CHAPTER SIX
TOWARDS THE FORMULATION OF A POSTCOLONIAL MORALITY OF
EXILE: A CONCLUSION
“It is something within art, not outside it that produces... striving for
justice.” Elleke Boehmer, “A Postcolonial Aesthetic:
Repeating upon the Present”Not a few scholars and critics are agreed on the notion that there is expected to be, after
all, a modicum of morality by which the planetary constitution and practice of migration
should be guided in contemporary times. For the postcolonial world especially, the
suggestion holds much water and remains too obvious to be ignored. As has been
discussed in this thesis, the overwhelming propensity to be lured towards migration of
any kind has defined the postcolonial space to the extent of allowing one to observe,
rather painfully, that it has become an operative modality upon which the postcolonial
category is anchored. Exile in its various transmutations as migrancy, transnationalism,
cosmopolitanism, globalization, among others, and the alarming dimension it has taken in
recent times in the postcolonial world thus compels us to take another look at the concept
in a bid to come to terms with the realities on the ground within the spectrum of the
existing global order. This, it is hoped, challenges us to attempt, no matter how brief, a
reflection that will point at the inadequacies of the current situation so as to progress
towards the formulation of an ethos by which exilic practices in the broad-based
discourse of migration can be viewed.
To appeal once again to Gikandi (2007:np) on the historical concerns of postcolonial
theory in its evolution, it is possible to contend that the initial postcolonial preoccupation
with exile, like with other areas of focus, has experienced some kind of shift in
orientation as the field is currently fascinated with the concept and practice of
cosmopolitanism. The situation stems from the current fixation of the world on the all-
important phenomenon of globalization which can be said to have found a strong ally and
framing in the practice of cosmopolitanism. In line with this argument, there is a
presupposition that there is a sense in which all forms of migration and exile are
imbricated in the cosmopolitan concern. At this point, we may as well disregard the