Critic speak is tough, but we've got you covered.
Quote :"The Commitment to Theory"
If one is aware of this heterogeneous emergence (not origin) of radical critique, then—and this is my second point—the function of theory within the political process becomes double-edged. It makes us aware that our political referents and priorities—the people, the community, class struggle, anti-racism, gender difference, the assertion of an anti-imperialist, black or third perspective—are not there in some primordial, naturalistic sense.
Homi Bhabha is poststructuralism's homie. And he's spreading the love beyond traditional academe, too. First of all, he's giving cred to the folks who think that "theory" is just something that privileged white people dream up in their cushy academic offices while all the real political action is happening out in the streets. But! (he says) It's not really like that.
Theory helps us understand that it's not so simple to draw lines in the sand. East/West, First World/Third World, oppressor/oppressed—these binaries don't just come outta nowhere. They come from discourse, the way we talk about things and so often put them in those black-or-white categories—and theory helps us figure 'em out.
Bhabha published "The Commitment to Theory" around the time that postcolonial theory and lit were just ramping up, and the essay responds to a whole whack of other voices saying that "theory"—especially the stuff that came from guys like Derrida and Lacan—wasn't about to help anyone make a real difference in the world. Like a lot of other politically-active poststructuralists, Bhabha argues that because discourse is always political, learning how to pay attention to it really is a good way to work for change. How's that for stickin' it to the man!
"The Commitment to Theory" also introduces Bhabha's key notion of hybridity, which he argues is a more useful tool for talking about identity than concepts like "otherness" and "difference." Because identities and perspectives aren't "primordial," but discursive, they're as hybrid as the world we inhabit. Think the Prius, but humans.