Caribbean Literature in Transition, 1920–1970: Volume 2

This volume revisits important moments from 1920 to 1970, key years for Caribbean literature, to open up new perspectives.

Raphael Dalleo (Edited by), Curdella Forbes (Edited by)

9781108495523, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 January 2021

436 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.8 cm, 0.75 kg

The years between the 1920s and 1970s are key for the development of Caribbean literature, producing the founding canonical literary texts of the Anglophone Caribbean. This volume features essays by major scholars as well as emerging voices revisiting important moments from that era to open up new perspectives. Caribbean contributions to the Harlem Renaissance, to the Windrush generation publishing in England after World War II, and to the regional reverberations of the Cuban Revolution all feature prominently in this story. At the same time, we uncover lesser known stories of writers publishing in regional newspapers and journals, of pioneering women writers, and of exchanges with Canada and the African continent. From major writers like Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, George Lamming, and Jean Rhys to recently recuperated figures like Eric Walrond, Una Marson, Sylvia Wynter, and Ismith Khan, this volume sets a course for the future study of Caribbean literature.

Introduction Raphael Dalleo and Curdella Forbes
Part I. Literary and Generic Transitions: 1. Writing at the end of empire Erin M. Fehskens
2. Questioning Modernism: the 1950s—1960s Mary Lou Emery
3. Daily decolonization: poetry, periodicals, and newspaper publishing Ben Etherington
4. Towards a national theatre Jason Allen-Paisant
5. Orature, performance, and the oral-scribal interface Carol Bailey
6. Explorations of the self Merle Collins
Part II. Cultural and Political Transitions: 7. Debating language Carolyn Cooper
8. Periodical culture Claire Irving
9. Decolonizing education: literature, the school system, and the imperatives of political independence Ian Robertson
10. Imaginaries of citizenship and the state Michael Niblett
11. Postcolonial stirrings: the crisis of nationalism Laurie R. Lambert
Part III. The Caribbean Region in Transition: 12. A moving centre: the Caribbean in Britain J. Dillon Brown
13. Canadian routes Michael A. Bucknor
14. New empires: the Caribbean and the United States Imani D. Owens
15. Africa and the Caribbean: recrossing the Atlantic Simon Gikandi
16. Cross-Caribbean dialogues I: Hispanophone Amanda T. Perry
17. Cross-Caribbean dialogues II: Francophone Raphael Dalleo
Part IV. Critical Transitions: 18. Forging the critical canon Glyne Griffith
19. Forgotten trailblazers Antonia Macdonald
20. Recuperating women writers Anthea Morrison
21. Rhizomatic genealogies: Jean Rhys as literary foremother Reed Caswell Aiken
22. Writing Indo-Caribbean masculinity Lisa Outar
23. Writing and reading sex and sexuality Margaret Grace Love.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: post-colonial literature [DSBH5], Literary studies: general [DSB]