The Stepmother Tongue

by Skinner, John

• ISBN13: 9780312211776
• ISBN10: 0312211775
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-09-01
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

There are numerous 20th century writers who are not technically native speakers of the language, and whose relation to it is ambivalent, problematic or even hostile: by a simple kinship analogy one may often speak of the "stepmother tongue." While fully aware of the current debates in post-colonial theory, John Skinner is also conscious of its sometimes unhelpful complexities and contradictions. The focus of this study is thus firmly on the fictional practice of the writers discussed. The Stepmother Tongue offers the reader both an insight into the diversity and rewards of contemporary anglophone fiction and analyses of some eighty individual texts.

Author Biography

John Skinner is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Turku, Finland.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Introduction	1	(28)
Part I New Literatures in Old Worlds	29	(102)
Asia	31	(46)
Africa	77	(42)
The South Pacific	119	(12)
Part II New Literatures in New Worlds	131	(66)
Afro-America	133	(27)
The Caribbean	160	(37)
Part III Old Literatures in New Worlds	197	(72)
Introduction	199	(12)
Australia and New Zealand	211	(28)
South Africa and Canada	239	(30)
Part IV Old Literatures in Old Worlds	269	(39)
Introduction	271	(5)
The British Isles	276	(18)
North America	294	(14)
Extroduction	308	(24)
Afterword	332	(7)
Works Discussed	339	(4)
Author Index	343	(7)
General Index	350