'Race and Antiracism in Black British and British Asian Literature' offers the first extended exploration of the cultural impact of the politics of race and antiracism in Britain through focussing on a selection of recent novels by black British and British Asian writers. The study argues that an understanding of how race and ethnicity function in contemporary Britain can only be gained through attention to antiracism: the politics of opposing discrimination that manifest at the level of state legislation, within local and national activism, and inside the scholarly exploration of race. It is antiracism that now most strongly conditions the emergence of racial categorisations but also of racial identities and models of behaviour. This sense of how antiracism may determine the form and content of both political debate and individual identity is traced through an examination of ten novels by black British and British Asian writers. These authors range from the well known to the critically neglected: works by Monica Ali, Nadeem Aslam, Fred D'Aguiar, Ferdinand Dennis, Hanif Kureishi, Gautam Malkani, Caryl Phillips, Mike Phillips, Zadie Smith, and Meera Syal are carefully read to explore the impacts of antiracism. These literary studies are grouped into three main themes, each of which is central to the direction of racial political identities over the last two decades in Britain: the use of the continent of Africa as a symbolic focus for black political culture; the changing forms of Muslim culture in Britain; and the emergence of a multiculturalist ethos based around the notion of ethnic communities.

'Race and Antiracism in Black British and British Asian Literature' offers the first extended exploration of the cultural impact of the politics of race and antiracism in Britain through focussing on a selection of recent novels by black British and British Asian writers. The study argues that an understanding of how race and ethnicity function in contemporary Britain can only be gained through attention to antiracism: the politics of opposing discrimination that manifest at the level of state legislation, within local and national activism, and inside the scholarly exploration of race. It is antiracism that now most strongly conditions the emergence of racial categorisations but also of racial identities and models of behaviour. This sense of how antiracism may determine the form and content of both political debate and individual identity is traced through an examination of ten novels by black British and British Asian writers. These authors range from the well known to the critically neglected: works by Monica Ali, Nadeem Aslam, Fred D'Aguiar, Ferdinand Dennis, Hanif Kureishi, Gautam Malkani, Caryl Phillips, Mike Phillips, Zadie Smith, and Meera Syal are carefully read to explore the impacts of antiracism. These literary studies are grouped into three main themes, each of which is central to the direction of racial political identities over the last two decades in Britain: the use of the continent of Africa as a symbolic focus for black political culture; the changing forms of Muslim culture in Britain; and the emergence of a multiculturalist ethos based around the notion of ethnic communities.

This Guide addresses the key concerns of postcolonial literary criticism in the twenty-first century. The focus is on the development of effective comparative readings of postcolonial writing drawn from a wide range of locations. Examples of literature from Africa, Australasia, Canada, the Caribbean, Ireland and South Asia are all explored in an account that attempts not to minimise the contrasts between traditions, but rather to stimulate a productive sense of cross-cultural analysis. Established and emerging literary figures are examined alongside one another in a series of thematic chapters that cover such issues as the challenges of the English language, the shifting forms of violence in postcolonial societies, the experiences of settlement and belonging and the need to articulate new historical narratives. Postcolonial Literature also offers a clear guide to navigating the often difficult terrain of postcolonial theory, relating discussions of both seminal and more recent theoretical positions to a range of literary texts and exploring some of the important connections between postcolonial studies and other contemporary developments in literary criticism. Key Features * Examines a wide range of examples from a diverse set of postcolonial locations * Engages with both canonical postcolonial authors and newly emerging voices * Key strands in postcolonial theory demonstrated through detailed readings of literary examples including Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Ken Saro-Wiwa's Sozaboy, Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners; James Berry's Windrush Songs; Shani Mootoo's Cereus Blooms at Night, Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy, Zadie Smith's White Teeth; Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, V S Naipaul's A Bend in the River and Anita Desai's A Clear Light of Day. * Thematic approach allows for development of comparative critical perspective * Provides Student Resources section, including a detailed glossary of important terms and essay writing advice