Regional Editors: John Beverley, Charles Forsdick, Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Theo D'haen, Lars Jensen, Birthe Kundrus, Elizabeth Monasterios, Phillip Rothwell ''Radical, intrepid, compendious, A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures, goes far toward restoring 'postcolonialism' to its historical premises by resituating that imperial project in its much changed and still controversial cartographies. It is Marlow's map of the 'heart of darkness' drastically redrawn: what was once the 'vast amount of red,' a 'deuce of a lot of blue,' a 'little green,' those 'smears of orange,' and the 'purple patch,' is here become a dense kaleidoscope that will of necessity rechart the itinerary of students and critical travellers across and around 'continental Europe and its empires.''' --Barbara Harlow, University of Texas at Austin ''The Companion is unique in that it provides a wealth of analysis and information about all European continental powers and their colonies and presents the entire assembly in a wonderful mis-en-scene. It is a 'true' companion that invites trans-cultural readings of trans-cultural literatures.'' - Walter Mignolo, Duke University This volume complements A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures in English (Edinburgh University Press, 2005). It is the first reference work to provide an integrated and authoritative body of information about the political, cultural and economic contexts of postcolonial literatures that have their provenance in the major European Empires of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain as well as places like Latin America and the Philippines. The Companion is comprehensive in its geographical scope, extending from South America and the Caribbean to Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It also accommodates the literatures and histories of regions where Europe merges into Asia, as in the cases of Turkey and Russia, and includes essays on the Jewish Diaspora and the 'clash of civilisations'. Written by recognised scholars in the fields of postcolonial studies, the entries cover major events, ideas, movements, and figures in postcolonial histories. They range across the entire period from European overseas exploration, settlement and colonisation to decolonisation, and highlight the relevance of colonial histories to the cultural, social, political and literary formations of contemporary postcolonial societies and nations. Each entry provides a succinct account of an event or topic, as well as suggestions for further reading in literary works and histories. By outlining the historical contexts of postcolonial literatures, the Companion provides an important key to understanding complex contemporary debates about race, colonialism and neo-colonialism, politics, economics, culture and language. Key Features *Covers all the European empires in a new and integrated way *Relates the colonial past to the postcolonial present *Brings literary and historical texts and contexts together for the first time *Includes maps, a detailed Chronology, lists of further reading and author/subject indexes