Against the Postcolonial is at once a study of five writers from lands formerly or currently ruled by France (Algeria, Cambodia, Guiana, Madagascar, and Mali) and an interrogation of the relevance of postcolonial theory, criticism and studies to the study of these writers. These authors are necessarily placed against the background of postcolonial studies, but since these writers have radically different backgrounds, histories, and careers, Serrano argues against the relevance of a homogenizing critical practice most interested in replicating itself.