Post-War British Literature and the "End of Empire"

Post-War British Literature and the Author: Matthew Whittle
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137540141
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This book examines literary texts by British colonial servant and settler writers, including Anthony Burgess, Graham Greene, William Golding, and Alan Sillitoe, who depicted the impact of decolonization in the newly independent colonies and at home in Britain. The end of the British Empire was one of the most significant and transformative events in twentieth-century history, marking the beginning of a new world order and having an indelible impact on British culture and society. Literary responses to this moment by those from within Britain offer an enlightening (and often overlooked) exploration of the influence of decolonization on received notions of “race” and class, while also prefiguring conceptions of multiculturalism. As Matthew Whittle argues in this sweeping study, these works not only view decolonization within its global context (alongside the aftermath of the Second World War, the rise of America, and mass immigration) but often propose a solution to imperial decline through cultural renewal.

Post-War British Literature and the "End of Empire"

Post-War British Literature and the Author: Matthew Whittle
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137540141
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book

Book Description
This book examines literary texts by British colonial servant and settler writers, including Anthony Burgess, Graham Greene, William Golding, and Alan Sillitoe, who depicted the impact of decolonization in the newly independent colonies and at home in Britain. The end of the British Empire was one of the most significant and transformative events in twentieth-century history, marking the beginning of a new world order and having an indelible impact on British culture and society. Literary responses to this moment by those from within Britain offer an enlightening (and often overlooked) exploration of the influence of decolonization on received notions of “race” and class, while also prefiguring conceptions of multiculturalism. As Matthew Whittle argues in this sweeping study, these works not only view decolonization within its global context (alongside the aftermath of the Second World War, the rise of America, and mass immigration) but often propose a solution to imperial decline through cultural renewal.

British culture and the end of empire

British culture and the end of empire PDF Author: Stuart Ward
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526119625
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This book is the first major attempt to examine the cultural manifestations of the demise of imperialism as a social and political ideology in post-war Britain. Far from being a matter of indifference or resigned acceptance as is often suggested, the fall of the British Empire came as a profound shock to the British national imagination, and resonated widely in British popular culture. The sheer range of subjects discussed, from the satire boom of the 1960s to the worlds of sport and the arts, demonstrates how profoundly decolonisation was absorbed into the popular consciousness. Offers an extremely novel and provocative interpretation of post-war British cultural history, and opens up a whole new field of enquiry in the history of decolonisation.

British Spy Fiction and the End of Empire

British Spy Fiction and the End of Empire PDF Author: Sam Goodman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131767894X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
The position of spy fiction is largely synonymous in popular culture with ideas of patriotism and national security, with the spy himself indicative of the defence of British interests and the preservation of British power around the globe. This book reveals a more complicated side to these assumptions than typically perceived, arguing that the representation of space and power within spy fiction is more complex than commonly assumed. Instead of the British spy tirelessly maintaining the integrity of Empire, this volume illustrates how spy fiction contains disunities and disjunctions in its representation of space, and the relationship between the individual and the state in an era of declining British power. Focusing primarily on the work of Graham Greene, Ian Fleming, Len Deighton, and John le Carre, the volume brings a fresh methodological approach to the study of spy fiction and Cold War culture. It presents close textual analysis within a framework of spatial and sovereign theory as a means of examining the cultural impact of decolonization and the shifting geopolitics of the Cold War. Adopting a thematic approach to the analysis of space in spy fiction, the text explores the reciprocal process by which contextual history intersects with literature throughout the period in question, arguing that spy fiction is responsible for reflecting, strengthening and, in some cases, precipitating cultural anxieties over decolonization and the end of Empire. This study promises to be a welcome addition to the developing field of spy fiction criticism and popular culture studies. Both engaging and original in its approach, it will be important reading for students and academics engaged in the study of Cold War culture, popular literature, and the changing state of British identity over the course of the latter twentieth century.

Mapping the End of Empire

Mapping the End of Empire PDF Author: Aiyaz Husain
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067441943X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
By 1945 Washington and London envisioned a new era in which the U.S. shouldered global responsibilities while Britain focused its regional interests narrowly. Mapping the End of Empire reveals how Anglo-American perceptions of geography and perspectives on the Muslim world shaped postcolonial futures from the Middle East to South Asia.

Imperial Endgame

Imperial Endgame PDF Author: B. Grob-Fitzgibbon
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230300383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
In this fresh and controversial account of Britain's end of empire, Grob-Fitzgibbon reveals that the British government developed a successful strategy of decolonization following the Second World War based on devolving power to indigenous peoples within the Commonwealth.

British culture after empire

British culture after empire PDF Author: Josh Doble
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526159732
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
British culture after Empire is the first collection of its kind to explore the intertwined social, cultural and political aftermath of empire in Britain from 1945 up to and beyond the Brexit referendum of 2016, combining approaches from the fields of history, English and cultural studies. Against those who would deny, downplay or attempt to forget Britain’s imperial legacy, the various contributions expose and explore how the British Empire and the consequences of its end continue to shape Britain at the local, national and international level. As an important and urgent intervention in a field of increasing relevance within and beyond the academy, the book offers fresh perspectives on the colonial hangovers in post-colonial Britain from up-and-coming as well as established scholars.

End of empire and the English novel since 1945

End of empire and the English novel since 1945 PDF Author: Rachael Gilmour
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1784991791
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
Available in paperback for the first time, this first book-length study explores the history of postwar England during the end of empire through a reading of novels which appeared at the time, moving from George Orwell and William Golding to Penelope Lively, Alan Hollinghurst and Ian McEwan. Particular genres are also discussed, including the family saga, travel writing, detective fiction and popular romances. All included reflect on the predicament of an England which no longer lies at the centre of imperial power, arriving at a fascinating diversity of conclusions about the meaning and consequences of the end of empire and the privileged location of the novel for discussing what decolonization meant for the domestic English population of the metropole. The book is written in an easy style, unburdened by large sections of abstract reflection. It endeavours to bring alive in a new way the traditions of the English novel.

British Literature in Transition, 1940-1960: Postwar

British Literature in Transition, 1940-1960: Postwar PDF Author: Gill Plain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107119014
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Examines debates central to postwar British culture, showing the pressures of reconstruction and the mutual implication of war and peace.

The MacKenzie Moment and Imperial History

The MacKenzie Moment and Imperial History PDF Author: Stephanie Barczewski
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030244598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
This book celebrates the career of the eminent historian of the British Empire John M. MacKenzie, who pioneered the examination of the impact of the Empire on metropolitan culture. It is structured around three areas: the cultural impact of empire, 'Four-Nations' history, and global and transnational perspectives. These essays demonstrate MacKenzie’s influence but also interrogate his legacy for the study of imperial history, not only for Britain and the nations of Britain but also in comparative and transnational context. Written by seventeen historians from around the world, its subjects range from Jumbomania in Victorian Britain to popular imperial fiction, the East India Company, the ironic imperial revivalism of the 1960s, Scotland and Ireland and the empire, to transnational Chartism and Belgian colonialism. The essays are framed by three evaluations of what will be known as 'the MacKenzian moment' in the study of imperialism.

Monarchy and the End of Empire

Monarchy and the End of Empire PDF Author: Philip Murphy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199214239
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Examines the relationship between the British government, the Palace, and the modern Commonwealth since 1945 and argues that the monarchy's relationship with the Commonwealth, which was initially promoted by the UK as a means of strengthening imperial ties, increasingly became an impediment to British foreign policy.