Mapping The Sacred. Religion, Geography and Postcolonial Literatures. (Cross/Cultures 48) (Cross/Cultures)

Interweaving the interpretative methods of religious studies, literary criticism and cultural geography, the essays in this volume focus on issues associated with the representation of place and space in the writing and reading of the postcolonial. The collection charts the ways in which contemporary writers extend and deepen our awareness of the ambiguities of economic, social and political relations implicated in “sacred space” - the sense of spiritual significance associated with those concrete locations in which adherents of different religious traditions, past and present, maintain a ritual sense of the sanctity of life and its cycles. Part I, “Land, Religion and Literature after Britain,” explores how postcolonial writers dramatize the contested processes of colonization, resistance and decolonization by which lands and landscapes may be viewed as now sacred, now desacralized, now resacralized. Part II, “Sacred Landscapes and Postcoloniality across International Literatures,” draws upon postcolonial theory to inquire into how contemporary fiction, drama and poetry represent themes of divine dispensation, dispossession and reclamation in regions as diverse as Haiti, Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Arctic, and the North American frontier. A critical “Afterword” considers the implications of such multi-disciplinary approaches to postcolonial literatures for present and future research in the field. Writers discussed in the essays include Russell Banks; James K. Baxter; Ursula Bethell; Erna Brodber; Marcus Clarke; Allen Curnow; Edwidge Danticat; Mak Dizdar; Sara Jeannette Duncan; Zee Edgell; “Grey Owl”; Haruki Murakami; Seamus Heaney; Peter Høeg; Hugh Hood; Janette Turner Hospital; James Houston; Dany Laferrière; B. Kojo Laing; Lee Kok Liang; K.S. Maniam; Mudrooroo; R.K. Narayan; Ngugi wa Thiong'o; Ben Okri; Chava Pinchas-Cohen; Mary Prince; Nancy Prince; Nayantara Sahgal; Ken Saro-Wiwa; Ibrahim Tahir; Amos Tutuola; W.D. Valgardson; Derek Walcott; and Rudy Wiebe. Maps accompany almost every essay. Interweaving The Interpretative Methods Of Religious Studies, Literary Criticism And Cultural Geography, The Essays In This Volume Focus On Issues Associated With The Representation Of Place And Space In The Writing And Reading Of The Postcolonial. The Collection Charts The Ways In Which Contemporary Writers Extend And Deepen Our Awareness Of The Ambiguities Of Economic, Social And Political Relations Implicated In Sacred Space--the Sense Of Spiritual Significance Associated With Those Concrete Locations In Which Adherents Of Different Religious Traditions, Past And Present, Maintain A Ritual Sense Of The Sanctity Of Life And Its Cycles. Part I, Land, Religion And Literature After Britain, Explores How Postcolonial Writers Dramatize The Contested Processes Of Colonization, Resistance And Decolonization By Which Lands And Landscapes May Be Viewed As Now Sacred, Now Desacralized, Now Resacralized.^ Part Ii, Sacred Landscapes And Postcoloniality Across International Literatures, Draws Upon Postcolonial Theory To Inquire Into How Contemporary Fiction, Drama And Poetry Represent Themes Of Divine Dispensation, Dispossession And Reclamation In Regions As Diverse As Haiti, Israel, Bosnia-herzegovina, The Arctic, And The North American Frontier. A Critical Afterword Considers The Implications Of Such Multi-disciplinary Approaches To Postcolonial Literatures For Present And Future Research In The Field. Writers Discussed In The Essays Include Russell Banks; James K. Baxter; Ursula Bethell; Erna Brodber; Marcus Clarke; Allen Curnow; Edwidge Danticat; Mak Dizdar; Sara Jeannette Duncan; Zee Edgell; Grey Owl; Haruki Murakami; Seamus Heaney; Peter Høeg; Hugh Hood; Janette Turner Hospital; James Houston; Dany Laferrière; B. Kojo Laing; Lee Kok Liang; K.s. Maniam; Mudrooroo; R.k.^ Narayan; Ngugi Wa Thiong'o; Ben Okri; Chava Pinchas-cohen; Mary Prince; Nancy Prince; Nayantara Sahgal; Ken Saro-wiwa; Ibrahim Tahir; Amos Tutuola; W.d. Valgardson; Derek Walcott; And Rudy Wiebe. Maps Accompany Almost Every Essay. -- ‡c From Back Cover. Introduction. Mapping The Sacred Across Postcolonial Literatures / Jamie S. Scott -- Part 1. Land, Religion, And Literature After Britain. Ireland. Negotiations: Religion, Landscape, And The Postcolonial Moment In The Poetry Of Seamus Heaney / Brian Robinson -- Canada. The Dominion Project: Strategies For Political And Religious Colonization In Canadian Settler Writing / Dorothy Lane -- National Place As Theological Space In Hugh Hood's Novels / Barbara Pell -- A Land Beyond Words: Rudy Wiebe's A Discovery Of Strangers / William Closson James -- Australia, New Zealand. Deliver Their Land From Error's Chain: Conversion, Convictism