British Literature and the Dissolution of Empire

Catalog description

This course examines the role of British literature in the dissolution of empire and the reshaping of Britain as a multicultural society. As poet Louise Bennett wryly comments, the 20th century British experience is one of "colonization in reverse." From the departure of the colonies, to the impact of American expatriates and Caribbean, African and South Asian immigrants, to the Scottish nationalist critique, this period is one of radical change in British national identity. At the center of that change are the global writers who create a heterogeneous literature that represents both a "new" British literature and a post-empire reality.