Postwar British Literature and Postcolonial Studies

Description

Places literary developments within an expanded conception of the legacy of imperialism and decolonisationThis radical reassessment shows how, after the Second World War, British national identity and culture was shaped in ways that still operate today. As empires declined, globalisation spread, and literature responded to these influences.As Graham MacPhee explains, postwar writers blended the experimentalism of prewar modernism with other cultural traditions. In this way, they reveal both the pain and the pleasures of multiculturalism, as they seek to cope with the shock of post-imperial downsizing.Case studies include:Sam Selvon's The Lonely LondonersJohn Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's DanceLinton Kwesi Johnson's Dread Beat an' BloodTony Harrison's VKazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the DayLeila Aboulela's MinaretAndrea Levy's Small IslandIan McEwan's SaturdayKey FeaturesExplores concepts and critical terms such as 'British national literature', 'new ethnicities', 'migrancy', 'hybridity', 'Western hegemony' and 'globalisation'Discusses a wide range of writers, from Auden, Orwell and T.S. Eliot to Philip Larkin and Tony HarrisonResources for students and researchers include a timeline and suggestions for further reading