The article is devoted to the work of the Nobel laureate in literature — British postcolonial writer with Tanzanian roots A. Gurnah. The article considers his novel Gravel Heart in the context of postcolonial discourse. As it is known, in 1970–1980s, postcolonial theory emerged as a result of the collapse of the colonial world and the influence of poststructuralist philosophy. Today in the world this theory is one of the leading theories in the study of modern literature. To study the text of the novel by A. Gurna we have chosen cultural-historical, psychoanalytical and structural methods of analysis. Emigration, racism, women’s rights become key meaning-making themes of the novel. These problems are intertwined with the theme of spiritual search, universal values are put in the center of the text. Addressing thematic diversity, the author explores phenomena as trauma and post-traumatic syndrome.