doiSerbia

Postcolonial studies and post-Soviet societies: The possibilities and the limitations of their intersection

Subotić Milan (Institut za evropske studije, Beograd)

Starting with a short review of the postcolonial studies’ origins, this paper considers the question of their application in the study of history and contemporary state of the post-Soviet societies. Aspirations of the leading theorists of postcolonial studies not to restrict their field of research on the relation of imperial metropoles (First World) and its (post)colonial periphery (Third World) have not met with the acceptance in post-Soviet societies’ academia. With the exception of the famous debates on „the Balkans“ that are not the subject of this paper, the paradigm of post-colonialism is rarely used in the interpretation of past and present of the former socialist states (Second World). Rejecting the thesis of their own (post)colonial status in most of Eastern European countries is usually based on a rejection of the assumption of the Soviet-style communism’s „civilizing mission“. From the same perspective, the Soviet Union is not considered a colonial metropole, but an occupying force, and the epoch of socialism is interpreted as externally imposed breach of the historical developments based on the European model. On the other hand, the concept of these countries’ transition opens up the issue of their (post)colonial status in relation to „Europe“ as the center of economic, political and cultural power. Therefore, the postcolonial critique of post-Soviet societies is more often focused on the thematisation of neo-imperial domination and neo-colonial dependency phenomena, than on the explanation of their socialist past. The author’s opinion is that it doesn’t mean that a number of concepts of postcolonial theory - such as „internal colonialism“ - cannot be productively used to a fuller understanding of the Soviet past, nor that in the interpretation of post-Soviet realities’ „hybrid forms“ the postcolonial studies cannot be of use.

Keywords: postcolonialism, post-Soviet societies, colonialism, empire, internal colonialism, subaltern studies

Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 149026