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UNIT 7 – CULTURAL STUDIES
Previous Year Questions
Q1. The author of Black Skin, White Masks is:
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(1) Ngugi wa Thiong’o
(2) Frantz Fanon
(3) Richard Wright
(4) Martin Luther King (Jr.)
✔ Correct Answer: (2)
Explanation:
Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks (1952) is foundational to postcolonial theory, race studies, and Cultural Studies, examining the psychology of colonization and internalized racism.
Q2. Who of the following has written the novel The Return?
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(1) Bapsi Sidhwa
(2) V. S. Naipaul
(3) K. S. Maniam
(4) Pankaj Mishra
✔ Correct Answer: (3)
Explanation:
K. S. Maniam’s novel examines diaspora, ethnic identity, colonial impact, and cultural belonging, making it directly relevant to cultural identity studies.
Q3. Edward Said’s well-known book Orientalism was published in:
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(1) 1978
(2) 1968
(3) 2008
(4) 1988
✔ Correct Answer: (1)
Explanation:
Said’s Orientalism is the foundational text of postcolonial theory and Cultural Studies, introducing concepts of representation, discourse, and cultural hegemony.
Q4. Call Me Ishmael Tonight is written by:
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(1) A. K. Ramanujan
(2) Agha Shahid Ali
(3) Saleem Peeradina
(4) Nissim Ezekiel
✔ Correct Answer: (4)
Explanation:
Although Ezekiel is an Indian English poet, this ghazal collection reflects cultural hybridity and identity negotiation, themes deeply embedded in Cultural Studies.
Q5. One of the key terms in Michel Foucault’s work is “discourse.” This is best described as:
(from J-30-16-III_English.pdf)
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(1) the power of persuasion in all articulations.
(2) the selective language powerful people use.
(3) conceptual frameworks which enable some modes of thought and deny or severely constrain others.
(4) the ability to suggest transcendental meaning.
✔ Correct Answer: (3)
Explanation:
Foucault’s concept of discourse refers to:
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systems of knowledge
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power-embedded structures
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ways of speaking that shape what is thinkable or unthinkable
This is central to Cultural Studies (Hall, Said, Bhabha also draw on this).
6. Which of the following are commonly accepted premises of Postcolonial Criticism?
(A) It rejects the claims of universalism made in canonical Western literature.
(B) It foregrounds cultural difference and diversity as represented in literary texts.
(C) It insists on peaceful co-existence at all times.
(D) It celebrates hybridity and cultural polyvalency.
(E) It resists any attempt at homogenization based on race, class, nationality.
Choose the correct code:
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A, B, D only
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A, B, D and E only
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B, C, D only
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C and D only
Answer: 2 (A, B, D & E only)
Explanation:
Postcolonial criticism repudiates Eurocentric universalism (A), emphasizes cultural diversity and difference (B), celebrates hybridity/multiple identities (D), and resists homogenous or hegemonic cultural narratives (E).
It does not inherently privilege “peaceful co-existence” as a guarantee (C) — many postcolonial texts depict violent conflict, resistance, or radical change.
7. Who among the following postcolonial critics worked on the fiction of Joseph Conrad in his early career?
(1) Edward Said
(2) G. C. Spivak
(3) Homi Bhabha
(4) Dipesh Chakrabarty
Answer: (1) Edward Said
Explanation:
Edward Said’s early academic work included critical studies on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Said used Conrad to illustrate imperial discourse, racism, and ‘othering’ — making him a foundational postcolonial critic.
8. Which of the following works is not usually classified under postcolonial theory / literature?
(A) Orientalism
(B) The Empire Writes Back
(C) Discipline and Punish
(D) White Mythologies
Answer: (C) Discipline and Punish
Explanation:
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Orientalism (Said), The Empire Writes Back (Ashcroft et al.), White Mythologies (R. Young) — all foundational postcolonial theoretical texts.
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Discipline and Punish (Foucault) is a work of critical theory/sociology — though influential — it belongs primarily to post-structuralist discourse theory, not strictly to postcolonial theory or literature.
