--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mistaken identity, of course, has been…" description: "\"Mistaken identity, of course, has been the province of much postcolonial fiction. An important feature of this writing is the manner in which misrecogn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd1/amitava-kumar-5002_failure_mistaken-identity-of-course-has-been-the_1190109.png" --- # Mistaken identity, of course, has been the province of… ![“Mistaken identity, of course, has been the province of much postcolonial fiction. An important feature of this writing is the manner in which misrecognition has haunted all cognition.” quote by Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd1/amitava-kumar-5002_failure_mistaken-identity-of-course-has-been-the_1190109.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd1/amitava-kumar-5002_failure_mistaken-identity-of-course-has-been-the_1190109.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd1/amitava-kumar-5002_failure_mistaken-identity-of-course-has-been-the_1190109.png) > “Mistaken identity, of course, has been the province of much postcolonial fiction. An important feature of this writing is the manner in which misrecognition has haunted all cognition.” [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Postcolonial literature often explores how misrecognition haunts thought and identity. **In simple terms:** Misrecognition shapes postcolonial thought. Key Takeaway Examine identity and perception. Themes literature postcolonial identity Mood analytical critical Type theoretical scholarly When to use this quote - academic analysis - identity politics - social critique Key Concepts philosophy cultural studies Questions to Reflect On - How does misrecognition affect self‑perception? - What alternative narratives exist? A Different Perspective Focusing only on misrecognition may overlook other themes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Mistaken identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistaken-identity/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes I think that love is a case of mistaken identity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-parsons/sometimes-i-think-that-love-is-a-case-of-mistaken-identity/) [Tony Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-parsons/) > [The whole campaign was a tragic case of mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/the-whole-campaign-was-a-tragic-case-of-mistaken-identity/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [“She’d read countless fantasy novels where the heroine was a chosen one, picked from all others to save the world, normally wearing a chainmail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-g-nuttall/she-d-read-countless-fantasy-novels-where-the-heroine-was-a-chosen/) [Christopher G. Nuttall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-g-nuttall/) > [“Mister Rob Anybody and sundry others?" said one of the figures in a dreadful voice. "There's naebody here o' that name!" shouted Rob Anybody.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/mister-rob-anybody-and-sundry-others-said-one-of-the-figures-in-a/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The theme of Death is to Poetry what Mistaken Identity is to Drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannie-abse/the-theme-of-death-is-to-poetry-what-mistaken-identity-is-to-drama/) [Dannie Abse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannie-abse/) > [Now I'm gone in your photograph I bet you wish you could get me back. Now I'm stuck in your memory a mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fefe-dobson/now-i-m-gone-in-your-photograph-i-bet-you-wish-you-could-get-me-back/) [Fefe Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fefe-dobson/) > [What is your trouble? Mistaken identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wei-wu-wei/what-is-your-trouble-mistaken-identity/) [Wei Wu Wei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wei-wu-wei/) > [Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/some-of-the-biggest-cases-of-mistaken-identity-are-among/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“To ‘kill time’ is a case of mistaken identity -- you have mistaken the victim for the perp.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oran-kangas/to-kill-time-is-a-case-of-mistaken-identity-you-have-mistaken-the/) [Oran Kangas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oran-kangas/) > [Claudia Rankine's Citizen comes at you like doom. It's the best note in the wrong song that is America. Its various realities-'mistaken' identity, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/claudia-rankine-s-citizen-comes-at-you-like-doom-it-s-the-best-note/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [“It’s a case of mistaken identity. It’s one big mistake. You weren’t even in the country when it happened.” Maja in the short story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steen-langstrup/it-s-a-case-of-mistaken-identity-it-s-one-big-mistake-you-weren-t/) [Steen Langstrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steen-langstrup/) > [I've never been disbarred, committed or convicted of moral turpitude, and the only time I was arrested, it was a case of mistaken identity...I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-levine/i-ve-never-been-disbarred-committed-or-convicted-of-moral-turpitude/) [Paul Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-levine/) > [Enlightenment is beyond self-improvement and spiritual seeking. It is the final resolution of a case of mistaken identity. It is the direct recognition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-crowley/enlightenment-is-beyond-self-improvement-and-spiritual-seeking-it-is/) Gary Crowley > [“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“The Yogic path is about disentangling the built-in glitches of the human condition, which I'm going to over-simply define here as the heartbreaking inability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/the-yogic-path-is-about-disentangling-the-built-in-glitches-of-the-2/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## More by Amitava Kumar > [I thought I'd be the first to introduce herbal tea to Patna. White tea, ginger tea, rooibos, camomile. No one touched it. On subsequent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/i-thought-i-d-be-the-first-to-introduce-herbal-tea-to-patna-white-tea/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Any real piece of writing is an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/any-real-piece-of-writing-is-an-act-of-courage/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [We live in a cynical system where the powerful are able to exploit the demand of the aggressive few, from whichever religion or group,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-live-in-a-cynical-system-where-the-powerful-are-able-to-exploit/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [For some members of the radical Left, particularly in the West, people in developing countries are an ideological abstraction, on whom fantasies of liberation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/for-some-members-of-the-radical-left-particularly-in-the-west-people/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [The writer will write in his or her words, but the readers, even when they are not reading you, will take it elsewhere entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-writer-will-write-in-his-or-her-words-but-the-readers-even-when/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [My past makes me an insider, but my profession makes me an outsider. 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An essay is a complicated working-out of one's own contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/an-essay-is-not-an-op-ed-that-tells-its-reader-what-to-think-an-essay/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Does the entry of Indian H-1B worker augur a change in the relations of production in the world of cybertechnology? No, but the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/does-the-entry-of-indian-h-1b-worker-augur-a-change-in-the-relations/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Michael Ondaatje’s work taught me how to be at home in fragments, and how to think about a big story in carefully curated vignettes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/michael-ondaatje-s-work-taught-me-how-to-be-at-home-in-fragments-and/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [The thing about good art is that it makes you look at things in a new way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-thing-about-good-art-is-that-it-makes-you-look-at-things-in-a-new/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [To write what is not dead on the page, one has to be open to all kinds of disturbances and challenges and confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/to-write-what-is-not-dead-on-the-page-one-has-to-be-open-to-all-kinds/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Inequality reigns in horrifying ways, and not everyone can even read, but the world of media and advertising withholds very little from the imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/inequality-reigns-in-horrifying-ways-and-not-everyone-can-even-read/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) [Explore all 104 Amitava Kumar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. 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