Uchchaihshravas of the Times: The Extension of the Horizon of Postcolonialism

Abstract

Postcolonialism is not only a period in the history of time but a movement in the domain of art and aesthetics as well as a literary theory. The basic foundation of this theory aims to restore the rights of the oppressed. Postcolonialism has been in existence since 1920s and 1930s. It is a multi-faceted theory which takes up social, political, cultural and economic causes leading to oppression. The birth of Postcolonialism is from the womb of colonialism and imperialism. Its significance lies in the fact that it is a theory of resistance towards hegemonic practices related to power. In the contemporary times, many literary critics arrived upon the conclusion that the heydays of Postcolonialism have ended and it is a dying theory which is gradually losing its importance in the academic circles. The truth about this theory is that it will never lose its currency as it deals with oppression and exploitation and is about the resistance to oppression. In actuality, oppression or for that matter exploitation never ends, the nature of oppression or exploitation changes and so do the strategies to counter them. The theory has been extended to new domains especially to the domain of Science which had been included in the ambit of Postcolonialism. The critical piece discusses the kind of oppression and exploitation that is practiced in the field of Science through discrimination and hence, the need for a critical theory, that is, Postcolonialism which is interdisciplinary in nature and can voice the concerns of those who bear the brunt of a very specialized and a subtle form of oppression caused due to discrimination. On the other hand, Postcolonialism is able to extend its horizon thereby bringing in interdisciplinarity in its domain. The fact that there is a kind of interdisciplinarity in the field of research makes the critics explore new avenues to project the overlap between the fields which are polar opposites in terms of their epistemology thereby giving rise to an organic whole of which each discipline is a part. The novelty of the essay lies in subverting the grounds on which discrimination is based in the field of Science using an indigenous religious and cultural approach.