Is it not possible to discuss colonialism in modern fiction and avoid mentioning such great writers as Joseph Conrad and E M Forster, and their masterpieces: "Heart of Darkness" and "A Passage to India." They were both deeply disturbed by the influence that the superior alien culture had upon the native one. They also presented the profoundly disturbing effects upon the colonies by their presence in a different culture, even though they thought themselves superior to that culture. These two works are an extreme criticism in the process of colonialism.

Colonialism reached its peak at the end of 19th Century. But the 19th Century also saw development of a serious debate in Britain about the status of colonies. A quite popular view was that once the governing power had established a stable and humane system of education, trade and administration, it was under the obligation to withdraw...