Ali Smith Contemporary Critical Perspectives

by Germana, Monica; Horton, Emily

• ISBN13: 9781441105189
• ISBN10: 1441105182
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-09-12
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

In such novels as Hotel World and the Whitbread Prize winning The Accidental, Ali Smith has established herself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary fiction. Covering her complete oeuvre, from the short stories to her most recent novel There but for the, this is the first comprehensive critical guide to Smith's work.

Bringing together leading scholars, Ali Smith: Contemporary Critical Perspectives covers such topics as:

• Language, truth and reality
• Spectral presences and the uncanny
• Gender and sexuality
• Cosmopolitanism
• Smith's place in the contemporary canon

Including a new interview with the author, a chronology of her life and authoritative guides to further reading, this is an essential guide for anyone interested in the best of contemporary fiction.

Author Biography

Emily Horton is Visiting Lecturer in English Literature at Brunel University, UK, and at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.Monica Germanà is Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Westminster, UK. She is the author of Scottish Women's Gothic and Fantastic Writing: Fiction Since 1978 (EUP, 2010).

Table of Contents

Foreword, Marina Warner \ General Editor's Preface \ Notes on the Contributors \ Chronology of Ali Smith's Life \ Introduction, Monica Germanà and Emily Horton \ 1. Vaguely Peopled Places: Cliche and Non-place in Ali Smith's Short Stories, Emily Horton \ 2. Simile and Similarity in Ali Smith's Like, Ian Blyth \ 3. Whither Language: Spectral Presences in Ali Smith's Hotel World and Boy Meets Girl, Stephen Levin \ 4. The Philosophy of Grammar in Ali Smith's Hotel World, Mark Currie \ 5. Queer Metamorphoses: Reading Ali Smith's Boy Meets Girl, Kaye Mitchell \ 6. Narrating Intrusion: Deceptive Storytelling and Frustrated Desires in Ali Smith's The Accidental and There but for the, Ulrike Tancke \ 7. Hospitality Suite: Cosmopolitanism in Ali Smith's Hotel World and The Accidental, Patrick O'Donnell \ 8. Idiosyncrasy and Currency: Ali Smith and the Contemporary Canon, Dominic Head \ 9. 'The Uncanny Can Happen': Desire and Belief in Ali Smith's The Seer, Monica Germanà \ Translator's Postscript: Writing Ali Smith in Norwegian, Merete Alfsen \ Ali Smith in Interview, Gillian Beer \ References \ Further Reading \ Index.