Contemporary British Fiction

265 Pages·2008·1.06 MB·English

by  Nick Bentley

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
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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