Book Review by Sheikh Tahir 1 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in ContextIntroduction TheauthorofArundhatiRoysTheGodofSmallThings,JulieMullaneyisSenior LecturerinEnglishatManchesterMetropolitanUniversity,especiallyinterestedin PostcolonialStudies,IndigenousLiteraturesandSettlerColonialStudies.Thisbook, PostcolonialLiteraturesinContextdealswithhowliteraturesfromformerinvader andsettlercoloniesaresituatedinpostcolonialtheory,howtheyhandlethe problematicofconflictbetweenindigeneityandhybridity,whatrolemigrationplays inreshapingtheidentitiesandattachmentsofthoseformingdiasporasandhowthe issuesofraceandgendercombinewithcoloniality.Mullaneyhasdividedthebook intothreeparts.Partonegenerallydebateswithpostcolonialtheoryasacontextof postcolonial literatures,part twoanalyses somepostcolonial literary texts, sifting the issuesofidentity,hybridity,indigeneity,diaspora,gender,raceetc.andpartthree bringsforth postcolonial theoryand its constituents with reference to major theorists andactivists.Mullaneyconcludesthebookbymentioningtheadaptationof postcolonialliterarytextstofilms,mentioningsomekeyfilmsanddirectorsalong with the issues these movies take up. 2 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir Part One (Contexts) Postcolonial Literatures and PostcolonialismWhilestudyingpostcolonialliteraturesthatenvironwritingsbypeoplewithcolonial background, an understanding of the term colonialism is suitable first that denotes the practiceofestablishingcoloniesbothforcommercialinterestsandpowerexpansion while the word colony, that meant farming settlement at some point of time, has taken over a new meaning with the establishment of European Empire, referring to the areas subjugatedbyEuropeononehandandasaphilosophy,discourseoranattitude expressing European or American Imperialism on the other hand. To social sciences, thetermpostcolonialreferstotheperiodafterpoliticalindependencewhilethe literary and cultural studies apply this term to the period starting on the first contact of thecolonizerwiththecolonizedinordertoexaminethecontestingideologies, ramificationsofcolonialismandperpetuallyrevivifiedconditionsproducedby colonial past. English,beingthelanguageofthecolonizeralongwithitsliterature,hasbecomea site where the colonized, seeking to challenge the culture and politics of the colonizer, cancontestthewesternideologieswhereuponexploringtheirownpostcolonial identities.Diasporas---Old and New Diasporas,createdbydispersionandmigration,forcedorindentured,havingcreated dual attachments to the inhabited land and the real or imagined homeland hence dual identities,areacriticalsiteforanalysisofpostcolonialidentification.Olddiasporas refertothenineteenthcenturymigrationandindenturewhilenew(trade)diasporas denotemodernglobalcapitalistmigration.ThefirstAfricandiasporas,createdby migrationsfromAfricaduringtheseventhandeightcenturiesintotheMiddleEast andIndia,werefollowedbyimperialslavetrade,theforcedmovementofAfrican populationstotheAmericasandtotheCaribbeanthatcausedaround1112million people moving from Africa to the Americas. 3 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in ContextThesediasporasareakeysitefortheproductionofpostcolonialliteraturesand debates because the places and peoples transformed by the process vocalize a variety of traumatic experiences.African Locations Writing in the Postcolony IntendingtodissolveamonolithicpictureofAfricathatwascreatedbythewestin ordertopresentitasitsOther,thepostcolonialwritingstendtopromotethe recognitionofAfricaswiththeirpluralities,nullifyingtheconstructedimageofan objectapartfromtheworld,establishingapostcolonialimageofAfricanlocations with their diverse cultures and oral and written literatures in diverse languages.Africanwriters,facingthetroubleofdecolonizingtheirpeople,reformingand revitalizing a national culture, have first to document the legacies of colonialism, the forcesproducinghybridAfricancreatures,thecontestingidentitiesanddebating cultural values. The literatures thus produced are set in rural background with African mythandtraditionasvillageisthesiteofspiritualoriginincontrastwiththe