A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures in English (Edinburgh Companions to Literature and the Humanities) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0748636021 ISBN 13: 9780748636020

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2008

Synopsis

This is the first reference guide to the political, cultural and economic histories that form the subject-matter of postcolonial literatures written in English.The focus of the Companion is principally on the histories of postcolonial literatures in the Anglophone world - Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Canada. There are also long entries discussing the literatures and histories of those further areas that have also claimed the title 'postcolonial', notably Britain, East Asia, Ireland, Latin America and the United States.The Companion contains:* 220 entries written by 150 acknowledged scholars of postcolonial history and literature;* covers major events, ideas, movements, and figures in postcolonial histories* long regional survey essays on historiography and women's histories.Each entry provides a summary of the historical event or topic and bibliographies of postcolonial literary works and histories. Extensive cross-re

About this title

About the Author:

Prem Poddar is Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin David Johnson is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literature at the The Open University

Review:

Critics weary of the universalising tendencies of much of postcolonial theory will welcome this volume's emphasis on a multiplicity of histories... An approachable, informed guide through critical debates, events, ideas and movements, this volume encourages critical vigour and highlights the continuing relevance of postcolonial theory in a changing world. -- Maeve Tynan, Wasafiri The Companion is without doubt a major achievement. Bringing together an impressive range of scholars drawn from across the postcolonial world as well as from the metropolitan academy, the Companion provides a remarkably rich overview of many of the key historical trajectories that inform postcolonial literature in the English-speaking world. -- Graham MacPhee, College Literature Are individual entries of high quality? The answer is basically yes ! almost all struck me as informative. -- Simon During, Australian Literary Studies Certainly one of the better guides, with its historically grounded approach contributing to the movement away from overarching accounts of postcolonial practices .! This remains an authoritative work. -- The Journal of Commonwealth Literature A work of this nature, whose raison d'etre is a firm commitment to historical contextualisation, is a very welcome addition to the field...an approachable informed guide. -- Wasatri 52 This volume I will keep in my personal reference collection and I recommend it to all undergraduate students of post colonial literature and their teachers. -- Terry Barringer African Research & Documentation Critics weary of the universalising tendencies of much of postcolonial theory will welcome this volume's emphasis on a multiplicity of histories... An approachable, informed guide through critical debates, events, ideas and movements, this volume encourages critical vigour and highlights the continuing relevance of postcolonial theory in a changing world. The Companion is without doubt a major achievement. Bringing together an impressive range of scholars drawn from across the postcolonial world as well as from the metropolitan academy, the Companion provides a remarkably rich overview of many of the key historical trajectories that inform postcolonial literature in the English-speaking world. Are individual entries of high quality? The answer is basically yes ! almost all struck me as informative. Certainly one of the better guides, with its historically grounded approach contributing to the movement away from overarching accounts of postcolonial practices .! This remains an authoritative work. A work of this nature, whose raison d'etre is a firm commitment to historical contextualisation, is a very welcome addition to the field...an approachable informed guide. This volume I will keep in my personal reference collection and I recommend it to all undergraduate students of post colonial literature and their teachers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0748636021
• ISBN 13: 9780748636020
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 688
• Editor: Poddar Prem, Johnson David