Zones of Instability

Literature, Postcolonialism, and the Nation

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Theory, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Zones of Instability by Imre Szeman, Johns Hopkins University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Imre Szeman ISBN: 9780801881534
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Imre Szeman
ISBN: 9780801881534
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint:
Language: English

Attempts by writers and intellectuals in former colonies to create unique national cultures are often thwarted by a context of global modernity, which discourages particularity and uniqueness. In describing unstable social and political cultures, such "third-world intellectuals" often find themselves torn between the competing literary requirements of the "local" culture of the colony and the cosmopolitan, "world" culture introduced by Western civilization.

In Zones of Instability, Imre Szeman examines the complex relationship between literature and politics by exploring the production of nationalist literature in the former British empire. Taking as his case studies the regions of the British Caribbean, Nigeria, and Canada, Szeman analyzes the work of authors for whom the idea of the"nation" and literature are inexorably entwined, such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, C.L.R. James, Frantz Fanon, and V.S. Naipaul. Szeman focuses on literature created in the two decades after World War II, decades in which the future prospects for many colonies went from extreme political optimism to extreme political disappointment. He finds that the "nation" can be read as that space in which literature is thought to be able to conjoin two things that history has separated—the writer and the people.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Attempts by writers and intellectuals in former colonies to create unique national cultures are often thwarted by a context of global modernity, which discourages particularity and uniqueness. In describing unstable social and political cultures, such "third-world intellectuals" often find themselves torn between the competing literary requirements of the "local" culture of the colony and the cosmopolitan, "world" culture introduced by Western civilization.

In Zones of Instability, Imre Szeman examines the complex relationship between literature and politics by exploring the production of nationalist literature in the former British empire. Taking as his case studies the regions of the British Caribbean, Nigeria, and Canada, Szeman analyzes the work of authors for whom the idea of the"nation" and literature are inexorably entwined, such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, C.L.R. James, Frantz Fanon, and V.S. Naipaul. Szeman focuses on literature created in the two decades after World War II, decades in which the future prospects for many colonies went from extreme political optimism to extreme political disappointment. He finds that the "nation" can be read as that space in which literature is thought to be able to conjoin two things that history has separated—the writer and the people.

More books from Johns Hopkins University Press

Cover of the book Penguins by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Broken Hearts by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Flawed Logics by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Of Virgins and Martyrs by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Marine Fishes of Florida by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Refrigeration Nation by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book The Revolt of 1916 in Russian Central Asia by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Pythagorean Women by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Waterfront Manhattan by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Democracy Delayed by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Birds of Stone by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book The Shattering of the Self by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book Reflections on Uneven Democracies by Imre Szeman
Cover of the book The Annals of Quintus Ennius and the Italic Tradition by Imre Szeman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy