Modernism in the Metrocolony Urban Cultures of Empire in Twentieth-Century Literature : Urban Cultures of Empire in Twentieth-Century Literature

While literary modernism is often associated with Euro-American metropolises such as London, Paris or New York, this book considers the place of the colonial city in modernist fiction. From the streets of Dublin to the shop-houses of Singapore, and from the botanical gardens of Bombay to the suburbs of Suva, the monumental landscapes of British colonial cities aimed to reinforce empire's universalising claims, yet these spaces also contradicted and resisted the impositions of an idealised English culture. Inspired by the uneven landscapes of the urban British empire, a group of twentieth-century writers transformed the visual incongruities and anachronisms on display in the city streets into sources of critique and formal innovation. Showing how these writers responded to empire's metrocolonial complexities and built legacies, Modernism in the Metrocolony traces an alternative, peripheral history of the modernist city. "From Oxford to Cape Town, debates over the legacies of the British empire have continued to cluster around features of the built environment. While some commentators have celebrated the British landmarks of cities such as Hong Kong and the imperial histories that they commemorate, others have shown how these structures served to concretise divisions, cement inequalities and create unsustainable coastal ecologies, noting the polarising effects of colonial urban policies as they continue to be felt across postcolonial cities. In this context, disputes over the symbolic presence of monuments, statues and buildings have energised campaigns for postcolonial reparations as well as efforts to 'decolonise the university' in recent years. What such struggles make clear is that a statue or street name is never 'just' a symbol. Rather, these structures shape our lived environments in ways that have lasting material effects, forming flashpoints in everyday struggles over the meanings, values and narratives with which we negotiate the colonial past"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgements Introduction The Colonies in Concrete Chapter 1 Metrocolonial Modernism Chapter 2 Architectures of Free Trade in Conrad’s Singapore Chapter 3 Synchronising Empire Time in Joyce’s Dublin Chapter 4 Anglo-Indian Crises of Development Chapter 5 Ecologies of Empire in Oceanian Modernism Conclusion Mega-Dublins Notes Bibliography Index This book considers the place of the British colonial city in modernist fiction. While modernism is often linked to the cultural transformations of the Euro-American metropolis, Modernism in the Metrocolony shows how writers responded to empire's urban legacies, tracing an alternative, peripheral history of the modernist city.