"Postmodernism in Second, Third and Fourth World Literatures: Postcolonial Literary Theory"

Abstract

This article is a skeletal delineation of postcolonial theory. It highlights an important aspect of the theory that remains scattered among theorist in the field which is the correspondence of postcolonial writings to four cultural locations or worlds. Proper comprehension of such relationships would ensure good understanding of various postcolonial writings and rightful application of theory to postcolonial texts. The article also explains the similarities between postmodernism as a literary and cultural movement in the first world and postcolonialism as a corresponding phenomenon in the second, third and fourth worlds. It also highlights the differences between the two movements.