| Synopsis: |
'Other Britain, Other British is a useful and significant book, the first that I know of specifically concerned with how British literature is changing and being redefined by its minorities, immigrants, Commonwealth relations, and by such ideas as multiculturalism and postcolonialism.' World Literature Today Britain may have ceded empire and colonies, but its colonial past permeates every corner of the land - from street-names and restaurants to second and third generation 'immigrant' communities - embracing a diversity of peoples from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In literary and cultural terms, another Britain - largely but not exclusively non-white - is being formulated. How has the changing make-up of population and self-expression found voice in literature and literary fiction? In this wide ranging study of post-colonial and immigrant writing in Britain, ten contributors - including Booker shortlist nominee Abdulrazak Gurnah - examine the extent to which Britain's colonial heritage has shaped present-day formulations of British culture. Covering the work of key writers - including Timothy Mo, V.S.Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Caryl Phillips, Hanif Kureishi, Kazuo Ishiguro and David Dabydeen - this collection explores how such writers bring very different critical sensibilities to bear on literary conventions. Also examined are the literary contributions of writers from Jewish Britain, Irish-Britain and Australasian Britain. |