Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Literature and Culture : Imagining New Europe

__Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Literature and Culture: Imagining New Europe__ provides a comprehensive study of the way in which contemporary writers, filmmakers, and the media have represented the recent phenomenon of Eastern European migration to the UK and Western Europe following the enlargement of the EU in the 21st century, the social and political changes after the fall of communism, and the Brexit vote. Exploring the recurring figures of Eastern Europeans as a new reservoir of cheap labour, the author engages with a wide range of both mainstream and neglected authors, films, and programmes, including Rose Tremain, John Lanchester, Marina Lewycka, Polly Courtney, Dubravka Ugrešić, Kapka Kassabova, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mike Phillips, __It’s a Free World__, __Gypo__, __Britain’s Hardest Workers__, __The Poles are Coming__, and __Czech Dream__. Analyzing the treatment of Eastern Europeans as builders, fruit pickers, nannies, and victims of sex trafficking, and ways of resisting the stereotypes, this is an important intervention into debates about Europe, migration, and postcommunist transition to capitalism, as represented in multiple contemporary cultural texts. "Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Literature and Culture: Imagining New Europe provides a comprehensive study of the way in which contemporary writers, filmmakers, and the media have represented the recent phenomenon of Eastern European migration to the UK and Western Europe following the enlargement of the EU in the 21st century, the social and political changes after the fall of communism, and the Brexit vote. Exploring the recurring figures of Eastern Europeans as a new reservoir of cheap labour, the author engages with a wide range of both mainstream and neglected authors, films, and programmes, including Rose Tremain, John Lanchester, Marina Lewycka, Polly Courtney, Dubravka Ugrešić, Kapka Kassabova, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mike Philips, It's a Free World, Gypo, Britain's Hardest Workers, The Poles are Coming, and Czech Dream. Analyzing the treatment of Eastern Europeans as builders, fruit pickers, nannies, and victims of sex trafficking, and ways of resisting the stereotypes, this is an important intervention into debates about Europe, migration, and postcommunist transition to capitalism, as represented in multiple contemporary cultural texts."--[4ème de couverture] "Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Literature and Culture: Imagining New Europe provides a comprehensive study of the way in which contemporary writers, filmmakers, and the media have represented the recent phenomenon of Eastern European migration to the UK and Western Europe following the enlargement of the EU in the 21st century, the social and political changes after the fall of communism, and the Brexit vote. Exploring the recurring figures of Eastern Europeans as a new reservoir of cheap labour, the author engages with a wide range of both mainstream and neglected authors, films, and programmes, including Rose Tremain, John Lanchester, Marina Lewycka, Polly Courtney, Dubravka Ugrešić, Kapka Kassabova, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mike Philips, It's a Free World, Gypo, Britain's Hardest Workers, The Poles are Coming, and Czech Dream. Analyzing the treatment of Eastern Europeans as builders, fruit pickers, nannies, and victims of sex trafficking, and ways of resisting the stereotypes, this is an important intervention into debates about Europe, migration, and postcommunist transition to capitalism, as represented in multiple contemporary cultural texts"--Back cover Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Literature and Culture: Imagining New Europe provides a comprehensive study of the way in which contemporary writers, filmmakers, and the media have represented the recent phenomenon of Eastern European migration to the UK and Western Europe following the enlargement of the EU in the 21 st century, the social and political changes after the fall of communism, and the Brexit vote. Exploring the recurring figures of Eastern Europeans as a new reservoir of cheap labour, the author engages with a wide range of both mainstream and neglected authors, films, and programmes, including Rose Tremain, John Lanchester, Marina Lewycka, Polly Courtney, Dubravka Ugrešić, Kapka Kassabova, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mike Phillips, It’s a Free World , Gypo , Britain’s Hardest Workers , The Poles are Coming , and Czech Dream . Analyzing the treatment of Eastern Europeans as builders, fruit pickers, nannies, and victims of sex trafficking, and ways of resisting the stereotypes, this is an important intervention into debates about Europe, migration, and postcommunist transition to capitalism, as represented in multiple contemporary cultural texts. Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction: “Where Are They Flocking From?” (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 1-34 It’s a Free World: Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Media and Film (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 35-69 Representing Them: Eastern Europeans in Contemporary British Fiction (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 71-103 Representing ‘Us’: Eastern Europe Writes Back (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 105-138 New Alliances?: Eastern Europeans in Contemporary Black British Writing (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 139-166 Eastern Europe and Race: Cosmopolitanism and the Post-Yugoslav Condition in Dubravka Ugrešić’s Essays (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 167-186 Goodbye, New Europeans? (Vedrana Veličković)....Pages 187-194 Back Matter ....Pages 195-219 This important and timely new book assesses modern representations of Eastern Europeans in contemporary literature and culture. With emphasis on the idea of a 'new Europe', Vedrana Velickovic articulately demonstrates the ways in which debates on migration refract broader crises of identity, and amount to a long-term shift in European attitudes between the late 20th and early 21st centuries.