postcolonialcity.Akeypointofdepartureisquestioninghowwomenslivesare shapedinAfricancultures,howmenandwomenrepresentdebatebetweenAfrican andWesternmodelsofwomanhood,specificallymotherhood,andhowwomen become the subject of ideological and physical contest.Postcolonial Feminisms Aspostcolonialcriticismhasbeenseenasneglectingthequestionofgenderforthe sake of race, so is feminism accused of paying attention to gender at the cost of race however patriarchy and colonialism have certain common features hence postcolonial andfeministcriticsfindsomecommoncauseofuncoveringtheideologiesworking behind both phenomena with the ambition to link feminist postcolonialism all over the world,portrayinggenderednationalisms.Theportrayalofgenderbyrace,classand sex is a key theme in many postcolonial literatures interrogating the hidden ideologies of patriarchy and colonialism.Land, Indigeneity and Questions of Sovereignty Thesitesofgreatcontestation,theprocessesperpetuatinginequalitiesi.e.land conflictsgivevastareasofproductiontopostcolonialliteraturecommunicating 4 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir ambitions,anxietiesandfearsofpeopleoflandsthatindulgeinsuchcontestation. Postcolonial literary studies are fraught with notions of the indigene and indigeneity, exploringthetraumatichistoryofpastencounterbetweenindigenousandnon-indigenoussettlerculturesanditsaftermath.Thetermindigenoussovereigntyin postcolonial studies is used to point out a way of belonging, a particular change in the approachtocolonialandpostcolonialsettlerhistoriesandtothehistoryof representing indigenous cultures. The Postcolonial Bildungsroman Bildungsroman/bildu:ngzrma:n/isanovelabouttheearlyyearsofsomebodys life,exploringthedevelopmentofhisorhercharacterandpersonality,customarily concernedwiththesocialeducationandprogressofitsprotagonist,usually foregroundstheprotagonistsestrangementfromoralienationinhis/herfamily, communityornation,debatinghis/herrelationshipwithplaceandasaresultisa fruitfulsiteforpostcolonialthematicoperation,becominganinterestingmaterialfor criticismasitspsychologicalstructurestandsuponthenotionsofmaturity, equilibriumandcultivationgotthroughimperialiststructuresofeducationthatarea vehicle of colonial power and an effective instrument for the successful governance of Empire as shown in Minute on Indian Education (1835) by Lord Macaulay in which he describes the role of English language and literature in creating a class who could compriseinterpretersbetweenthecolonizersandthemillionswhomtheygovern,a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, opinions, morals and intellect.Postcolonialwritershaveresortedtobildungsromanbecauseitprovides working tools to deconstruct colonial discourses and their underlying ideologies but in modernbildungsromanthealienationoftheprotagonistdoesntleadtoacoherent psychicstructure;itratherexposestheunderlyingsocialcodesthatrenderdamaged, derailed and fractured personalities. The Canon and Postcolonial Literatures As the study of English as an academic discipline collaborated with the expansion of Empire,itprovidedthecolonizerswithaneffectiveinterventionintoculturesofthe colonized and a medium to unite the sites of Empire giving them a common language torulemoreeffectivelybyprivilegingandinstitutionalizingEnglishinthecolonies. 5 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in ContextThus the canon beingconstructedby the notion of civilizing the uncivilized justified themissionofthecolonizeraswellasunderminedallthatwasexcludedfromthe canon,namelytheuncivilized.Postcolonialwritersinvestigatethecanonasa vehicle of culture, exploring the various ways in which it translates the culture of the colonized and constructs the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Bodies of Evidence Postcolonialwritingsbeingusuallyinterestedinhistoryandmetahistoryofcolonial areasinvestmucheffortinexploringandbriningunderscrutinythecolonialand postcolonialhistoriography,openingupprevalentcolonialistnarratives,anti-colonial writingback,nationalistapproachesthusformedandindoingsotheymake