Postcoloniality as a Reality, Postcolonial Discourse as a Phantom

The formation of postcolonial discourse is inextricably linked with the analysis of the changes in African countries over the past decades. A wide range of ideas replicated by postcolonial theorists, from Franz Fanon to Achille Mbembe, is currently engaged, but their detailed study raises many questions. How do the traditions of the pre-colonial and colonial past and the post-colonial future correlate in contemporary Africa? What is the postcolony and is it related to the results of decolonization? Is there a postcolonial reality and what is actually the main focus of postcolonial research? The philosopher of Cameroonian origin A.Mbembe, the author of the book “On the Postcolony” (2000), believes that postcolonial discourse is still being formed and defines its subject: hence the presence of such phenomena as postcolonial trauma, postcolonial syndrome and various kinds of “grimaces” of postcoloniality. The reasons for their occurrence lie not so much in the colonial past, but in people’s distorted ideas about each other. Stereotypes and vestiges of xenophobia are receding as education and culture develop in society. However, the fact that post-colonial studies can now influence this process remains only a dream. The postcolonial paradigm is present in almost all genres of research and literature. The actualization of post-colonial problems has also affected the artistic environment. An example is the works of the famous London designer Yinka Shonibare of Nigerian origin.