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Contemporary British Fiction PDF

265 Pages·2008·1.06 MB·English
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Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature Series Editors: Martin Halliwell and Andy Mousley CONTEMPORARY This series provides accessible yet provocative introductions to a wide range of literatures. The volumes will initiate and deepen the reader’s understanding of key literary movements, periods and genres, and consider debates that inform the past, present and future of literary study. Resources such as glossaries of BRITISH key terms and details of archives and internet sites are also provided, making each volume a comprehensive critical guide. FICTION CONTEMPORARY B e BRITISH FICTION n t l e Nick Bentley y E s This critical guide introduces major novelists and themes in British fiction from C d e 1975 to 2005. It engages with concepts such as postmodernism, feminism, O Nick Bentley gender and the postcolonial, and examines the place of fiction within broader N i d debates in contemporary culture. n T A comprehensive Introduction provides a historical context for the study of i E b u contemporary British fiction by detailing significant social, political and cultural M events. This is followed by five chapters organised around the core themes: u G Narrative Forms; Contemporary Ethnicities; Gender and Sexuality; History; P Memory and Writing; and Narratives of Cultural Space. O r R g l Key Features A a • Introduces the major themes and trends in British fiction over the last 30 years h R c • Analyses a range of writers and texts including Brick Lane by Monica Ali, Y i London Fields by Martin Amis, The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter, B C Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, t R Atonement by Ian McEwan, Shame by Salman Rushdie, Downriver by Iain i I r r Sinclair, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by T I i C Jeanette Winterson S t • Presents a variety of critical and cultural perspectives essential for studying H i contemporary British fiction c F h • Provides essential resources for further reading and research IC a g Nick Bentley is Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature at Keele University. He T l r is the author of Radical Fictions: The British Novel in the 1950s (2007) and editor IO u of British Fiction of the 1990s (2005). G N b u n i Edinburgh University Press E d i 22 George Square d d Edinburgh EH8 9LF in e www.euppublishing.com b u E ISBN 978 0 7486 2420 1 rg s Cover design: Michael Chatfield h Pantone 320 Contemporary British Fiction Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature Series Editors: Martin Halliwell, University of Leicester and Andy Mousley, De Montfort University Published Titles: Gothic Literature, Andrew Smith Canadian Literature, Faye Hammill Women’s Poetry, Jo Gill Contemporary American Drama, Annette J. Saddik Shakespeare, Gabriel Egan Asian American Literature, Bella Adams Children’s Literature, M. O. Grenby Contemporary British Fiction, Nick Bentley Renaissance Literature, Siobhan Keenan Forthcoming Titles in the Series: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature, Hamish Mathison Contemporary American Fiction, David Brauner Victorian Literature, David Amigoni Crime Fiction, Stacy Gillis Modern American Literature, Catherine Morley Scottish Literature, Gerard Carruthers Modernist Literature, Rachel Potter Medieval Literature, Pamela King Women’s Fiction, Sarah Sceats African American Literature,Jennifer Terry Contemporary British Drama,David Lane Contemporary Poetry,Nerys Williams Contemporary British Fiction Nick Bentley Edinburgh University Press For Karla ©Nick Bentley, 2008 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in 11.5/13Monotype Ehrhardt by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wilts A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2419 5(hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2420 1(paperback) The right of Nick Bentley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Series Preface vii Acknowledgements viii Chronology ix Introduction Historical and Theoretical Contexts 1975–2005 1 Politics 4 Class 8 Gender and Sexuality 11 Postcolonialism, Multiculturalism and National Identity 16 Youth and Subcultures 21 A Note on Theory 24 Chapter 1Narrative Forms: Postmodernism and Realism 30 Martin Amis, London Fields (1989) 35 Alasdair Gray, Poor Things (1992) 44 Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000) 52 Chapter 2Writing Contemporary Ethnicities 65 Salman Rushdie, Shame (1983) 66 Courttia Newland, Society Within (1999) 75 Monica Ali, Brick Lane (2003) 83 vi contents Chapter 3Gender and Sexuality 96 Angela Carter, The