This Companion looks at the literature of our own times, shaped by recent experiences from millennial anxieties to the events of 9/11. Placing texts within a cultural and critical context, the book discusses emerging genres such as multicultural and post-colonial writing, contemporary theatre, autobiography and the neo-Victorian novel.
Established writers such as A. S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, and Carol Ann Duffy are featured alongside the newer voices of Zadie Smith, Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters in a volume which offers an overview of the contemporary literary scene in Britain and further afield. Author: Fiona Tolan. (330 pages) Level: Gymnasiet (esp. A)
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York Notes Companions:
- Analysis of key texts and debates
- Extended commentaries provide further in-depth analysis of individual texts
- Notes contain extra context and explanations of literary terms
- Historical, social and cultural contexts explored in introductory chapters and alongside discussions
- Modern critical theory and perspectives in practice
- Timelines and annotated further reading
CONTENTS:
Part One: Introduction
Part Two: A Cultural Overview
Part Three: Texts, Writers and Contexts
- The Neo-Victorian Novel – A. S. Byatt, Peter Carey, Sarah Waters
- Extended commentary, Waters, Fingersmith (2002)
- Contemporary Theatre – Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, David Hare
- Extended commentary, Kane, Blasted (1995)
- Multicultural/Postcolonial Writing – Hanif Kureishi, Monica Ali, Zadie Smith
- Extended commentary, Ali, Brick Lane (2003)
- New Diversities in Contemporary Poetry – Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, Benjamin Zephaniah
- Extended commentary, Duffy, Feminine Gospels (2002)
- Gender and Sexuality – Jeanette Winterson, Helen Fielding, Alan Hollinghurst
- Extended commentary, Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty (2004)
- Writing the Self: Biography and Autobiography – Frank McCourt, David Lodge
- Extended commentary, Lodge, Author, Author (2005)
Part Four: Critical theories and Debates
- Remembering the Past
- Post-Millennial Anxieties and Dystopia
- Literature and Celebrity
- Writing the Child
Part Five: Resources
Timeline
Further reading
Index