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Chapter 10 - Conclusion

Postcolonial Tragedy and the Question of Method

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

Ato Quayson
Affiliation:
Stanford University, California
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Summary

Chapter 10 lays out the primary methodological motivations behind the book. Because both postcolonialism and tragedy are highly complex, constellation concepts, I argue that they instigate the necessity for thinking closely about the dynamics of comparison, critical theory, interdisciplinarity, and the ethics of reading. I then track the complex relations between historical context and literary texts in postcolonial studies and go on to show some of the ways in which the contrast and comparison of Western notions of tragedy with postcolonial examples forces us to rethink both sides of the coin. I conclude with remarks on the characterological types we have seen in the course of the book – namely the bold (Othello, Okonkwo, Sethe) and the quiet (the Magistrate and Murphy) – and show how they correlate to two different ideas of freedom. There are implications to be derived from postcolonial tragedy for how we think of freedom in today’s world.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Conclusion
  • Ato Quayson, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921992.011
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  • Conclusion
  • Ato Quayson, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921992.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Ato Quayson, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921992.011
Available formats
×