Transnational Women's Fiction : Unsettling Home and Homeland

This study argues that the private homes in transnational women's fiction reflect public legacies of colonialism. Published in Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and the United States between 1995 and 2005, the novels use fictional houses to criticize and unsettle home and homeland, depicting their linked oppressions and exclusions. Transnational Women's Fiction Interprets Recent Fiction By Women Writers From Six Homelands And Finds That Their Invented Homes Reflect Private Forms Of Public Exclusions And Oppressions. The Novels Ground Their Action In Houses That Stand For The Nation, Each Linked To Damaging Legacies Of Imperial Domination. In Novels Written In English And Published In Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, And The United States Between 1995 And 2005, The Writers Use Fictional Homes To Criticize And Effectively Unsettle Home And Homeland. Drawing Together Feminist And Postcolonial Theories, Susan Strehle Links Domestic Practices And Imperial Projects. She Advances A New View Of Home And Homeland As Intertwined Hierarchical Spaces Exploiting People Of Unprivileged Gender, Race, Class, Religion, And Ethnicity. Close Readings Of The Six Novels Engage Transnational Women's Fiction That Unsettles Home And Dispels The Sentimental Narrative Of Homeland. In Crossing Traditional Disciplinary Boundaries, This Book Attempts To Unsettle And Renew.--jacket. Introduction : Unsettling Home And Homeland -- Homeless In The American Empire : Toni Morrison's Paradise -- The Incandescent Home : Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin -- House Of Paper : Rosario Ferré's The House On The Lagoon -- The Decolonized Home : Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus -- Exiles And Orphans : Arundhati Roy's The God Of Small Things -- The Home Elsewhere : Simone Lazaroo's The Australian Fiancé -- Conclusion : Unsettling Inventions. Susan Strehle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 190-212) And Index. Transnational Women's Fiction interprets recent fiction by women writers from six homelands and finds that their invented homes reflect private forms of public exclusions and oppressions. The novels ground their action in houses that stand for the nation, each linked to damaging legacies of imperial domination. In novels written in English and published in Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and the United States between 1995 and 2005, the writers use fictional homes to criticize and effectively unsettle home and homeland. Drawing together feminist and postcolonial theories, Susan Strehle links domestic practices and imperial projects. She advances a new view of home and homeland as intertwined, hierarchical spaces exploiting people of unprivileged gender, race, class, religion and ethnicity. Close readings of the six novels engage transnational women's fiction that unsettles home and dispels the sentimental narrative of homeland. In crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries, this book attempts to unsettle and renew--Résumé de l'éditeur Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Unsettling Home and Homeland....Pages 1-27 Homeless in the American Empire: Toni Morrison’s Paradise....Pages 28-52 The Incandescent Home: Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin....Pages 53-76 House of Paper: Rosario Ferré’s The House on the Lagoon....Pages 77-101 The Decolonized Home: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus....Pages 102-125 Exiles and Orphans: Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things....Pages 126-152 The Home Elsewhere: Simone Lazaroo’s The Australian Fiancé....Pages 153-177 Conclusion: Unsettling Inventions....Pages 178-189 Back Matter....Pages 190-220