Colonialism

World history is filled with tales of conquest and foreign domination. Mercantile expansion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as well as a Western commitment to exploration, laid the groundwork for modern colonialism, which reached its height at the end of the nineteenth century. At that time, vast Western empires (such as the British and the French) reached around the earth, forcefully tying disparate cultures and societies to Western civilization. The age of empire officially ended after World War II, but colonialism has remained. -- Colonialism in Literature

The boundaries of Colonialism, like those of many literary eras, are difficult to draw. The history of Colonialism as a policy or practice goes back for centuries, and arguably the story of Colonialism is not over yet. Thus literature of several ages reflects concerns about Colonialism in depictions of encounters with native peoples and foreign landscapes and in vague allusions to distant plantations. As colonial activity gained momentum in the late nineteenth century, so the reflection of that activity— as a celebration of European might or as fears of what lay in the wilderness—grew in intensity. -- Colonialism Study Guide