The 1970s: A Decade of Contemporary British Fiction

by Hubble, Nick; McLeod, John; Tew, Philip; Wilson, Leigh; Hubble, Nick; Tew, Philip

• ISBN13: 9781350003507
• ISBN10: 1350003506
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-10-19
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

How did social, cultural and political events in Britain during the 1970s shape Contemporary British Fiction?

Exploring the impact of events like the Cold War, miners' strikes and Winter of Discontent, this volume charts the transition of British fiction from post-war to contemporary.

Chapters outline the decade's diversity of writing, showing how the literature of Ian McEwan and Ian Sinclair interacted with the experimental work of B.S. Johnson. Close contextual readings of Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish and English novels map the steady break-up of Britain. Tying the popularity of Angela Carter and Fay Weldon to the growth of the Women's Liberation Movement and calling attention to a new interest in documentary modes of autobiographical writing, this volume also examines the rising resonance of the marginal voices: the world of 1970s British Feminist fiction and postcolonial and diasporic writers.

Against a backdrop of social tensions, this major critical reassessment of the 1970s defines, explores and better understands the criticism and fiction of a decade marked by the sense of endings.

Author Biography

Nick Hubble is Head of English Literature at Brunel University, UK.

John McLeod is Professor of Postcolonial and Diaspora Literatures in the School of English at the University of Leeds, UK.

Philip Tew is Professor of English (Post-1900 Literature) at Brunel University, UK, Director of Brunel's Centre for Contemporary Writing and Director of the UK Network for Modern Fiction Studies.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Preface
Acknowledgements
Contributors

Introduction: Britain in the 1970s - Controversies and Cultures
Nick Hubble, John McLeod and Philip Tew

1 Selective Traditions: Refreshing the Literary History of the Seventies
Mark P. Williams

2 The Ordinariness of the Extraordinary Break-Up of Britain
Nick Hubble

3 1970s Feminist Fiction
Sonya Andermahr

4 Black British Culture and Fiction in the 1970s
John McLeod

5 'This Time It's Personal': Reliving and Rewriting History in 1970s Fiction
Sam Goodman

6 Turbulent Times: Conflicts, Ideology and the Experimental British Novel, 1969–1979
Philip Tew

7 Fiction, Representation and the Contemporary British Novel: A Story of the American Reception of British Novels of the 1970s
Doryjane Birrer

8 Melancholy Interest: J. G. Farrell's Troubles and the
Politics of Perspective

Timeline of Works
Timeline of National Events
Timeline of International Events
Biographies of Writers
Index