What is postcolonial intellection to us: a white scarecrow in the field?

Abstract

Given that postcolonial theory has come to meet a chequered reception in many postcolonial locations, it has become imperative that we examine a number of arguments for and against the theory. In the Babel of Voices which have been stirred by this theory, there are still scholars who posit that postcolonialism is a highly relevant theoretical framework for the discursive and historical tenor of African literature. They have argued that the postcoloniality of the African experience falls within the ambit of the theory. But this line of argument has not settled the matter. And this essay is not so ambitious as to claim the capacity to settle the matter. The drive here is to throw a few more drops of fuel into the inferno, and to hope that the fire will be sufficiently purgatorial to cleanse some things of their fog.