- Analyses contemporary British identity through the various and changing ways in which people who live in the UK position themselves and are positioned by their culture today, thereby offering the perfect introductory text for students of contemporary British society. - This edition has been fully updated to reflect the seismic shifts in Britain over the last few years, thereby offering the reader the most up-to-date text on British identity and recent events in Britain. - Highly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and tables and supported with selections of cultural examples such as films, books and TV programmes making the subject matter very accessible for students.

E. M. Forster's most challenging work, A Passage to India has since 1924 provoked debate on topics from imperialism to modernism to ethnicity, sexuality and symbolism. This Routledge Literary Sourcebook introduces not only the novel but the key issues which surround it. The Sourcebook offers:
* a contextual and biographical overview, with a chronology of important dates
* contemporary reviews
* key extracts from Forster's relevant essays, books and articles
* a summary of the work's critical history
* substantial recent essays by important critics of the novel
* a consideration of film and television adaptations
* a guide to further reading.
The most complete guide to Forster's novel available, this Sourcebook will be essential reading for all students of A Passage to India.

This text examines both "English" poetry through the events of the 20th century and British history through its representations in recent poetry. It builds a narrative not of poetry in the 20th century but of the 20th century in poetry. A high proportion of literature courses include an exploration of the issues of gender, ethnicity, theory, nationality, politics and social class. But until now most teaching has focused on the novel as the most useful way of raising these issues. Peter Childs demonstrates that all poetry is historically produced and consumed and is part of our understanding of society and identity. This student-friendly critical survey includes chapters on: the Georgians; First World War poetry; Eliot; Yeats; the thirties; post-war poetry; contemporary anthologies; women's poetry; and Northern Irish and black British poets. Placing literature in a wider social context, this book examines the way in which recent theory has questioned divisions between "history" and literature, between "text" and "event", between society and the individual.

Series Information:
Routledge Literary Sourcebooks

Boasting more than 970 alphabetically-arranged entries, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture surveys British cultural practices and icons in the latter half of the twentieth century. It examines high and popular culture and encompasses both institutional and alternative aspects of British culture. It provides insight into the whole spectrum of British contemporary life. Topics covered include: architecture, pubs, film, internet and current takes on the monarchy. Cross-referencing and a thematic contents list enable readers to identify related articles. The entries range from short biographical synopses to longer overview essays on key issues.
This Encyclopedia is essential reading for anyone interested in British culture. It also provides a cultural context for students of English, Modern History and Comparative European Studies.

The first book of its kind in the field, this timely introduction to post- colonial theory offers lucid and accessible summaries of the major work of key theorists such as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said.Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak. The Guide also Explores the lines of resistance against colonialism and highlights the theories of post-colonial identity that have been responsible for generating some of the most influential and challenging critical work of recent decades. Designed for undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses related to colonialisn or post-colonialism, the book summarieses the major topics and issues as well as covering the contributions of major and less familiar figures in the field.

9/11 is not simple a date on the calendar but marks a distinct historical threshold, ushering in the war on terror, various states of emergency, a supposed "clash of civilizations," and the putative legitimation of counter-democratic procedures ranging from extraordinary renditions to enhanced interrogation. Perhaps no date, since Virginia Woolf declared that "on or about December 1910 human character changed," has marked such a singular point in the perception of time, identity and nature. Women's writing has always been something of a counter-canon, offering modes of voice and point of view beyond that of the "man" of reason. This collection of essays explores the two problems of what it means to write as a woman and what it means to write in the twenty-first century.

