ABSTRACT
There is no single origin of postcolonialism. Indeed, what is referred to as postcolonialism is, as Chapter 1 illustrates, a diverse set of approaches and strategies. This chapter takes a broad approach to postcolonialism in order to understand it as a number of different responses to colonialism and decolonization that have inspired both liberation struggles and academic inquiry. Many of these responses predate the period when the term postcolonial began to gain currency, and are now claimed retrospectively as continuous or contiguous with postcolonial politics and modes of cultural practice.
