Given the provenance of this category of literature, it would be fair to say that postcolonial literature, policy, and global development are foundationally interlinked. One of the Holy Writs of the field, The Wretched of the Earth, was described by Stuart Hall as the “Bible of decolonization,” although others wished that Fanon included more policy recommendations. Many stalwarts of postcolonial literature have been professionally involved in policy and global development, whether as activists, in government, or with local and international non-governmental organizations. Writers like Chinua Achebe believed that novels and novelists have a role to play in building up one’s own country. Literary depictions have also long been contributing to discussions on global affairs and international development, and now there is a significant movement towards accepting literature, a witness to our era, as one of the many sources of knowledge. These narratives encourage policymakers and leaders in international assistance, research, and trade to consider the human impact of globalization and economic development. 

 

This seminar aims to make explicit the powerful connections that exist between postcolonial literature and policy—in national contexts and in the realm of global development—whether in locating these literatures’ active agency in influencing policy, or in detecting the leverage that policies have on postcolonial literatures, or to map out the intersections between narrative and policy making of all kinds (such as urban, environmental, educational, and cultural) within the postcolonial context.