9. The term “Third Space” or “Hybrid Identity” in postcolonial cultural studies is most closely associated with which theorist?
(1) Edward Said
(2) Frantz Fanon
(3) Homi K. Bhabha
(4) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Answer: (3) Homi K. Bhabha
Explanation:
Bhabha introduced the idea of the “Third Space” — where colonizer/colonized identities meet and merge, creating hybrid culture, new identity, and resistant space. It’s central to cultural hybridity in postcolonial studies.
10. Which of the following statements about the discipline of Cultural Studies (as practiced from 1960s onward) is CORRECT?
(A) It privileges elite or “high” culture over popular culture.
(B) It studies culture as a way of life of ordinary people.
(C) It ignores contexts such as politics, history, and economy.
(D) It separates literature from other cultural practices like media, film, everyday life.
Answer: (B) It studies culture as a way of life of ordinary people.
Explanation:
Cultural Studies (as per the Birmingham School, Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams) favours analysis of everyday cultureand popular culture, not just elite or classical. It studies texts in context — historical, political, economic — rejecting separation. So (B) is correct; (A), (C), (D) misstate its aims.
11. Which novel is widely regarded as a founding text of modern postcolonial literary resistance, critiquing colonial stereotypes of Africa?
(1) Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
(2) The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
(3) Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
(4) Season of Migration to the North – Tayeb Salih
Answer: (1) Things Fall Apart
Explanation:
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart counters stereotypical colonial narratives about Africa, demonstrating indigenous perspective, values, and pre-colonial richness. It’s widely taught in postcolonial studies as foundational resistance fiction.
12. Which of the following best defines “Orientalism” as per Edward Said?
(A) A neutral academic study of Eastern cultures
(B) A Western discourse constructing the East as “other,” inferior, exotic
(C) A way for colonized people to celebrate their traditions
(D) A movement within Eastern literature embracing Western forms
Answer: (B) A Western discourse constructing the East as “other,” inferior, exotic
Explanation:
In Orientalism, Said argues that European knowledge about “the Orient” is not objective: it’s shaped by power, stereotypes, and a colonial desire to dominate and control. The East becomes a constructed “other” — inferior, irrational, exotic — to justify colonial rule.
13. “The Empire Writes Back” is a seminal anthology of postcolonial theory. Who are its authors/editors?
(1) Edward Said and Homi Bhabha
(2) Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths & Helen Tiffin
(3) Chinua Achebe & Ngugi wa Thiong’o
(4) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak & Dipesh Chakrabarty
Answer: (2) Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths & Helen Tiffin
Explanation:
The Empire Writes Back (1989) is a foundational collection outlining core postcolonial theories — hybridity, mimicry, language, identity— edited by Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffin. It’s a standard reference for Cultural Studies and Commonwealth literature.
14. Whose essay collection includes “Can the Subaltern Speak?” — a foundational text in Subaltern Studies and Cultural Theory?
(1) Homi Bhabha
(2) Frantz Fanon
(3) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
(4) Edward Said
Answer: (3) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Explanation:
Spivak’s landmark essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1988) questions whether marginalized, colonized subjects (“subalterns”) can have agency or voice within dominant discursive formations. It’s one of the most referenced essays in postcolonial and cultural studies.
15. According to Cultural Studies, what is “hybridity”?
(1) Cultural purity and preservation of precolonial identity
(2) Mixing of cultures to create new identities, resisting colonial binaries
(3) Adoption of Western culture by colonized peoples without change
(4) A backward shift to traditional values
Answer: (2) Mixing of cultures to create new identities, resisting colonial binaries
Explanation:
“Hybridity,” a concept articulated notably by Homi Bhabha, describes the third-space where colonizer/colonized cultures intersect, producing new, hybrid identities that challenge essentialist, binary divisions. It rejects ideas of pure or fixed culture, emphasising fluidity, negotiation, resistance, and reinvention.