Re-Reading the Religious Bodies of Postcolonial Literature
In: The Politics of English as a World LanguageSearch for other papers by Fiona Darroch in
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Abstract
English, as the dominant world language, defines the Western construction of the term ‘religion’. Realizing the assumptions being carried by the Western, English-speaking imagination – ie, that religion or, more specifically, religious bodies, are devoid of power – how can characters such as Ella out of Erna Brodber’s novel Myal (1988) or Beloved from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved (1987) be understood and read? I will propose a redefinition of the category religion using a postcolonial agenda. This agenda embraces religious bodies as powerful, albeit filled with an ambiguous power, which can be understood more successfully through heteronymous readings that transcend Western doctrine and ideology.