Description
Book SynopsisExplores the venues of black British literary and cultural production across the postwar period. Extending from central London to the outskirts of Glasgow, the book pursues a "devolving" landscape, to consider what an analysis of "dwelling" might contribute to the theories of diaspora discourse.
Table of ContentsList of illustrations
1. General Introduction
I) Devolving black Britain
ii) 'Black': A brief British history
iii) Dwelling and diaspora
2. Dwelling places
I) Introduction: The 'open door' and the domestic threshold
ii) Descending the stairwell
iii) Lyons at the circus
iv) A 'little land' in London: The gate, the arch and the water
v) Conclusion:'A place to retire to…..'
3. The street
I) Introduction
ii) From basement to pavement
iii) Off-street locations: The Mangrove Restaurant
iv) Rioting and writing: The street and representation
v) Touring the city: The black British flaneur
vi) 'Doun de road' : Bluefootedness
vii) Brick Lane
viii) Conclusion: Yellowbricklane
4. Suburbia
I) Introduction: The suburban border
ii) Ordinariness, discrepant cosmopolitanism and the Singhs
iii) The Black Country, Birmingham and 'Anita and Me'
iv) Refurbishing suburbia
v) Conclusion: 'here and there…'
5. The North
I) Introduction: 'Another country…'
ii) Black Britain beyond the centre
iii) Bradford, the Rushdie affair and the re-imagination of landscape
iv) Bradford and the tourist landscape
v) Travelling north: Writing an English journey
vi) Conclusion: 'Here'
6. Conclusion: Train stations and travel bags
