Narratives of the European Border: History of Nowhere (Language, Discourse, Society)

Narratives of the European Border examines the representation of shifting European borders in twentieth-century narrative. A work of literary geography, the book draws together an unusual grouping of texts from different national canons, comparing how fictional settings transmute European placelessness into narrative. In Central and Eastern Europe, where empire and nation have frequently been in conflict, the border condition is not anomalous but commonplace. The book concentrates on border transformations in interwar narratives, and also considers more recent responses to the post-Cold War map. Narratives Of The European Border: A History Of Nowhere Is An Extended Study Of Shifting European Borders In Twentieth-century Literature. A Work Of Literary Geography, The Book Negotiates Theories Of Place And Space Before Studying Texts - By Italo Svevo, Joseph Roth, Rebecca West, James Joyce And Kazuo Ishiguro - Drawn From A Variety Of National Canons. Comparing How Interstitial Spaces Have Been Transmuted Into Fictional Settings, Richard Robinson Argues That 'nowhere' Is A Political Territory Which Has Assumed An Aesthetic Form. In Central And Eastern Europe, Where Empire And Nation Have Frequently Been In Conflict, The Border Condition Is Not Anomalous But Commonplace: Narratives Of The European Border Is In Part An Investigation Into The Practices Of Colonial Occupation And National Self-determination. Although It Mainly Concentrates On The Radical Border Transformations Of The Interwar Period, The Book Also Considers More Recent Responses To The Cold War Map. An Introduction To European Nowheres -- Place-in-space / Space-in-place : Theories Of The Border -- From Border To Front : Italo Svevo's La Coscienza Di Zeno -- Recreating Habsburg Borders : The Later Fiction Ofjoseph Roth -- The Earth Is What Is Not Us : Yugoslavia In Rebecca West's Black Lamb And Grey Falcon -- Buckley In A General Russia : Finnegans Wake And Political Space -- Nowhere, In Particular : Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled And Central Europe. Richard Robinson. Based On The Author's Thesis (doctoral--university Of East Anglia 2003) Under The Title Border Space : Central And Eastern Europe In The Writings Of Italo Svevo, Joseph Roth, Rebecca West And James Joyce . Includes Bibliographical References (p. 182-190) And Index. "Cities are concrete realities. Words and images have long been used to describe the presence of cities and their physical impact on human life. From the nineteenth century to today, writers, critics, philosophers, architects and film-makers have shown conflicting attitudes towards the city, from rejection to idolatry. This book includes Baudelaire's Paris; Poe's urban fantasies; Hofmannsthal's and Musil's Vienna; Massimo Cacciari's Venice; and New York as conceived by Adolf Loos, Aldo Rossi, and Martin Scorcese. Cities, Words and Images reflects on the changes in human perception created by urbanization and the way in which these changes are expressed in the various arts, in terms of form and content. The urban theme is fundamental in order to understand modern art, whatever the media, and regardless of national frontiers."--Jacket Machine generated contents note: Acknowledgements vi Introduction by Colin MacCabe vii Part One: Essays I 1 Wallace Stevens' Harmonium: the Course of a Particular 3 2 On the Use of the Sonnet in Romeo and Juliet, or 'But Where's the Bloody Horse?' 52 3 The Community of Interpretation: T. S. Eliot and Josiah Royce 81 4 Hong Kong, Shanghai, the Great Wall: Bernard Shaw in China 110 Part Two: Essays II 5 The Comedy of Suffering 145 6 Totalitarian Logic: Stalin on Linguistics 164 7 Oaths and Laughter and Indecent Speech 189 8 On Linearity 212 Part Three: Memoirs 9 Piers in Hong Kong by Denis MacShane 253 10 Language: Black, White and Shades of Gray by Roy Harris 258 Index 261. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 7 1 An Introduction to European Nowheres......Page 8 2 Place-in-Space / Space-in-Place: Theories of the Border......Page 23 3 From Border to Front: Italo Svevo’s......Page 47 4 Recreating Habsburg Borders: The Later Fiction of Joseph Roth......Page 73 5 ‘The earth is what is not us’: Yugoslavia in Rebecca West’s......Page 107 6 Buckley in a General Russia: Finnegans Wake and Political Space......Page 135 7 Nowhere, in Particular: Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled and Central Europe......Page 163 Appendix: Maps......Page 186 References......Page 189 Index......Page 198 "This final collection of Snead's writings range from Plato to basketball, from the classic European canon to film and television. It also publishes for the first time some of his short fiction. Years after his untimely death Snead's writings remain crucial to understanding the need to bring into conjunction the European tradition and African American culture in order to better analyse both. Snead's work is genuinely multidisciplinary crossing literature and film, English and German, black and white."--BOOK JACKET Richard Robinson examines the representation of shifting European borders in twentieth-century narrative, drawing together an unusual grouping of texts from different national canons and comparing the various ways that fictional settings transmute European placelessness into narrative.