The word _postcolonial_ refers to (1) a period or state following (i.e., “post”) colonialism and (2) the effects of colonization on cultures, peoples, places, and textuality. The terms most often associated with _postcolonial_ are _imperialism_, denoting the formation of an empire, and _colonialism_, which refers to the establishment and control of colonies by an imperial power. The first usage of _postcolonial_ (or _post-colonial_) identified in the _OED_ occurs in 1883 in the _Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine_, where it is defined as “occurring or existing after the end of colonial rule.” This association of the word with the practice of periodization is sustained well into the twentieth century; for instance, the _OED_ cites this quotation from Gavin Black’s _The Golden Cockatrice_ in 1975: “If there’s one thing worse than rampant colonialism... it’s post-colonial dictatorship.” By the late 1970s, literary critics used _postcolonial_ to refer to the effects of colonization and to reading strategies capable of interrogating the (often naturalized) manifestations of colonial discourse in texts of all kinds and times. Although Edward Said did not use the term _postcolonial_ in _Orientalism_ (1978), his characterization of Orientalism as the discourse that constructed the Orient for Europeans afforded a model for the analysis...