ABSTRACT
Several aspects of the essays in Homi K. Bhabha's The Location of Culture attracted initial attention. For Dirlik, the complexity of Bhabha's writing is an impediment to both the comprehension of his intentions and to their successful realization. Others have criticized Bhabha for making reading the most potent act of social and political activism. The literary and cultural theorist Benita Parry argued that Bhabha's overemphasis on reading and textual dissent downplays activism in the real world; for her, the political possibilities of engaging in discourse actually neutralize dissent. Criticism of Bhabha's work came from such varied ideological and geographical quarters—with many of the harshest readings coming from other postcolonial thinkers—that it is difficult to talk of a "critical consensus". Incidences of direct responses to critics are uncommon in Bhabha's writing. Some of the early debate around The Location of Culture did inspire Bhabha to become involved in the almost constant reconsideration and reinterpretation of his own theories and ideas.
