ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relevance of canonical classical and modern Western texts for a postcolonial humanism located in sites removed from the Euro-American academy. It argues that despite their imperial legacies, Western canonical texts remain vital to reading practices both within postcolonial sites and for literary studies more broadly. In particular, it undertakes a close study of reading Homer’s Iliad in a war-torn state such as Pakistan. The chapter suggests that for the postcolonial humanist, a text such as this one becomes a code for speaking of state violence in a moment of censorship. At the same time, the Iliad itself loses its sacral status by becoming part of many narratives of imminent violence and the crisis of speech.