distinctiveuseofvariousformsofwritingsi.e.letters,journals,travelogues,diaries, shipslogs,mapsandadministrativerecordsforinterrogatingthetextualityof Empire,usingthesedatatoexpresstheformsofmetamorphosiscausedinthelife experience of the colonized.Part Two (Texts) Adichies Purple HibiscusSetinpostcolonialNigeria,thisbildungsromanexploresKambili,theprotagonists changingrelationshipswithfamilyforegroundedbythefamilialinsurrectioncaused byherbrothersrejectionofcatholicdoctrineaswellasbeliefsofhisownIgbo culture, her ambivalent relationship with hercommunity and nation on one hand and Nigerias fraught political history, prevailing political unease, legacies of colonialism, unequaldistributionofnaturalresources(palmandpetroleumoil),ethnicand religioustension,militancyandtraumaticinternalconflictsofidentityontheother hand. In Adichies special focus on Christian tradition of Palm Sunday, palm not only standsforthetensionbetweenhonourthatpalmstandsforanddishonourthatthe colonized receive but also for the way Christianity is linked to social, economic, and environmentalinterventions.ItregistersthelonghistoryoftradeintheAfricanoil palm and its products that fuelled colonial expansion in the nineteenth century and the supportive role of Christianity in justifying and safeguarding the colonial interests of Europeinitscolonialendeavours.Moreover,Adichiesuseoftheterm,bleaching 6 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir alsointroducesamorecomplicateddiscourseofthewishtobecomewhitewiththe raciallychargedsocialpracticeofskin-bleachingamongsomeAfricancommunities, expressing fears and fantasies of hybridized blacks.Patricia Grace, Dogside StoryDogsidestorybeingahighlycomplexnovel,debatingwiththediscoursesof biculturalism and multiculturalism as well as defining and exploring Maori culture of New Zealand in relation to Pakeha (European) culture, deals with the story of a young man Rua and his relationship with his daughter Kid who is the result of his incestuous relationship with his sister Ani. The novel encompasses a range of assumptions which areusuallybuiltontherepresentationsofindigenousculturesandhistoriesfrom outside indigenous locations. The dynamics of colonial encounter and their effects are aclearconcerninthenovelaswellasitisalsoveryclearlyconcernedwith connectionsanddivisionswithinandwithoutindigenouscultures.Thecultural significance of story is shown in Kids plea for a different scripting of her origin, an identityalternativetothatofferedbyherauntieswhotoldherthatshewascracked outofaneggoraseagullshittedher.Hiddeninthistraumaistheformative structuringofself,akeysiteofnegotiationanddebatewheretheindividualandthe communitybothnegotiatethepotentialandsituationalformsandmeaningsof contemporaryMaoriidentity.Besides,thenovelshowstheotherwaysof understanding the dynamics of cultural interchange, illustrating how a distinct form of expressionoftenassociatedwithPakehaculturehasbeenhistoricallychangedfrom within by having its forms localized and infused with Maori cultural values, meanings and rhythms.Andrew Mcgahan, The White EarthTheWhiteEarth,characterizedbygloomanddarkness,withagrotesqueplot unfoldinginaneerielocation,thusbeingagothic,iscalledcolonialgothicby MullaneyasitdealswithAustraliansettlement,thedoctrineofterranullius (nobodysland),ajustificationfortheexpropriationofAustralianland,the precondition and ultimate goal of settler colonialism, in the backdrop of the incidents that occur to the protagonist William, thus debating withcolonial legacies atvarious levels. The death of the protagonists father in a harvesters blasting that he compares 7 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in Contextto atomic explosion adds to the gloom of the novel. His subsequent displacement from his land and settling at a remote place, having prepared the ground for estrangement, puthimfacetofacewiththequestionsofhistoryandbelonging.Thedebateon truthfulnessofindigenousandnon-indigenousclaims,Williamsoscillationbetween thetwo,hisunclesburningoftheremainsofsomedocumentsofthedisplaced peoplethatareuncoveredbyWilliamandmightbethebasisoffuturenativetitle