Postcolonialism Essays -- Literary Analysis

Postcolonialism is a critical approach in literary studies that deals with the experience of â€Å"exclusion, denigration, and resistance under colonial control† (Waugh 340). It concerns itself with the reaction that is incited due to colonialism, which is the taking over and expansion of colonies by people from another colony. In essence, postcolonialism deals with the ways race, identity, culture, and ethnicity are represented after an area has been colonized. Postcolonialism pays particular attention to the response of the oppressed, which can be both radical and subtle. Claude McKay, a Jamaican-American poet, wrote â€Å"America† during the Harlem Renaissance, and although it was before the postcolonial movement, it exemplifies many postcolonial ideas. â€Å"America† deals heavily with the dual ideas of love and hate. In the first four lines of the poem, the narrator shows his extreme distaste for America. But, while he hates her, he also is forced to depend on her as well. In the first line, the narrator states, â€Å"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,† which tells the reader that he relies on America for food and sustenance. It also plays on the idea of America being the â€Å"mother role:† feeding a child that depends on her to live. We are thus led to believe that the narrator acknowledges that America is keeping him alive, even though she does so with bitterness. He goes on to write, â€Å"And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, / Stealing my breath of life, I will confess† (Lines 2-3). Here, readers should notice how the narrator feels America is stealing his life and draining his spirit. In a time where America was supposed to be providing freedom and equality to blacks, he is instead having his culture and his background robbed from h... ...lonial writers and critics find ways of answering the colonial oppressor back by exploiting the struggles over meaning which take place within the texts of empire themselves†¦ they ridicule and refute how they themselves have been represented. Moreover, crucially, in doing so they express their own subjectivity, their own perceptions of the world.† In â€Å"America,† McKay has done just this. He openly and honestly writes of his struggles, of the struggles faced by most blacks during this time. He depicts the double consciousness and in-between that he experiences being a hyphenated American. He is also not afraid to stand back, to use America’s strength to give him the power to fight against this hate. Although the poem ends on a more melancholy note, with the future of America looking bleak, McKay shows that, even then, there is still a small hope for the future.