British Asian Fiction : Twenty-first-century Voices

This text focuses solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates surrounding black British, diasporic, migrant and postcolonial literature in order to foreground both the continuities and tensions embedded in their relationship to such terms, engaging in particular with the ways in which this ‘new’ generation has been denied the right to a distinctive theoretical framework through absorption into pre-existing frames of reference. Focusing on the diversity of contemporary British Asian experience, the book deals with themes including gender, national and religious identity, the reality of post-9/11 Britain, the post-ethnic self, urban belonging, generational difference and youth identities, as well as indicating how these writers manipulate genre and the novel form in support of their thematic concerns. This is the first text to focus solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates surrounding black British, diasporic, migrant, and postcolonial literature in order to foreground both the continuities and tensions embedded in their relationship to such terms, engaging in particular with the ways in which this ‘new'generation has been denied the right to a distinctive theoretical framework through absorption into pre-existing frames of reference. Focusing on the diversity of contemporary British Asian experience, the book engages with themes including gender, national and religious identity, the reality of post-9/11 Britain, the post-ethnic self, urban belonging, generational difference and youth identities, as well as indicating how these writers manipulate genre and the novel form in support of their thematic concerns. This is the first text to focus solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Exploring the unique contribution of these writers, it positions their work within debates surrounding black British, diasporic, migrant, and postcolonial literature in order to foreground both the continuities and tensions embedded in their relationship to such terms, engaging in particular with the ways in which this 'new' generation has been denied the right to a distinctive theoretical framework through absorption into pre-existing frames of reference. Focusing on the This is the first text to focus solely on the writing of British writers of South Asian descent born or raised in Britain. Written in accessible prose, it offers original new readings of works, among others by Salman Rushie, V. S. Naipaul, Hanif Kureishi, Ravinder Randhawa, Atima Srivastava, Monica Ali and Meera Syal. Front matter Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Salman Rushdie and V. S. Naipaul Hanif Kureishi Ravinder Randhawa Atima Srivastava Nadeem Aslam Meera Syal Hari Kunzru Monica Ali Suhayl Saadi Conclusion Bibliography Index