| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 274 pages) |
| Contents |
Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Mapping Millennial London Fiction -- Context: The Postmodern Debate -- Post-Postmodernism -- Motifs and Themes -- Chapter 2: Restabilising Storytelling in the Female Historical London Novel at the Millennium -- A Theoretical Perspective of a Textual Repositioning of the Marginal -- Evaristo's and Levy's Reimagining of Key Moments in British History -- Reimagining the Past: Returning to Recognisable Forms -- Postmodernism and Beyond -- Retrospection in Twentieth-Century British Fiction -- Conclusion |
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Chapter 3: The Hero Returns: Character Motivation in London Millennial Fiction -- London and Youth -- Beyond 1990s' Hedonism -- Pre-millennial Young London Protagonists -- The Next Generation of Young London Protagonists -- Kureishi's Young Hero -- Hornby: The Hedonist and the Hero -- Thomson's Next Generation -- Mark Haddon's Heroic Young Man -- Chapter 4: The Heroine in the Millennial London Novel -- Contextualising the Female Perspective -- Lara's Call to Adventure -- Lara Embarks on Her Journey -- Lara Completes Her Quest -- Reading Sarah Waters's Characterisation Through the Heroic Monomyth |
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London and Nancy's Road of Trials -- London and the Single Female -- Post-Postmodernism: An Alternative? -- Narratives of the Marginalised -- Bella Bathurst's Special: A Special Case -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5: Masculinities: Beyond the Postcolonial and the Postmodern in the London Novel -- Race and Gender in Timothy Mo's Sour Sweet -- The Relationship Between Postmodernism and Postcolonialism -- Reading Londonstani in Relation to Postcolonialism and Beyond -- Reading Intimacy in Relation to Postcolonialism and Beyond -- A Return to Realism -- Post-Postmodern and the Essential Self |
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Gender as Performance and Hypermasculinity -- Hypermasculinity as a Performance of Heterosexuality -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6: Outside of the Outside: Cultural Negativities and the Centre -- Martin Amis, Yellow Dog -- Ali Smith: The Accidental -- There but for the -- Will Self, The Book of Dave -- Umbrella -- Zadie Smith NW -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7: Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Primary Texts -- Secondary Texts -- Index |
| Summary |
'In this significant and welcome contribution to the field, Allen provides us with a sophisticated, detailed, and rigorous study of the move in contemporary fiction beyond postmodernism as exemplified by London fiction. --Nick Hubble, Brunel University London, UK This book analyses London fiction at the millennium, reading it in relation to an exploration of a theoretical positioning beyond the postmodern. It explores how a selection of novels can be considered as "second-wave" or "post-postmodern" in light of their borrowing more from mainstream and classical genres as opposed to formally experimental avant-garde techniques. It considers how writers utilise the cultural capital of London in a process of relocating marginalized, subjugated or under-represented voices. The millennium provides an apt symbolic opportunity to reflect on British fiction and to consider the direction in which contemporary authors are moving. As such, key novels by Martin Amis, Bella Bathurst, Bernardine Evaristo, Mark Haddon, Nick Hornby, Hanif Kureishi, Andrea Levy, Gautam Malkani, Timothy Mo, Will Self, Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, Rupert Thomson, and Sarah Waters are used to explore writing beyond the postmodern |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 19, 2021) |
| Subject |
English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism
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English fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
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Authors, English -- England -- London
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Authors, English
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English fiction
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Literature
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| SUBJECT |
London (England) -- In literature
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| Subject |
England -- London
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| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9783030488864 |
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3030488861 |
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