Ian McEwan is one of Britain's most inventive and important contemporary writers. Also adapted as a film, his novel Enduring Love (1997) is a tale of obsession that has both troubled and enthralled readers around the world. Renowned author Peter Childs explores the intricacies of this haunting novel to offer: an accessible introduction to the text and contexts of Enduring Love a critical history, surveying the many interpretations of the text from publication to the present a selection of new and reprinted critical essays on Enduring Love, by Kiernan Ryan, Sean Matthews, Martin Randall, Paul Edwards, Rhiannon Davies and Peter Childs, providing a range of perspectives on the novel and extending the coverage of key critical approaches identified in the survey section cross-references between sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism suggestions for further reading. Part of the Routledge Guides to Literature series, this volume is essential reading for all those beginning detailed study of Enduring Love and seeking not only a guide to the novel, but a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds it.

Ian McEwan is one of Britain's most inventive and important contemporary writers. Also adapted as a film, his novel Enduring Love (1997) is a tale of obsession that has both troubled and enthralled readers around the world. Renowned author Peter Childs explores the intricacies of this haunting novel to offer: an accessible introduction to the text and contexts of Enduring Love a critical history, surveying the many interpretations of the text from publication to the present a selection of new and reprinted critical essays on Enduring Love, by Kiernan Ryan, Sean Matthews, Martin Randall, Paul Edwards, Rhiannon Davies and Peter Childs, providing a range of perspectives on the novel and extending the coverage of key critical approaches identified in the survey section cross-references between sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism suggestions for further reading. Part of the Routledge Guides to Literature series, this volume is essential reading for all those beginning detailed study of Enduring Love and seeking not only a guide to the novel, but a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds it.

A twenty-first century version of Roger Fowler's 1973 Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms, this latest edition of The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms is the most up-to-date guide to critical and theoretical concepts available to students of literature at all levels. With over forty newly commissioned entries, this essential reference book includes: an exhaustive range of entries, covering such topics as genre, form, cultural theory and literary technique new definitions of contemporary critical issues such as Cybercriticism and Globalization complete coverage of traditional and radical approaches to the study and production of literature thorough accounts of critical terminology and analyses of key academic debates full cross-referencing throughout and suggestions for further reading. Covering both long-established terminology as well as the specialist vocabulary of modern theoretical schools, The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms is an indispensable guide to the principal terms and concepts encountered in debates over literary studies in the twenty-first century.

A twenty-first century version of Roger Fowler's 1973 Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms, this latest edition of The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms is the most up-to-date guide to critical and theoretical concepts available to students of literature at all levels. With over forty newly commissioned entries, this essential reference book includes: an exhaustive range of entries, covering such topics as genre, form, cultural theory and literary technique new definitions of contemporary critical issues such as Cybercriticism and Globalization complete coverage of traditional and radical approaches to the study and production of literature thorough accounts of critical terminology and analyses of key academic debates full cross-referencing throughout and suggestions for further reading. Covering both long-established terminology as well as the specialist vocabulary of modern theoretical schools, The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms is an indispensable guide to the principal terms and concepts encountered in debates over literary studies in the twenty-first century.

The first book of its kind in the field, this timely introduction to post- colonial theory offers lucid and accessible summaries of the major work of key theorists such as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said.Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak. The Guide also Explores the lines of resistance against colonialism and highlights the theories of post-colonial identity that have been responsible for generating some of the most influential and challenging critical work of recent decades. Designed for undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses related to colonialisn or post-colonialism, the book summarieses the major topics and issues as well as covering the contributions of major and less familiar figures in the field.

Modernist movements radically transformed the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literary establishment, and their effects are still felt today. Modernism introduces and analyzes what amounted to nothing less than a literary and cultural revolution. In this fully updated, expanded, and revised third edition, charting modernism in its global and local contexts, Peter Childs: details the origins of modernism and the influence of thinkers such as Darwin, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Saussure and Einstein explores the radical changes which occurred in the arts, literature, drama, and film of the period traces 'modernism at work' in literature, especially in writings by a range of British, Irish, American and other Anglophone authors including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett, Nella Larsen, Gertrude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot, and many others explains recent critical interest in the culture and worldwide impact of modernism reflects upon the shift from modernism to postmodernism. At once accessible and critically informed, Modernism guides readers from first steps in the field to an advanced understanding of one of the most important cultural phenomena of the last centuries.

