Product Description

This superb study explores the imaginative transformation of the city by African, Asian, Caribbean and South Pacific writers since the 1950s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #352765 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
'In recent years, postcolonial studies has begun to focus on questions of how space is represented within what were once seen as 'imperial centres'. This book links this new focus with questions which open up the 'national' and thereby addresses issues which have always been important, such as the extent to which our visions of the national have been built on migrant and diasporic, colonial and postcolonial identities. Thus we are forced to question the extent to which London has always in a sense been a transformative 'postcolonial' space not only after Empire, or after immigration, but before.' - Susheila Nasta, Open University, UK

From the Back Cover
Postcolonial London explores the imaginative transformation of London by African, Asian, Caribbean and South Pacific writers since the 1950s.
Engaging with a range of writers from Sam Selvon and Doris Lessing to Hanif Kureishi and Fred D'Aguiar, John McLeod examines a cultural history of resistance to the prejudice and racism that have at least in part characterised the postcolonial city. This resistance, he argues, bears witness to the determination, imagination and creativity of London's migrants and their descendants.
McLeod's superb study is essential reading for those interested in British or postcolonial literature, or in theorisations of the city and metropolitan culture.

About the Author
John McLeod is a lecturer in English at the University of Leeds. He has written on postcolonial literature for a variety of publications, including Wasafiri, Interventions and Journal of Commonwealth Literature and is the author of Beginning Postcolonialism (2000).

Customer Reviews

New narratives, new nation?
Unlike many academeic texts Postcolonial London ... is a fascinating read. This may be due to the subject matter; McLeod explores some of the most exciting texts to emerge from London in the 20th century, however this is not the only factor that makes this book worth reading. McLeod has made an academic text accessible not only to the budding literary student, but to any individual interested in the rich multicultural writing that has emerged from the capital since the increase in immigration to the UK following the Second World War.

McLeod initially focuses on texts that record the alienation and disappointment felt by newcomers to the 'Motherland'. He charts the progression of immigrant literature as a second, native, generation create new, policticised forms of writing. Mcleod ends by exploring modern day multi-racial authors trying to negotiate their identity in contemporary UK society.

McLeod successfully highlights the new narratives and new voices that have come out of London due to the growth of diasporic communities. By examining how postcolonial literature has the potential to transform boundaries surrounding notions of empire, identity, race and nation McLeod delivers a message that has particular significance considering the current political climate. He makes the reader re-examine the cultural site of London and ultimatley judges it to be one of the most exciting and innovative spaces in Britain. I, for one, agree.

A book for 21st-century Britain
An interesting take on contemporary Britain. A perfect accompaniment for anyone into postcolonial literature.
John Mcleod taught me at university and changed the way I look at Britain, and indeed at the inhabitants of Britain.