Decolonization

Through a decolonial approach, this study questions the concept of postethnicity, proposed by David Hollinger, arguing that Hollinger’s vision of a rooted cosmopolitanism – a globally connected society built on shared values – is based upon narrow ‘universal’ values which solely align with Western standards. Decolonial critics like Walter D. Mignolo, in return, advocate for a ‘pluriversal’ world where multiple perspectives and voices coexist without being subsumed under a dominant Western narrative. The study uses two novels, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun and Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, to illustrate this debate. It argues that Ishiguro’s novel, while exploring universal themes, is ultimately rooted in a Western ethnocentric perspective, reflecting a zero-point view where Western paradigms are presented as global patterns. On the other hand, Roy’s novel is situated in India, addressing local issues and challenging Western standards. The study concludes that Ishiguro’s approach at best leads to rewesternization – a reassertion of Western perspectives even while attempting to move beyond them, while Roy’s by integrating indigenous traditions, individual and local singularities, and global issues, contributes to the decolonization of Western paradigms advocating a pluriversal world where multiple voices are valued.

This study examines Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest (1972) as a speculative representation of colonialism and resistance. The novella portrays a brutal encounter between Terran colonizers and the indigenous Athsheans, where colonialist exploitation threatens their identity, culture, and peaceful nature. Although existing scholarship on Le Guin’s work has explored ecological and feminist dimensions, this paper fills a gap in knowledge by examining other aspects, namely, colonial violence, dehumanization, and the process of decolonization. Through thematic and close textual analysis and drawing on the decolonial thought of Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon, the postcolonial critique of Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha, and Amílcar Cabral’s modes of resistance, this paper reflects on the traditional colonial dynamics to subvert its claim of progress and expose it as an enduring system of exploitation. It further examines resistance as a multi-layered phenomenon that both challenges and replicates colonial power dynamics. While portraying how hybrid identity enables new forms of agency within the process of decolonization, this paper contends that colonial domination goes beyond physical violence and oppression to encompass epistemic violence, cultural transformation, and deformed identity. Ultimately, it underscores the continuing relevance of Le Guin’s novella in critiquing imperial legacies through its imaginative futuristic context that transcends traditional colonial structures.