Timothy Assel

Research Plan

This research plan is for two research posts. One research post will discuss Marxist critique of Robinson Crusoe and compare a Marxist perspective of Crusoe with post-colonial perspectives expressed in the works of post-colonial writers, such as Jamaica Kincaid. Sources for this research post will include Marxist essays by Karl Marx¹ and Raymond Williams.² This study will compare Marxist criticism of colonial literature with Marxist readings of post-colonial literature.³ Comparison of colonial and post-colonial literature in this study will focus on how racism affected the development of class-structures in colonial society and post-colonial perspectives on colonial class-structures as an extension of previous knowledge in Marxist criticism.

Works Cited

1.      Marx, Karl, “The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof,” Capital, Vol. 1, Chp. 1, from The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Ed. Leitch, Vincent B.,W.W. Norton & Co., New York, pp. 776 – 783

2.      Williams, Raymond, “Literature,” from Marxism and Literature, Part 1 Chapter 3. In The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Ed. Leitch, Vincent B.,W.W. Norton & Co., New York, pp. 1567 – 1574.

3.      Bartolovich, Crystal, “Introduction: Marxism, Modernity and, and Postcolonial Studies,” from Marxism, Modernity and, and Postcolonial Studies, Eds. Bartolovich, Crystal and Neil Lazarus, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

4.      Young, Robert, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, 2^nd Edition, © 2004 Robert J.C. Young, Routledge, New York

The second research post will discuss the role of civil disobedience in colonial and post-colonial society. Discussion will begin with Thoreau’s concept of civil disobedience and their influence on colonial and post-colonial activists including: Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela. This discussion will focus on civil disobedience in India, America, and South Africa.

This topic is an area of interest for me because I am a great admirer of Thoreau and the political activists who employed his theory of civil disobedience. I plan to study the historical impacts of civil disobedience in post-colonial societies. Also, I will evaluate critics of civil disobedience and their perspectives on political change.

Works Cited

1.      Rosenwald, Lawrence A., “The Theory, Practice, and Influence of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience,” from A Historical Guide to Henry David Thoreau, Ed. Cain, William E., Oxford University Press, Oxford

2.      Young, Robert, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, 2^nd Edition, © 2004 Robert J.C. Young, Routledge, New York

3.      Boehmer, Elleke, “Postcolonialism,” from Literary Theory and Criticism: an Oxford Guide, Ed. Waugh, Patricia, 2006 Oxford University Press, Oxford

4.      Fanon, Frantz, A Dying Colonialism, 1967 Grove Press, New York