This essay-entry reviews and reflects upon the term “sujeto colonial” as a key concept of Latin American literary and cultural studies. A review of its definitions within the context of Latin American studies of colonialism and coloniality allows to observe (a) the criticism paradigms within which “sujeto colonial” has been defined in the last fifty years, alongside interests and expectations of such paradigms; (b) the social and historical changes in each of these critical contexts in which this key notion is defined. This reflection also addresses “sujeto colonial” as a notion that could be used as both an ideological tool of domination and an analytical category of colonial discourse.