claims,alltheseincidentsposemanyquestionmarksonthelegitimacyofthesettler Europeans.Thenovelflakesthelayersofhistorytouncoversomeofthemythsthat sustain dominant accounts of settler identity, the stories that distort and eclipse native experiences viz. John McIvors (Williams uncle) ideas of an absolute possession and heroic labour as the guarantor of inheritance and belonging, the ideas sustained by the assertionsofterranulliuswhichpreparesthegroundforthefantasiesofawhite indigeneity.Monica Ali, Brick Lane Presentingthediasporicdilemmas,MonicaAliinvestigatesthecontrasting experiencesofthenovelsmigrantprotagonists,NazneenandChanu,takingin account the ways in which they remain attached to the place they have been detached from(Bangladesh)whilelivinginEnglandwithcontinuallyreframedaffiliationsto Englandandthealternativewaysofbelonging.Nazreensrelationtothenewplace strengthens while Chanus relations with home are framed differently by the cultural andeconomicstrife,nostalgia,marginalizationandthreat.ChanuandNazneens children,aschildrenofdiaspora,arefacedwiththemigrationhistoriesoftheir parents, the dichotomy of their life of the migrant reflected in the bifurcated structures oftheiridentities.Translation,inthesenseofrepresentation(identity/culture),is combinedwiththebasicnotionofit(fromonelanguagetoanother)throughthe conversationsthattakeplaceinBengalibutarerepresentedinEnglishemphasizing the way migration renders life a living translation. Many discussions are generated by theletterswrittenbetweenNazreenandhersisterHasinawholivesinBangladesh. ThecontrastingEnglishofthelettersofbothputsaquestionmarkonthe steadfastness of diasporic attachments as well as presents many problems such as the livingconditionsofthirdworldwomanandtheexperiencesthatinsteadofbeing 8 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir weakened are strengthened by migrationand dispersal i.e. those of classandgender, thus examining the discourses of inequality and oppression. Caryl Phillips, Crossing the River CrossingtheRiverrevealsthewaysinwhichhistoricalforcesshapediasporic experiencecreatedbytheslavetradewithblackandwhitehistoriesintermingled, movingbetweenAfrica,AmericaandEurope,tryingtoexplaintheformsof affiliation,interconnectedness,andexchangeborneinthemixingofcultureswith master-slave relations. It scrutinizes slavery, the damages done by it and insights and complicationcreatedbyit.Thethreeprotagonists,Nash,MarthaandTravis,the childrenofanAfrican,soldintoslavery,transportedfromoneworldtoanother,are facedwithdiversetimesandlocations.Phillipsgoesonexploringthehistoriesof relationship between the black and the white intertwined together in the narratives of nationalismandidentityinordertorecognizethevarietyofwaysinwhichthepast informs the present. Phillips makes us think about paying attention to the specificities of the experiences that can help explain the role of post-war racisms in Britain. Barack Obama, Dreams from my Father Obamasautobiography,DreamsfromMyFather,specificallyconcernedwithpost-WWIIexperiencesofdiasporaandthetransformationofidentities,dealingwith AfricanAmericandiasporicformationsandinheritances,andrecordingdominant discourses and histories of citizenship from several locations, reclaims larger areas of trauma and experience along with discourses of race and inheritance. Obama records hisencounterswitharangeofblackAmericanwritersandpoliticalallegiancesand alliances they espouse. These encounters are linked to a greater narrative built around Obamas quest for his connections with his Kenyan father, whose political career and theriseandfallinthepostcolonialKenyanpoliticshadgreatimplicationsforhis family.Mourid Barghouti, ISaw Ramallah I Saw Ramallah, like Dreams from My Father is also built on the selfs story viewed through its relation with a key person, the authors son. Barghoutis narrative stretches acrossthreegenerationstoencompasslocalitiesandsituations.Hisnarrativetraces 9 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in Contextthequestforapermitforhissontovisitthehomeland.Barghoutisaccountofhis