Postcolonial power dynamics: establishing control and negotiating agency

Abstract

The paper's purpose is to analyse postcolonial relationships as depicted in literature. To establish a balanced examination of the above-mentioned postcolonial dynamics, this study focuses on two novels written by European writers and two novels by writers from the postcolonial world. These are Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe, Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad, Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe, and Midnight’s Children (1981) by Salman Rushdie. Colonialism imposes hegemonic control and creates hierarchical binaries, such as the self and the other. Using the theoretical framework provided by Edward Said and Homi K. Bhabha, this study examines how colonialism not only imposes control but also influences how colonised subjects resist and negotiate their agency.