Description
Book SynopsisA comprehensive introduction to British fiction from 1979 to the present. The volume outlines the main developments in contemporary fiction and engages with key themes such as cultural identity, gender, myth and history, postcolonialism and urban culture.
Trade Review"[An] insightful, perceptive and nuanced analysis ... the collection is a landmark in the critical analysis of current literary culture."
Times Higher Education Supplement "I was impressed by the range and conscientious skill of the critics... this collection discusses much of the best in contemporary British writing, and deserves to be successful." Sir Frank Kermode, formerly King Edward Professor of English at Cambridge
"An admirably ambitious attempt to map the contemporary literary scene, impressive both in the range and the depth of its coverage. Certainly the sharpest and most up-to-date book I have read on the subject." Jonathan Coe
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors.
General Introduction: Contemporary British Fiction. (Rod Mengham).
Part I: Myth and History.
Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).
1. Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy . (John Brannigan).
2. The Fiction of Jim Crace. (Richard J. Lane).
3. The Novels of Graham Swift. (Tamas Benyei).
4. The Fiction of Iain Sinclair. (Rod Mengham).
Part II: Urban Thematics.
Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).
5. The Fiction of Will Self. (Liorah Anne Golomb).
6. Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia. (Anthony Ilona).
7. Zadie Smith's White Teeth. (Dominic Head).
8. The Fiction of A. L. Kennedy. (Philip Tew).
Part III: Cultural Hybridity.
Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).
9. Salman Rushdie. (Stephen Baker).
10. The Fiction of James Kelman and Irvine Welsh. (Drew Milne).
11. Caryl Phillips. (Brad Buchanan).
Part IV: Pathological Subjects.
Introduction. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).
12. The Fiction of Angela Carter. (Robert Eaglestone).
13. Jeanette Winterson's Evolving Subject. (Kim Middleton Meyer).
14. Kazuo Ishiguro and the Work of Art. (Mark Wormald).
15. The Fiction of Martin Amis. (James Diedrick).
Glossary of Major Theoretical Sources. (Richard J. Lane and Philip Tew).
Index.
