The Postcolonial Novel

A concise introduction to a core and popular area of literary studies. Provides extended case studies which survey and summarise key critical debates and as such are invaluable for teaching. Places the emphasis on the text first and theory second, thus providing a unique and much needed approach to postcolonial literature, which in the past has been maligned for being theory driven. Takes an historical approach, thus covering a good range of texts that have generated lots of critical discussion and evaluative materials. Written clearly for an undergraduate reader, with introductory overviews at the start of each chapter.

Preface and Acknowledgements vi 1. Introducing the Postcolonial Novel in English: Wilson Harris's Palace of the peacock 1 2. The Counter-canonical Novel: J.M. Coerzee's Foe and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea 18 3. Alternative Historiographies: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart 32 4. National Consciousness: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's A Grain of Wheat 47 5. Interrogating subjectivity: Bessie Head's A Question of Power 59 6. Recoding Narrative: Margaret Atwood's Surfacing 71 7. The Rushdie Affair: Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses 83 8. The Optical Unconscious: Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things Conclusion: Ending with Joy Kogawa's Obasan and Phyllis Greenwood's An Interrupted Panorama 97 Conclusion 109 Notes 115 Bibliography 133 Index 144