1. Situating colonial and postcolonial studies -- Defining the terms : colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, postcolonialism -- From colonialism to colonial discourse -- Colonial discourse -- Colonialism and knowledge -- Colonialism and literature -- Textuality, discourse and material processes -- 2. Colonial and postcolonial identities -- Constructing racial and cultural difference -- Race, class and colonialism -- Psychoanalysis and colonial subjects -- Gender, sexuality and colonial discourse -- Hybridity -- 3. Challenging colonialism -- Nationalisms and pan-nationalisms -- Feminism, nationalism and postcolonialism -- Can the subaltern speak? -- Post-modernism and postcolonial studies -- Conclusion : globalisation and the future of postcolonial studies.