Glossary

Deracinate

Deracinate/ Deracination Deracinate literally means to pull out a plant's roots. In postcolonial studies, it implies the literal removal of African peoples from their original cultures and then their enslavement and transportation to the Americas and the caribbean. This forceful [...]

By Masood Raja|2019-12-23T10:47:33-06:00December 23rd, 2019|Comments Off

Diaspora

Originally, Diaspora literally meant a "scattering" of the people and referred to the early Greek populations that scattered to colonize other territories. In the classical sense, however, after the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, the term Diaspora has [...]

By Masood Raja|2019-11-21T11:00:30-06:00May 2nd, 2019|Comments Off

Discourse

Most literary scholars rely on Michel Foucault's theorization of discourse to discuss literary and cultural texts. The following brief video explains the concept

By Masood Raja|2024-10-04T09:02:52-05:00November 15th, 2019|Comments Off

Dominance

According to Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, power (state) works either through dominance or hegemony. Dominance involves the coercive use of brute force such as the police, army, or the law to control a population or a group. But more often [...]

By Masood Raja|2019-11-13T13:32:39-06:00May 2nd, 2019|Comments Off