Literature of the 1980s: After the Watershed: Volume 9

by Joseph Brooker

Overview

From the new generation of London novelists, such as Martin Amis and Ian McEwan, to feminism in the writing of Angela Carter and Jeanette Winterson, Joseph Brooker relates developments in fiction, poetry and drama to social change. He shows how working class writers such as James Kelman and Tony Harrison protested against Thatcherism and explores the voices of Black British writers including Fred D'Aguiar and Hanif Kureishi. As for the theory of the decade, Brooker relates the rise of postmodernism to the popularity of self-conscious modes of writing and other developments in literary theory."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780748633951
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Series:	The Edinburgh History of Twentieth-Century Literature in Britain , #9
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joseph Brooker is Reader, Department of English and Humanities at the Birkbeck College, University of London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vi

Illustrations viii

General Editor's Preface ix

Introduction: After the Watershed 1

1 Generations 34

2 Disaffections 67

3 Modes 100

4 Belongings 139

5 Commitments 172

Conclusion 209

Bibliography 219

Index 230

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

‘Brooker’s ability to represent such a wide range of literary and cultural texts within a coherent structure is no small feat. [...] The real strength of the book lies in its ability to provide such an impressively thorough account of a wide range of texts alongside some impassioned and convincing close readings of so many of them. Brooker is doing much more than simply defining, checking or expanding the shifting canons of eighties literature: his literary readings and his sense of the period make both available to us anew.’

Nicky Marsh, Textual Practice

‘Joseph Brooker's book manages the admirable task of introducing　and　even historicising a period whose legacy is just beginning to be understood. Ranging from Derrida to Duran Duran, he provides　an exemplary work of literary and cultural history, while braiding politics and literature together in　revealing close readings of key authors and texts. This is a　brave, lucid and richly informed book, necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding a tumultuous period in　the cultural history of these islands.’

Ray Ryan, author of Writing in the Irish Republic and co-editor, The Good of the Novel

Editorial Reviews

Joseph Brooker's book manages the admirable task of introducing and　even historicising a period whose legacy is just beginning to be understood. Ranging from Derrida to Duran Duran, he provides　an exemplary work of literary and cultural history, while braiding politics and literature together in　revealing close readings of key authors and texts. This is a　brave, lucid and richly informed book, necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding a tumultuous period in the cultural history of these islands.

Ray Ryan

Brooker’s ability to represent such a wide range of literary and cultural texts within a coherent structure is no small feat. [...] The real strength of the book lies in its ability to provide such an impressively thorough account of a wide range of texts alongside some impassioned and convincing close readings of so many of them. Brooker is doing much more than simply defining, checking or expanding the shifting canons of eighties literature: his literary readings and his sense of the period make both available to us anew.

Nicky Marsh

Brooker offers an engaged and critical analysis of some of the central literary works and preoccupations of the decade...

Years Work in English Studies