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Literary Criticism English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Imagining London

Postcolonial Fiction and the Transnational Metropolis

by (author) John Clement Ball

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
May 2004
Category
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802094551
    Publish Date
    Apr 2006
    List Price
    $49.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802044969
    Publish Date
    Jun 2004
    List Price
    $54.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442676015
    Publish Date
    May 2004
    List Price
    $71.00

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Description

London was once the hub of an empire on which 'the sun never set.' After the second world war, as Britain withdrew from most of its colonies, the city that once possessed the world began to contain a diasporic world that was increasingly taking possession of it. Drawing on postcolonial theories – as well as interdisciplinary perspectives from cultural geography, urban theory, history, and sociology – Imagining London examines representations of the English metropolis in Canadian, West Indian, South Asian, and second-generation 'black British' novels written in the last half of the twentieth century. It analyzes the diverse ways in which London is experienced and portrayed as a transnational space by Commonwealth expatriates and migrants.

As the former 'heart of empire' and a contemporary 'world city,' London metonymically represents the British Empire in two distinct ways. In the early years of decolonization, it is a primarily white city that symbolizes imperial power and history. Over time, as migrants from former colonies have 'reinvaded the centre' and changed its demographic and cultural constitution, it has come to represent empire geographically and spatially as a global microcosm. John Clement Ball examines the work of more than twenty writers, including established authors such as Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler, Jean Rhys, Sam Selvon, V.S. Naipaul, Anita Desai, and Salman Rushdie, and newer voices such as Catherine Bush, David Dabydeen, Amitav Ghosh, Hanif Kureishi, and Zadie Smith.

About the author

John Clement Ball is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of New Brunswick.

John Clement Ball's profile page

Awards

  • Commended, Raymond Klibansky Prize