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Abstract
This paper at first, examines the relationship between empire and English literature, in other words, the ideological uses to which English literature was put. Next, it examines the concept of commonwealth literature and the controversies surrounding it, and lastly, it discusses selected aspects of the concept of postcolonial studies, the differences between commonwealth and postcolonial literature, and the concerns or characteristics of postcolonial literature. It begins by establishing the link between Empire and English-language literature. Drawing on various thinkers, it discusses the ideological uses of literature and argues that the textual forms that emerged as “resistance” to imperial domination were referred to by a multiplicity of terms: Commonwealth Literature, New English Literature, Literature in English, Third World Literature, World Fiction, Minority Literature, Multicultural Literature, or Postcolonial Literature. It examines the merits and handicaps of each designation and explains why the term “postcolonial” is the more appropriate notion and designation.