INDIAN POSTCOLONIAL DOCTRINES: PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO THE SEARCH AND RECONSTRUCTION OF PERSONAL IDENTITY

Abstract

B a c k gr ou nd . The article examines specific features of the formation of postcolonial thought in India, which is distinguished by active integration of its own philosophical tradition into modern discourse rather than its denial. The Indian experience demonstrates how cultural continuity, the concepts of Dharma, ahimsa and moral responsibility become the basis for postcolonial doctrines.

M e t ho ds . Descriptive, analytical, synthetic and comparative methods have been applied to identify the specifics of Indian postcolonial doctrines as well as an interdisciplinary approach to cover a wider range of cultural, social and political aspects of the formation of postcolonial doctrines.

R esu l t s . The study has shown that India's postcolonial thought is formed not only as a response to colonialism but as a continuation and reinterpretation of own historical and philosophical continuity. Traditional Indian schools of philosophy have not been supplanted by modernity but continue to influence modern theories of identity and resistance. The multiplicity of languages, religions, caste and regional traditions makes it difficult to identify a single inner structure of an Indian's identity. The colonial experience did not destroy this multiplicity but rather actualized the need for philosophical reinterpretation of unity through diversity, i.e., for formation of an identity as a conscious internal consolidation and not an externally imposed project.

The analysis made it possible to identify doctrinal differences between the key Indian postcolonial authors. The article presents an overview of the doctrines of Gayatri Spivak (asymmetry of political power and the "voice" of marginalized communities), Partha Chatterjee (internal cultural sovereignty), Homi Bhabha (the concept of hybridity and the "third space" theory) and Romila Thapar (decolonization of historiography and restoration of historical subjectivity of India). Thus, Indian postcolonial thought has been proved to be inhomogeneous, but it is represented by various methodological strategies that form an alternative to the Western type of thinking related to nation, history and subjectivity.

C on c l us i on s . Indian postcolonial thought is based on a creative dialogue between tradition and the present, which ensures its lively evolution rather than a denial of the past. This affords Indian thinkers to form their own theoretical models unaffected by Western frameworks and going beyond the local context. In this regard, India offers universal intelligent tools for analyzing postcolonial experiences on a global scale. The question arises about the possibility of applying these doctrines as a universal methodology for other regions that have experienced colonial dependence.