Counteractions: A Postcolonial Study of the Portrayal of Colonialism in Selected Poems of Amiri Baraka

Abstract

This paper, titled “Counteractions: A Postcolonial Study of the Portrayal of Colonialism in Selected Poems of Amiri Baraka”, claims that Baraka’s poetic work is a powerful act of decolonisation. It uses foundational concepts of Edward Said (Eurocentrism), Aimé Césaire (Thing-ification), Gayatri Spivak (Epistemic violence and Othering), and Frantz Fanon (Manichaean world). Through qualitative, textual analysis, the paper examines literary techniques and themes such as inequality, racism, dehumanisation, and systemic violence. It explores Baraka’s critique of White supremacy’s ideological foundations and its lingering effects within American political institutions. The paper concludes that, by reversing Manichaean structures and subverting the coloniser’s civilisation narrative, Baraka portrays the Black (African American) as civilised. He uses linguistic innovations to undermine colonial discourse while reclaiming agency. These findings indicate that his writings are proactive instruments of a critical consciousness that serve as intellectual and spiritual emancipation, reinforcing the need for creative subversion toward decolonisation.