POSTCOLONIAL APPROACHES TO HARPER LEE: THE AMERICAN SOUTH AS AN INTERNAL COLONY

Abstract

This research paper explores Harper Lee's novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, through the lens of postcolonial theory, specifically the concept of the American South as an internal colony. While traditional postcolonial studies focus on the relationship between imperial powers and overseas territories, this paper argues that the socio-economic and cultural dynamics between the American South and the dominant national narrative exhibit characteristics akin to an internal colonial relationship. By examining patterns of economic dependence, cultural marginalization, the perpetuation of racial hierarchies, and the struggle for regional identity within Lee's fictional Maycomb, this paper demonstrates how postcolonial frameworks offer a nuanced understanding of the South's complex position. The analysis reveals how Lee's works illuminate the South's simultaneously subaltern and oppressive roles, where its own internal colonialism against African Americans intersects with its experience of being "othered" and managed by external national forces.