And Captivity In Australian Fiction / Dorothy Lane -- A Third Space? Postcolonial Austraila And The Fractal Landscape In The Last Magician And Oyster / Fiona Coyle -- Pitched At The Farthest Edge: Religious Presence And The Landscape In Contemporary New Zealand Poetry / Trevor James --^ The Caribbean. Unsentimental Journeys: Christian Landscapes Of Slavery / Jocelyn Moody -- Heaven Is A Green Place: Varieties Of Spirtual Landscape In Caribbean Literature / Victoria Carchidi -- Monstrus Prodigy: The Apocalyptic Landscapes Of Derek Walcott's Poetry / Yvette Christianse -- Africa. Theology Of Landscape And Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's The River Between / Trevor James -- The Gods Of The Delta: Ken Saro-wiwa And The Literature Of The Ogoni Struggle / Mary Harvan -- Levels Of National Engagement In Ibrahim Tahir's The Last Imam / John Hawley -- Landscapes, Forests And Borders Within The West African Global Village / Brenda Cooper -- India And South East Asia. The Hindu Mother's Space In Nayantara Sahgal's Mistaken Identity / Clara Joseph -- Charting A Secular Ganges: Revisiting R.k. Narayan's Malgudi And Little India In The Malaysian Fiction Of K.s. Maniam And Lee Kok Liang / Chelva Kanaganayakam --^ Part 2. Sacred Landscapes And Postcoloniality Across International Literatures. African Magico-medicine At Home And Abroad: Haitian Religious Traditions In A Neocolonial Setting; The Fiction Of Dany Laferriere And Russell Banks / Pierre Deslauriers -- In The Language That Women Who Live In The Land Know/but Men Who Are Born Here Do Not Speak: Language, Gender, And Eretz Yisrael In The Poetry Of Chava Pinchas-cohen / Miriyam Glazer -- A Word About Land, A Word About Sky: The Sacred Landscapes Of Bosnian History In Mak Dizdar's Stone Sleeper / Amila Buturovic -- Lethal Space: Postcolonial Environment As Spatial Extinction In Contemporary Writings Of The Sub-arctic North / Ila Goody -- When First Unto This Country A Stranger I Came: Postconial Theory And Native Americnan Lessons Of Place / Joe Sheridan -- Afterword. Postcolonity, Religion, Geography: Keeping Our Feet On The Ground And Our Heads Up / Gareth Griffiths. Edited By Jamie S. Scott & Paul Simpson-housley ; With An Afterword By Gareth Griffiths. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION 1 Mapping the Sacred Across Postcolonial Literatures PART I LAND, RELIGION, AND LITERATURE AFTER BRITAIN IRELAND 2 Negotiations: Religion, Landscape, and the Postcolonial Moment in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney CANADA 3 The Dominion Project: Strategies for Political and Religious Colonization in Canadian Settler Writing 4 National Place as Theological Space in Hugh Hood’s Novels 5 “A Land Beyond Words”: Rudy Wiebe’s A Discovery of Strangers AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND 6 “Deliver their land from Error’s chain”: Conversion, Convictism, and Captivity in Australian Fiction 7 A Third Space? Postcolonial Australia and the Fractal Landscape in The Last Magician and Oyster 8 “Pitched at the farthest edge”: Religious Presence and the Landscape in Contemporary New Zealand Poetry THE CARIBBEAN 9 Unsentimental Journeys: Christian Landscapes of Slavery 10 “Heaven is a green place”: Varieties of Spiritual Landscape in Caribbean Literature 11 “Monstrous prodigy”: The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Derek Walcott’s Poetry AFRICA 12 Theology of Landscape and Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between 13 The Gods of the Delta: Ken Saro–Wiwa and the Literature of the Ogoni Struggle 14 Levels of National Engagement in Ibrahim Tahir’s The Last Imam 15 Landscapes, Forests and Borders within the West African Global Village INDIA AND SOUTH EAST ASIA 16 The Hindu Mother’s Space in Nayantara Sahgal’s Mistaken Identity 17 Charting a Secular Ganges: Revisiting R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi and “Little India” in the Malaysian Fiction of K.S. Maniam and Lee Kok Liang PART II SACRED LANDSCAPES AND POSTCOLONIALITY ACROSS INTERNATIONAL LITERATURES 18 African Magico-Medicine at Home and Abroad: Haitian Religious Traditions in a Neocolonial Setting; The Fiction of Dany Laferrière and Russell Banks 19 “In the language that women who live in the land know / But men who are born here do not speak”: Language, Gender, and Eretz Yisrael in the Poetry of Chava Pinchas–Cohen 20 “A Word about Land,” “A Word about Sky”: The Sacred Landscapes of Bosnian History in Mak Dizdar’s Stone Sleeper 21 Lethal Space: Postcolonial Environment as Spatial Extinction in Contemporary Writings of the Sub-Arctic North 22 “When first unto this country a stranger I came”: Postcolonial Theory and Native American Lessons of Place Afterword 23 Postcolonality, Religion, Geography: Keeping Our Feet On the Ground and Our Heads Up CONTRIBUTORS INDEX