A Study On Ahmad’s Criticism Of Post-Colonial Theory

The recent western literary criticism saw an enthusiasm for colonial and imperialliterature studies.“Third-World Literature” represented by Jameson and“Post-colonial Theory” represented by Said had great influence on the interpretationof these issues. Aijaz Ahmad, a contemporary well-known Indian post-colonialscholar, had rethought the literary and cultural enthusiasm profoundly on the basis ofclassical Marxism.On the subject origination and theoretical principle, Ahmad denied the theoreticalmeaning in the category of “Third-World Literature”, and from the perspective ofanti-colonial nationalism, Ahmad criticized Jameson’s critical position that deviatedfrom Marxism and depended on nationalism, which reflects his conservative attitude.Starting from radicalism position, Ahmad conducted a comprehensive liquidation topost-structuralism and post-colonial intellectuals, in which he pointed the right-wingnature of post-colonial theory and the danger of “bourgeois” in the post-colonialintellectuals. This reflects his absolutization of post-structuralism; however, hiscriticism is too harsh for the post-colonial intellectuals. In Ahmad’s opinion, classicalMarxism faced difficulties in the contemporary era because of its evolution,communication, as well as the emergence of lots of other radical theories. Ahmadadvocated the re-use of classical Marxism in the post-colonial studies and hiscriticism influenced a large number of Marxists, such as Dirlik, Lazarus, Parry, and soon, which resulted in the forming of a new formulation in post-colonial studies.Ahmad’s classical Marxism of post-colonial criticism not only sparked theconcern of Marxist to post-colonial studies, but also broke the monopoly ofpost-structuralism in post-colonial studies. Ahmad’s adherence to classical Marxism,suspicion spirit to the radical theories of the West, as well as his critical analysisdeserves our learning and study.