crossingofAllenbyBridgewhilereturningtoRamallahforthefirsttimeinthirty yearsdenotesboththepersonalandthepoliticalmeaningsofthatcrossing,forthe bridgeisacenterofcompetingclaimsandhistories,nationalandinternational. Barghoutisstressontheexperienceofcrossingthebridgedebateswithnetworkof bordercontrols,refugeecamps,illegalsettlements,landzoningsandwallsthat interruptandreshapethedailylivesofPalestinians.AsBarghoutisabsencefrom Ramallahisaproductofthepainfuldismembermentsofdiaspora,hisreturnis inseparablefromtheirremembering.Bothexileandreturnaretraumatic,ambivalent and in the hands of others. Part Three (Wider Contexts) Colonialism, Racism, Psychiatry: Frantz Fanon Colonialism,amentaldisorderaccordingtoFanon,isapeculiarsetofresponsesin both colonized and colonizer, ordering their encounter in ways that are destructive for both. Black Skin,White Masks, brings to light the ways the black man is seen on the standard of the colour of his skin, set as other, denied recognition as a man equal to men,consideredblacknotasbeingblackindependentlybutinrelationtothewhite. Thushavinganobjectifiedidentity,theblackmanisentrappedinstereotypingthat mars his wish for being recognized on equal terms and considers him behaving like a blackmaninsteadofbehavinglikeaman(myitalics).Fanon,usinghighlycharged emotionaldiction,callsthisidentitycrisisoftheblackmanahaemorrhagethathas spatteredhiswholebodywithblackblood.Thisidentitycrisis,generatingfrom blackstereotyping,resultinginasituationinwhichtheblackmanisrefused consideration, leads him to desire for whiteness. This desire is a result of internalizing the values, ideologies and culture of the colonizer that is yet a result of incorporating his language that has brought with it his thinking paradigms causing displacementof thenativevaluesanddiscoursesinthepersonalitiesofnativechildrenwhoare broughtupthroughtheeducationsystemofthecolonizerandwhointernalizethe white mans civilization and system of thought that, instead of civilizing them, make them consider themselves the outlawed creatures, the ousted blacks. Fanon sketches out the reasons and processes of the metamorphosis in the black youths that stirs them 10 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir forwhitenessandascribesthisdesiretobewhitetothewesternizedthoughtmaking an image of blackness as low, inferior, uncivilized, cannibal and savage, creating the stereotypical binary opposition of white and black, of good and evil, of civilized and uncivilizedandtranslatingtheblackmaninthelaterpartofthebinaryopposition. Fanon emphasizes the need for resistance through a refusal of this translation. Diasporas and Hybridity Avtar Brah, Homi K. Bhabha, Stuart Hall Asdiasporasrefertocommunitiesbothcreatedbyforcedmigrationfromthenative placeduetocatastrophiceventsandformedbyvoluntarypassagefromoneplaceto another,theydenoteaswellthecomplicityofcapitalismwithcolonialexpansionin themodernage,referringalsotosetsofconcepts,thinkingparadigmsand development of languages that are offshoot of such diasporic movement underscoring disparateexperiencesofhome,belonging,nationhoodandsubjectivity,usually termed as diaspora theory.Brahexaminesthedifferencebetweentheestablishedconceptsofhome,nationand belongingthatrelyonthenotionoffixedoriginsandthemobilityandinstabilityof belongingsindiasporicframework.Shemakesadifferencebetweenhomingdesire and desire for a homeland, taking into account the discourses of return to actual site of origin and the imaginary homelands created in diasporas that are a product of varying translations and re-creations of self, community and nationality. Thus home is seen as amatterofnotonlypluralidentitymadeupofinterweavingandmultiplenarratives butalsothesocioeconomicandsociopoliticalspecificitieslinkingthesevarying narratives.Inthiswaysvariousminoritiesarepositionedinrelationtoother minoritiesandmajoritiesbutthemattersareabitmorecomplexastheminorityor majoritypositionstooarenotfixedbutambivalentanddynamicduetotheunstable locationality of diasporic formations.Bhabhaemphasizestheroleofhistoricalprocessesintheformationofdiasporic culture in which