Meanings
plural postcolonialisms · alternative post-colonialism
- countableuncountableAn era or attitude relating to the period after the settlement of one country by another, or very broadly, after the 1960s, when many colonised countries gained their independence.
- countableuncountableAn academic discipline that attempts to analyse, explain, and respond to the cultural legacies of colonialism and imperialism.
As a literary theory, postcolonialism examines literature produced both by authors in colonial countries and by colonized peoples responding to colonial legacies by ‘writing back’, or challenging colonial cultural attitudes through literature.
2009, Cheryl McEwan, Postcolonialism and Development, Routledge, →ISBN, page 231 more example
There can be no doubt that Derrida's contribution to postcolonialism is not as clearly politicized as that of Fanon, Sartre or Gandhi, but it is nevertheless crucial in its careful consideration of the contrasting ethics and politics that might inform postcolonial thought.
2014, Jane Hiddleston, Understanding Postcolonialism, Routledge, →ISBN, page 112Synonyms: postcolonial studies
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn academic discipline that attempts to analyse, explain, and respond to the cultural legacies of colonialism and imperialism.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*pós
- Proto-Indo-European*pósti
- Proto-Italic*posti
- Old Latinposte
- Latinpost
- Englishpost-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
- Proto-Italic*kʷelō
- Latincolō
- Latincolōnus
- Latincolōnia
- Middle Englishcolane
- Englishcolony
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishcolonial
- Englishcolonialism
- Englishpostcolonialism
From post- + colonialism.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 後殖民主義 /后殖民主义, 後殖民主義 /后殖民主义
- 後殖民主義 /后殖民主义 (hòuzhímínzhǔyì)era or attitude
- 後殖民主義 /后殖民主义 (hòuzhímínzhǔyì)discipline
Finnish postkolonialismi, jälkikolonialismi
- postkolonialismiera or attitude
- jälkikolonialismiera or attitude
- jälkikolonialismin tutkimusdiscipline
French études postcoloniales
- études postcolonialesdiscipline
German Postkolonialismus
- Postkolonialismusera or attitude
Hindi उत्तर उपनिवेशवाद
- उत्तर उपनिवेशवाद (uttar upniveśvād)era or attitude
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa hậu thực dân
- chủ nghĩa hậu thực dândiscipline
Cite this entry
postcolonialism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcolonialism
“postcolonialism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcolonialism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postcolonialism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcolonialism.
Source: postcolonialism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.