World Englishes and postcolonialism: Reading Kachru and Said

// World Englishes, 2012, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 419–433.Prompted by a recurrent question from students, this paper examines perspectives from world Englishes and postcolonial studies in relation to one another. Focusing on two critical thinkers, Braj B. Kachru and Edward W. Said, each section highlights relevant themes and ideas from selected works of each scholar and discusses points of convergence and divergence between the various positions. One argument here is that while ‘Englishes’ are conceived as relatively static categories constricted to specific geopolitical boundaries, such Englishes are at the same time used by individuals whose cultural consciousness and experience are dynamic. Insight such as this, drawn from a juxtaposed study of the work of Braj B. Kachru and Edward Said, can inspire the world Englishes project. At a broader level, it is suggested that a more comprehensive understanding of language and culture may be reached by approaching world Englishes and postcolonial studies in counterpoint.