Synopses & Reviews
Critics have argued that the field of postcolonial studies has become melancholic due to its institutionalisation in recent years. This book identifies some limits of postcolonial studies and suggests ways of coming to terms with this issue via a renewed engagement with the literary dimension in the postcolonial text.
Review
"This is an engaging and truly thoughtful book. It is poised and ambitious, both in its bold and subtle handling of the literary texts on which it centres and in its overarching arguments. Sorensens reconsideration of the place of the literary in postcolonial studies seems very timely, as regards not only the evolution of postcolonial studies but the future of literary studies more widely." --Nicholas Harrison, Professor of English, King's College London, University of London, UK.
Synopsis
Critics have argued that the field of postcolonial studies has become melancholic due to its institutionalization in recent years. This book identifies some limits of postcolonial studies and suggests ways of coming to terms with this issue via a renewed engagement with the literary dimension in the postcolonial text.
About the Author
ELI PARK SORENSEN wrote his PhD in Comparative Literature at University College, London, UK, where he was also a teaching fellow. His work focuses on postcolonial studies, contemporary British fiction, international adoption literature and literary theory. He is currently working on a book about Caryl Phillips.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Melancholia of Postcolonial Studies
Returning to the Literary
Utopian-Interpretive Perspectives
Form and Temporality in Ousmane Sembnes Xala
Arcades of Foreignness: J.M. Coetzees Foe
Realism in Rohinton Mistrys A Fine Balance
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index