Description
Book SynopsisWhy does crime feature at the centre of so many postcolonial novels set in major cities? This book interrogates the connections that can be found between narratives of crime, cities, and colonialism to bring to light the ramifications of this literary preoccupation, as well as possibilities for cultural, aesthetic, and political catharsis.
Trade Review“There are many things to admire about this book. It is capacious in scope, while the close readings in the case studies provide instructive commentary on novels both highly canonical and less well known. It will make a significant contribution to postcolonial studies of criminality and crime fiction.” - Peter Kalliney, University of Kentucky, author of
The Aesthetic Cold War: Decolonization and Global LiteratureTable of Contents
- Preface: Atlanta as Postcolonial Criminal City
- Introduction: Towards a Theory of Cathartic Crime
- 1. "The Phenomenon of Walking": Mapping Postcolonial Criminal London
- 2. "Crime is Crime is Crime": Belfast and Universalizing Narratives
- 3. Whiteness, Historical Fiction, and Australian Cities
- 4. "Shot Through with Crime": Bombay After Mumbai
- 5. Neoliberal Criminality: Post-Apartheid Johannesburg
- 6. This Line Created a Country: Nairobi, Father and Son
- 7. His Memory Resists Ordering: The Difficulty of Catharsis in Palestine
- Coda: "Vestiges of Empire": Exit West, Brexit, and Migration
- Notes
