Other Britain, Other British: Contemporary Multicultural Fiction

Britain may have ceded empire and colonies, but its colonial past permeates every corner of the land - from street-names and restaurants to second and third generation 'immigrant' communities - embracing a diversity of peoples from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In literary and cultural terms, another Britain - largely but not exclusively non-white - is being formulated. How has the changing make-up of population and self-expression found voice in literature and literary fiction? In this wide ranging study of postcolonial and immigrant writing in Britain, ten contributors - including Booker shortlist nominee Abdulrazak Gurnah - examine the extent to which Britain's colonial heritage has shaped present-day formulations of British culture. Covering the work of key writers - including Timothy Mo, V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Caryl Phillips, Hanif Kureishi, Kazuo Ishiguro and David Dabydeen - this collection explores how such writers bring very different critical sensibilities to bear on literary conventions. Also examined are the literary contributions of writers from Jewish Britain, Irish-Britain and Australasian Britain.