{"product_id":"subject-to-colonialism-gaurav-desai-9780822326410","title":"Subject to Colonialism: African Self-Fashioning and the Colonial Library","description":"\u003ci\u003eSubject to Colonialism\u003c\/i\u003e provides a much needed revisionist perspective on the way twentieth-century Africa is viewed and analyzed among scholars. Employing literary, historical, and anthropological techniques, Gaurav Desai attempts to generate a new understanding of issues that permeate discussions of Africa by disrupting the centrality of postcolonial texts and focusing instead on the cultural and intellectual production of \u003ci\u003ecolonial \u003c\/i\u003eAfricans. In particular, Desai calls for a reevaluation of the \"colonial library\"--that set of representations and texts that have collectively \"invented\" Africa as a locus of difference and alterity. \u003cbr\u003e\tPresenting colonialism not as a singular, monolithic structure but rather as a practice frought with contradictions and tensions, Desai works to historicize the foundation of postcolonialism by decentering both canonical texts and privileged categories of analysis such as race, capitalism, empire, and nation. To achieve this, he focuses on texts that construct or reform--rather than merely reflect--colonialism, placing explicit emphasis on processes, performances, and the practices of everyday life. Reading these texts not merely for the content of their assertions but also for how they were created and received, Desai looks at works such as Jomo Kenyatta's ethnography of the Gikuyu and Akiga Sai's history of the Tiv and makes a particular plea for the canonical recuperation of African women's writing.\u003cbr\u003e\tScholars in African history, literature, and philosophy, postcolonial studies, literary criticism, and anthropology will welcome publication of this book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gaurav Desai\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0822326418\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780822326410\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Duke University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/20\/2001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.77lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.78h x 6.22w x 0.63d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2001 pg. 670","brand":"Gaurav Desai","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46906605895935,"sku":"9780822326410","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_46be9bf3-7c49-40e4-91eb-1e6bea229bd6.jpg?v=1748770898","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/subject-to-colonialism-gaurav-desai-9780822326410","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}