Now available in paperback, Julian Barnes is a comprehensive introductory overview of the novels that situates his work in terms of fabulation and memory, irony and comedy. It pursues a broadly chronological line through Barnes's literary career, but along the way it also shows how certain key thematic preoccupations and obsessions seem to tie Barnes's oeuvre together (love, death, art, history, truth, and memory). Chapters provide detailed readings of each major publication in turn while treating the major concerns of Barnes's fiction, including art, authorship, history, love and religion. The book is very lucidly written, and it is also satisfyingly comprehensive - alongside the 'canonical' Barnes texts, it includes brief but illuminating discussion of the crime fiction that Barnes has published under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh. This detailed study of the fictions of Julian Barnes from Metroland to Arthur & George also benefits from archival research into his unpublished materials. -- .

Boasting more than 970 alphabetically-arranged entries, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture surveys British cultural practices and icons in the latter half of the twentieth century. It examines high and popular culture and encompasses both institutional and alternative aspects of British culture. It provides insight into the whole spectrum of British contemporary life. Topics covered include: architecture, pubs, film, internet and current takes on the monarchy. Cross-referencing and a thematic contents list enable readers to identify related articles. The entries range from short biographical synopses to longer overview essays on key issues.
This Encyclopedia is essential reading for anyone interested in British culture. It also provides a cultural context for students of English, Modern History and Comparative European Studies.

- Analyses contemporary British identity through the various and changing ways in which people who live in the UK position themselves and are positioned by their culture today, thereby offering the perfect introductory text for students of contemporary British society. - This edition has been fully updated to reflect the seismic shifts in Britain over the last few years, thereby offering the reader the most up-to-date text on British identity and recent events in Britain. - Highly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and tables and supported with selections of cultural examples such as films, books and TV programmes making the subject matter very accessible for students.

Modernist movements radically transformed the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literary establishment, and their effects are still felt today. Modernism introduces and analyzes what amounted to nothing less than a literary and cultural revolution. In this fully updated, expanded, and revised third edition, charting modernism in its global and local contexts, Peter Childs: details the origins of modernism and the influence of thinkers such as Darwin, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Saussure and Einstein explores the radical changes which occurred in the arts, literature, drama, and film of the period traces 'modernism at work' in literature, especially in writings by a range of British, Irish, American and other Anglophone authors including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett, Nella Larsen, Gertrude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot, and many others explains recent critical interest in the culture and worldwide impact of modernism reflects upon the shift from modernism to postmodernism. At once accessible and critically informed, Modernism guides readers from first steps in the field to an advanced understanding of one of the most important cultural phenomena of the last centuries.

After the singularity of Astral Weeks in 1968, the 1970s were the formative years for the solo career of one of the acknowledged giants of modern music. Van Morrison was one of the music legends who defined the decade, with every album bringing out different aspects to Morrison's vast musical spectrum. His story in the 1970s is a chronicle of a Belfast artist coming to terms with the voice, the call, the dream of America. The decade saw Morrison work through the promise of the land of the blues and jazz, westerns and railroads, big cities and backwoods. It also saw his own spiritual quest and the reimagining of a nordic North European heritage and Caledonian Irish roots alongside the realisation of emigration and exile. Morrison forged a rich and complex artistic catalogue that continues down the years to the present day. Beginning with smash hit Moondance in 1970, his output in the decade continued through Tupelo Honey via Hard Nose the Highway to 1979's Into the Music. By the end of the 1970s, he was again using Europe to recast his music and imagination for another half century in the business, but throughout most of the decade his songs centred on America as he created the foundation of an unparalleled legacy

