theory

271 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2005

About the author

Born in New York City to Cuban parents and raised in Miami, Alfred J. López is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Purdue University. López was the founding editor of The Global South, a leading globalization studies journal, and his work has also appeared in top journals such as American Literature, Comparative Literature, and South Atlantic Quarterly, among many others.

Reviews

[Blaze-Pascal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very important work... something I need to reference more often. I really appreciate the authors contributions to the idea of the Wolf Man case being tied into these discourses. I think it is an interesting case related to the discourses of whiteness.