Reviewed by Stephanie Newell in Round Table. No. 362, 2001. pp. 751-754.

Proposes a radical view of the influence that colonised societies have had on their former colonisers. In this work, Ashcroft extends the arguments posed in The Empire Writes Back to investigate the transformative effects of post-colonial resistance and the continuing relevance of colonial struggle. Author from UNSW.

In Shakespeare’s Tempest, Caliban says to Miranda and Prospero: "...you taught me language, and my profit on’t Is, I know how to curse. " With this statement, he gives voice to an issue that lies at the centre of post-colonial studies. Can Caliban own Prospero’s language? Can he use it to do more than curse? Caliban’s Voice examines the ways in which post-colonial literatures have transformed English to redefine what we understand to be ‘English Literature’. It investigates the importance of language learning in the imperial mission, the function of language in ideas of race and place, the link between language and identity, the move from orature to literature and the significance of translation. By demonstrating the dialogue that occurs between writers and readers in literature, Bill Ashcroft argues that cultural identity is not locked up in language, but that language, even a dominant colonial language, can be transformed to convey the realities of many different cultures. Using the figure of Caliban, Ashcroft weaves a consistent and resonant thread through his discussion of the post-colonial experience of life in the English language, and the power of its transformation into new and creative forms.

Despite being central to the project of postcolonialism, the concept of resistance has received only limited theoretical examination. Writers such as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Homi K. Bhabha have explored instances of revolt, opposition, or subversion, but there has been insufficient critical analysis of the concept of resistance, particularly as it relates to liberation or social and cultural transformation. In Postcolonial Resistance, David Jefferess looks to redress this critical imbalance. Jefferess argues that interpreting resistance, as these critics have done, as either acts of opposition or practices of subversion is insufficient. He discerns in the existing critical literature an alternate paradigm for postcolonial politics, and through close analyses of the work of Mohandas Gandhi and the South African reconciliation project, Postcolonial Resistance seeks to redefine resistance to reconnect an analysis of colonial discourse to material structures of colonial exploitation and inequality. Engaging works of postcolonial fiction, literary criticism, historiography, and cultural theory, Jefferess conceives of resistance and reconciliation as dependent upon the transformation of both the colonial subject and the antagonistic nature of colonial power. In doing so, he reframes postcolonial conceptions of resistance, violence, and liberation, thus inviting future scholarship in the field to reconsider past conceptualizations of political power and opposition to that power.

In his new book, Bill Ashcroft gives us a revolutionary view of the ways in which post-colonial societies have responded to colonial control. The most comprehensive analysis of major features of post-colonial studies ever compiled, Post-Colonial Transformation: * demonstrates how widespread the strategy of transformation has been * investigates political and literary resistance * examines the nature of post-colonial societies' engagement with imperial language, history, allegory, and place * offers radical new perspectives in post-colonial theory in principles of habitation and horizonality. Post-Colonial Transformation breaks new theoretical ground while demonstrating the relevance of a wide range of theoretical practices, and extending the exploration of topics fundamentally important to the field of post-colonial studies.

Despite being central to the project of postcolonialism, the concept of resistance has received only limited theoretical examination. Writers such as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Homi K. Bhabha have explored instances of revolt, opposition, or subversion, but there has been insufficient critical analysis of the concept of resistance, particularly as it relates to liberation or social and cultural transformation. In Postcolonial Resistance, David Jefferess looks to redress this critical imbalance. Jefferess argues that interpreting resistance, as these critics have done, as either acts of opposition or practices of subversion is insufficient. He discerns in the existing critical literature an alternate paradigm for postcolonial politics, and through close analyses of the work of Mohandas Gandhi and the South African reconciliation project, Postcolonial Resistance seeks to redefine resistance to reconnect an analysis of colonial discourse to material structures of colonial exploitation and inequality. Engaging works of postcolonial fiction, literary criticism, historiography, and cultural theory, Jefferess conceives of resistance and reconciliation as dependent upon the transformation of both the colonial subject and the antagonistic nature of colonial power. In doing so, he reframes postcolonial conceptions of resistance, violence, and liberation, thus inviting future scholarship in the field to reconsider past conceptualizations of political power and opposition to that power.

The essays focus on such issues as the nature of ascendent bureaucracy, biraderi, feudalism, land reforms, development strategy, religious intolerance and women's emancipation. They provide a reasoned explanation of the continued backwardness and persistent poverty in South Asia in the midst of affluence. The book consists of more than a dozen chapters related to the themes which have been the central focus of the well-known social scientist, Professor Hamza Alavi's work on social and economic issues in post-colonial South Asia.