Contemporary British Fiction: History and the Present

Book Details:

• Author: Santosh Gupta

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• ISBN: 813160098X

• Pages: 288

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches

About the Book:

Contemporary British Fiction: History and the Present provides critical insights into the role fiction has played in reshaping British culture during a period of profound political, economic, and cultural shifts that began after the 1960s. The book explores how these changes have created a complex landscape of belonging and alienation, particularly in a society undergoing significant demographic shifts due to mass-scale immigration.

The work features a series of critical readings from notable scholars, offering an in-depth look at some of the most prominent British novelists. These essays address the post-empire and post-war political climate, the rise of social plurality, and how these factors have amplified postcolonial anxieties, nostalgia, and the multicultural nature of English society. Contributions from scholars such as Jasbir Jain, Prafulla C. Kar, R.K. Kaul, Sudha Rai, Rajul Bhargava, Veena Singh, and others, examine the works of celebrated writers including Graham Swift, Julian Barnes, Caryl Phillips, and Angus Wilson.

The collection delves into how women writers have rewritten ancient phallocentric myths, alongside an exploration of the growing popularity of children's literature. The defining of the self in this diverse, changing environment calls for new ways of reading, writing, and locating oneself within cultural spaces. The book also touches on the subversive techniques and language in the works of authors like Angela Carter, Muriel Spark, A.S. Byatt, Michèle Roberts, Margaret Drabble, Doris Lessing, and J.K. Rowling, which reveal the destabilizing impact of their narratives. The changing emotional responses to history, both past and present, are also reflected in popular visual forms like film.

The essays focus on works that have become essential texts in modern literature. This book invites new interpretations, encouraging ongoing dialogue and exploration of the evolving landscape of British fiction.