Post-Colonial Literatures: Expanding the Canon (Post-Colonial Studies)

Despite recent debates, the post-colonial literary canon remains comprised of privileged national and regional texts. The English-language literatures of Africa, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean clearly emerged from an earlier model of ‘Commonwealth literature’. Post-Colonial Literatures examines the development of this body of writing, and is the first such study to expand the paradigm to accommodate the literatures of the colonised peoples of North America. The authors engage with the major debates within existing post-colonial studies, addressing issues such as hybridity, subaltern voices, decolonisation, multiculturalism and border cultures. Subjects covered include Fred D’Aguiar, Merle Collins and Toni Morrison; Native Candian writing and US-Canadian literary relations; writings of the Autralian Aborignals; women writers in Zimbabwe; and the relationship between black and Hispanic discourses of America. The comparative methodology offered by post-colonialism provides a challenging point of departure for considering the literary expression of Native American writers. Offering perspectives on texts from both sides of the Atlantic, this collection confronts the emerging consensus on post-colonial literatures.