Passion of New Eve (1977) 97 Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985) 108 Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch (1992) 117 Chapter 4History, Memory and Writing 128 Graham Swift, Waterland (1983) 131 A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance (1990) 140 Ian McEwan, Atonement (2001) 148 Chapter 5Narratives of Cultural Space 160 Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) 161 Iain Sinclair, Downriver (1991) 172 Julian Barnes, England, England (1998) 180 Conclusion 192 Student Resources 198 Internet Resources 198 Questions for Discussion 199 Alternative Primary Texts 202 Glossary 205 Guide to Further Reading 214 Index 239 Series Preface The study of English literature in the early twenty-first century is host to an exhilarating range of critical approaches, theories and historical perspectives. ‘English’ ranges from traditional modes of study such as Shakespeare and Romanticism to popular interest in national and area literatures such as the United States, Ireland and the Caribbean. The subject also spans a diverse array of genres from tragedy to cyberpunk, incorporates such hybrid fields of study as Asian American literature, Black British literature, creative writing and literary adaptations, and remains eclectic in its methodology. Such diversity is cause for both celebration and consternation. English is varied enough to promise enrichment and enjoyment for all kinds of readers and to challenge preconceptions about what the study of literature might involve. But how are readers to navigate their way through such literary and cultural diversity? And how are students to make sense of the various literary categories and peri- odisations, such as modernism and the Renaissance, or the prolif- erating theories of literature, from feminism and marxism to queer theory and eco-criticism? The Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature series reflects the challenges and pluralities of English today, but at the same time it offers readers clear and accessible routes through the texts, contexts, genres, historical periods and debates within the subject. Martin Halliwell and Andy Mousley Acknowledgements I would like to thank Andy Mousley and Martin Halliwell for their helpfuleditorialadviceandtheirpatience,andJackieJones, Máiréad McElligott and James Dale atEdinburghUniversityPress.Thanks toKeeleUniversityforallowingmeaperiodofresearchleave,which waspartlyusedinwritingthebook.Iwouldalsoliketothankseveral ofmycolleagueswithwhomIhavetaughtandhadmanystimulating andinformativediscussionsontextsandissuesrelevanttothisbook, including Bella Adams, David Amigoni, Steven Barfield, Annika Bautz, Fred Botting, Robert Duggan, Scott McCracken, Roger Pooley, AmberRegis,SharonRuston,HelenStoddart,BarryTaylor, Philip Tew and Kate Walchester. I would also like to thank Karla Smith forproofreadingthebookandthediscussionswehavehadon itssubjectmatter. Teaching contemporary British fiction has shaped my thinking about the subject over the last few years, and I would like to thank the many students I have had the privilege to work with at Birmingham University, the Open University, Wedgwood Memorial College and, especially, Keele University. Some of the material in this book has appeared in different form in academic journals. Reworked versions of sections of Chapters 1 and 5 have appeared in Textual Practice, and of Chapter 5 in Postgraduate English. Thanks to the editors at both these journals for giving permission for this material to be represented here. Finally, I would like to thank my family for the continued love and support they have given me throughout the writing of this book. Chronology Date Historical and Cultural Publication of Novels Events 1975 Margaret Thatcher becomes David Lodge, Changing Conservative Party Leader; Places; Sam Selvon, Sex Discrimination Bill Moses Ascending 1976 James Callaghan takes over Emma Tennant, Hotel from Harold Wilson as de Dream Prime Minister; Race Relations Act; Notting Hill riots; punk rock begins in Britain 1977 Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II Angela Carter, The Passion of New Eve; John Fowles, Daniel Martin 1978 New Wave influences British Beryl Bainbridge, Young Rock and Pop Adolf; A. S. Byatt, The Virgin in the Garden; Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden

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Nick Bentley provides an introduction to the major novelists and the main themes in narrative fiction over the last 35 years. He offers a critical discussion of important debates in contemporary fiction engaging with concepts such as postmodernism; the impact of feminism and gender in literary studi
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