he sees interactions across cultures, time and space, past and present inclusionandexclusion,workingbehindthemultivalenceofidentity.BothBhabha and Brah challenge the stereotyping of binary models of identity (colonizer/colonized, local/immigrant)andstresstheformationofculturalidentitiesthroughdynamic translation of Other. For Bhabha, this dynamic translation mars the notions of purity 11 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in Contextof cultures and the understanding of this process gives a broader vision of the ways thestereotypingofbinarieshidesambivalentformsofrelationsacrossculturesand identities and tries to fix identities and cultures as closed, stable and concrete that are infactunfinished,splitandunstable.ForHall,identityisnottransparentbut problematic,alwaysinprocess,andalwaysconstitutedwithin,notoutside representation.Indigenous Identities Contexts Notfixedandstereotypicalarenotonlythediasporicidentitiesbutalsoindigenous categoriesofthesettlercoloniesviz.NewZealand,Australia,CanadaandSouth Africathatarecollectivizedbythecolonizerswho,overlookingthepre-colonial native differences and distinctions from other sectors of the societies thriving on their territories,homogenizedinternalidentitiesbyorganizedinterventionsalongwith developmentofEurocentricnarrativesofindigenousidentityservingtheinterestsof thecolonizersandwherethesenativeidentitieswereconsidered,theywere superimposedwithnewlycreatedhierarchiesthatinterruptedexistingorders,taking intoaccountsomedimensionsofidentityandignoringothers,oftenresultingin racializeddiscriminationsforexamplethoughthetermMaoriisextensivelyusedto refertotheindigenouspeoplesofNewZealand,itsusageispeculiartocolonial encounterbecauseMaoripeopleidentifythemselvesbyhapuoriwitribesandmore recently seek to emphasize their dynamic, mobile and varying indigenous cultures and livingandtrytoshakeoffthefixedfrozencategoriesthataimtoimprisonand marginalize them with the essentialist accounts of indigeneity. Sovereignty PatriciaGracethinksaboutsovereigntyashavingauthorityoveroneslifeand culture. It is a right and something that should not have to be fought for. Terms such asself-determinationarenothighenough,notgoodenoughtermsforthis.Onthe other hand, Larissa Behrendt considers self-determination a list of claims or a series oftools,linkedtosovereigntythat,rangingfromindividualauthority,extendsto power to configure ones own modes of cultural expression and engagement. 12 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir Postcolonial Cinemas Inthefinalchapter,PostcolonialCinemas,Mullaneygivessomedetailsofthe cinematicrepresentationsofpostcolonialwritingsandthedevelopmentof postcolonial African cinema that is indebted much to director Ousmane Sembene who hasplayedanimportantroleinpostcolonialcinemadirectingtwelvemoviesand writing much in the field.Safi Faye,anotherfilm director andethnographer, focuses thehistoriesofAfricanwomenespeciallyfromruralareasinherfilmslikeKaddu Beykat,Fadjal,SelbeettantdesautresandMossaneinwhichsheexploresthe challenges faced by rural women.WhilegivinganaccountoftheEuropeanfilmmakers,MullaneymentionsGillo Pontecorvo (Battaglia di Algeri), Michael Haneke (Cache), Alain Tasma (Nuit Noire), PhilippeFaucon(LaTrahison),Faucon(SamiaandDansLaVie),LaurentCantet (Entre Les Murs) and others, describing the ways their films encompass the issues like postcolonial trauma, conflicting identities, marginalization, complicity etc.Mentioningindigenousandnon-indigenousNewZealandfilms,Mullaneywrites aboutdirectorJaneCampion(BrightStar)andwriterslikeAlanDuffandWiti IhimaerawhoseMaoriworkshavebeenadaptedbyLeoTamahoriandIanMune featuringMaorilifeandmanners.NikiCarosWhaleRider,adaptedfromaWiti Ihimaerasnovella(TheWhaleRider),BarclaysNgatiandTeRua,Armagan Ballantynes The Strength of Water and Shane Loader and Andrea Bosshards Taking the Waewae Express are also mentioned with reference to indigeneity and identity of Maori people. 