Literary Form Through the New Edition of VS Naipaul's An Area of Darkness

This chapter makes a claim for re-reading twentieth-century postcolonial works through literary forms, most especially those reprinted as new editions. Using VS Naipaul’s An Area of Darkness as a case study, the discussion demonstrates how such a work might destabilise our understanding of a postcolonial ethics of writing, to express postcolonial subjectivity. Generic experimentation through nonfiction allows Naipaul not only to address a postcolonial context and draw parallels with its former colonial position but also to explore his own literary style and identity as a writer. Without ignoring the problematic and controversial critical reception of An Area of Darkness , this chapter works to address the travelogue anew. Rather than read for the autobiographical and to some extent the unethical ideation meted out in An Area of Darkness , this chapter takes its lead from the preface of the 2010 edition of the book, a later reflection from the author himself, in order to suggest that the first of Naipaul’s India Trilogy is the product of experimental practices of writing. Hence, the discussion moves through forms, including the preface, epigraphs, and case studies across the work.