The Long Space

The resurgence of "world literature" as a category of study seems to coincide with what we understand as globalization, but how does postcolonial writing fit into this picture? Beyond the content of this novel or that, what elements of postcolonial fiction might challenge the assumption that its main aim is to circulate native information globally?The Long Spaceprovides a fresh look at the importance of postcolonial writing by examining how it articulates history and place both in contentandform. Not only does it offer a new theoretical model for understanding decolonization's impact on duration in writing, but through a series of case studies of Guyanese, Somali, Indonesian, and Algerian writers, it urges a more protracted engagement with time and space in postcolonial narrative. Although each writerWilson Harris, Nuruddin Farah, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Assia Djebarexplores a unique understanding of postcoloniality, each also makes a more general assertion about the difference of time and space in decolonization. Taken together, they herald a transnationalism beyond the contaminated coordinates of globalization as currently construed.

Peter Hitchcock is Professor of English, Film Studies, and Women's Studies at the Graduate Center and Baruch College of the City University of New York. His books include Imaginary States (2003), Oscillate Wildly (1999), and Dialogics of the Oppressed (1993).