13 Julie Mullaney, Postcolonial Literatures in ContextConclusion (Critical Review ) Havingpeepedsystematicallyintothevariousissuestroublingthepostcolonial writersaswellasthemarginalizedpeopleinbothinvaderandsettlercoloniesand diasporiclocationsandformations,Mullaneyhasmadespecialefforttomakea comprehensivedialoguewiththequestionofidentitydisturbedbycolonial interventioneitherintheformofencounterbetweenthecolonizerandthecolonized at the native locations, changing the shapes of indigenous cultures, or in the guise of conflictsfacedbythosewhomcolonialencounterhasdislocatedfromtheirnative place,formingmultivalentdiasporicidentitieswithambivalentandproblematic attachments. Instead of formulating any theory or making a conclusion after debating withwhatmostofthepostcolonialcriticssay,sheremainscontentendingupwith bringingthediscussionstothereaderinamorecomprehensiveandlucidstyle, translating the dry philosophies in a way that is understandable for a beginner. One thing that has been disturbing throughout the reading of Mullaney is the label of dynamic identity put on the foreheads of the diasporic formations and the indigenous peopleofsettlercoloniesseeminglyincontrastwiththosewhoareexcludedfrom bothofthesecategorieswho,afterreadingMullaney,seemtobesetascompeting withsettler-indigenousanddiasporicformations,staticandfixedidentitiesthatthey certainly are not in any case, being the products of cultures and discourses subject to continuousvicissitudesandalterationsundertheinfluenceofotherculturesand contacts.Whiledebatingwithidentity,Mullaneyhasnottouchedthenarrativethathas influencedthelivesofbillionsofpeopleamongwhichhundredsofmillionshave been victims of coloniality i.e. the narrative of Islam on identity that excludes region fromthedefinitionofnation,creatingaverydifferentdiscourseofattachmenttoa system of thought that ties peoples from all parts of the world into a whole. While the current problematic is the disturbance of identity due to the detachment of the people fromtheirnativelands,thesystemthatexcludeslandfromnationalidentityand attachesapeoplemigratingtoanotherareatothepeopleofthesamesystemof thoughtinthehostlandsshouldalsobetakenintoaccountinordertoexplorethe ways their identities are modified under the influence of religious attachments. 14 Book Review by Sheikh Tahir ThoughMullaneyadmitsandevenclaimsthediversityandfluidityofpostcolonial identities, she has not included many of the texts from many of the postcolonial areas and writers that might have given her representation more varieties of discourses and narrativesi.e.writingsbySpivak,Sidhwa,Haideretc.mightdifferentlyhave informedherapproachwiththewaystheidentitiesofpeoplesofPakistanandIndia havedevelopedundermultivalentinfluencesincludingthatofreligionthatisan inseparableelementofthefollowersofIslamandrendersalessdrasticshapeof hybridity, the ways diasporas created in 1947 have reshaped the identities of peoples ofIndo-Pakwithbloodsmearedbackground,andthewaysinternaldiasporas,like thoserepresentedbySidhwainTheCrowEaters,re-establishhomelinessandthe wish to go back home.The absence of Mullaneys dialogue with another salient feature of diasporic identity andattachmenti.e.thecreolizationofdiasporichybridityleavesroomforfurther discussion on how the next generations of the displaced peoples perceive their home with reference to the lands of their ancestors and the land theyare dwelling in at the momentandhowthereciprocityofthenativesofthepresentlandinfluencestheir identities and reshape their ideas about home. Aquestionarisesintheend.Whyisthislabourundertaken?Thetitleofthebook featurespostcolonialliteraturesincontextwhilethemostimportantcontextisnot takenintoconsiderationi.e.theemancipatoryobligationofpostcolonialdebate.The role postcolonial literatures are playing in enlightening the colonizers, the colonized, the marginalized, the displaced and the voiceless, in giving solider approaches to the fluid nature of identity, in giving voice to the voiceless, in rehabilitating those who are damagedinallrespectsbycolonialvictimization,inreducingthescopeofhuman rights violation or in worsening the conditions of the world has not been investigated in depth. _____________________________________________________________________