Unlike other readers, this book takes eight important literary texts and provides some of the most significant post-colonial readings of them published in the last fifteen years. Topics include cannibalism, slavery, the harem, missionary work, gender, nationalism and the Rushdie affair. The book offers practical examples of applying theoretical arguments to specific texts. Key features: * Provides three or four cutting edge essays on each of the following texts: Shakespeare's The Tempest; Defoe's Robinson Crusoe; Bronte's Jane Eyre; Kipling's Kim, Conrad's Heart of Darkness; Joyce's Ulysses; Forster's A Passage to India; Rushdie's The Satanic Verses

A fresh set of concerns face the twenty-first century British novelist. In this study of the four key novelists Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Hari Kunzru and David Mitchell, the the changes in narrative approaches and critical directions of a new post-1989 fiction are explored. Close readings of the writers are informed by a range of contemporary theorists, critics and commentators to reveal the emphases of twenty-first century fiction. Terror, fear, consumerism, multinationalism, and corporatism: the terms circulating in culture and social networks are evident in Smith's faith in ethical living, Aslam's consideration of multiculturalism, the novels Kunzru builds around the politics of identity and in the importance Mitchell places on the interconnectedness of human life. By putting the emergence of a new British literary dynamic in the context of ethical as well as global contexts, this study analyzes the transformed fictional perceptions of a world no longer defined by the stand off of super powers.

Our national and global affairs are in perilous disarray, to the point where extremely sober observers are saying that we have brought imminent catastrophe upon ourselves and that it is just too late to escape.

While candidly admitting the difficulty and the danger, Of Thee I Sing nonetheless insists that something enormously significant and wonderful is actually coming to pass on this planet--that like a chick (out of food and space) pecking its way out of the egg into a whole new world, we are awakening of necessity to a vastly expanded understanding of what we are, where we come from, where we're going, and what's going on.

We are not headed for doom but for glory, and the United States of America has a vital role to play in that destiny--a role in which each of us claims a share as we choose to awaken.

"I love this book. America needs this book. Here are the answers to the horrified questions we keep asking ourselves: 'How did this happen?' 'Who stole our country?' Peter Childs has chosen every word with lucidity and precision, as he tells exactly how we got here, what we must do to save the great 'American Experiment, ' and why it matters to the whole world. Read it...we need it "--Suzy Bookstore

Our national and global affairs are in perilous disarray, to the point where extremely sober observers are saying that we have brought imminent catastrophe upon ourselves and that it is just too late to escape.

While candidly admitting the difficulty and the danger, Of Thee I Sing nonetheless insists that something enormously significant and wonderful is actually coming to pass on this planet--that like a chick (out of food and space) pecking its way out of the egg into a whole new world, we are awakening of necessity to a vastly expanded understanding of what we are, where we come from, where we're going, and what's going on.

We are not headed for doom but for glory, and the United States of America has a vital role to play in that destiny--a role in which each of us claims a share as we choose to awaken.

"I love this book. America needs this book. Here are the answers to the horrified questions we keep asking ourselves: 'How did this happen?' 'Who stole our country?' Peter Childs has chosen every word with lucidity and precision, as he tells exactly how we got here, what we must do to save the great 'American Experiment, ' and why it matters to the whole world. Read it...we need it "--Suzy Bookstore

A fresh set of concerns face the twenty-first century British novelist. In this study of the four key novelists Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Hari Kunzru and David Mitchell, the the changes in narrative approaches and critical directions of a new post-1989 fiction are explored. Close readings of the writers are informed by a range of contemporary theorists, critics and commentators to reveal the emphases of twenty-first century fiction. Terror, fear, consumerism, multinationalism, and corporatism: the terms circulating in culture and social networks are evident in Smith's faith in ethical living, Aslam's consideration of multiculturalism, the novels Kunzru builds around the politics of identity and in the importance Mitchell places on the interconnectedness of human life. By putting the emergence of a new British literary dynamic in the context of ethical as well as global contexts, this study analyzes the transformed fictional perceptions of a world no longer defined by the stand off of super powers.