Family Fictions and World Making: Irish and Indian Women's Writing in the Contemporary Era

This book is the first comparative study of family novels from Ireland and India, exploring the idea of world-making through the fraught itineraries of the Irish and Indian family novel. It considers the work of critically acclaimed women authors Anne Enright, Elizabeth Bowen, Mahasweta Devi, Jennifer Johnston, Kiran Desai, and Molly Keane, who push back against the male nationalist idiom of the family and interrogate family fiction as a supposedly private genre.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 174 pages
\n Publication date: 22 April 2021
\n Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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Family Fictions and World Making: Irish and Indian Womens Writing in the Contemporary Era is a groundbreaking comparative study that delves into the realm of family novels from Ireland and India, offering a comprehensive exploration of these literary genres. Despite their shared historical experiences of early and late colonialism, Ireland and India are often portrayed solely within the context of metropolitan British and European influence. This book challenges that narrow perspective by charting the concept of world-making through the intricate journeys of the Irish and Indian family novel.

The novels analyzed in this book forefront kinship based on ideological rather than biological ties, reimagining the family as a central hub of interests transcending national boundaries. The book takes a deep dive into the works of critically acclaimed women authors such as Anne Enright, Elizabeth Bowen, Mahasweta Devi, Jennifer Johnston, Kiran Desai, and Molly Keane. These writers are considered representative voices of different eras, including the interwar years, the late-modern period, and the globalization era.

What sets these authors apart is their unwavering commitment to challenging the male nationalist narrative of the family. They skillfully interrogate the genre of family fiction, which is often perceived as a private and intimate realm, revealing its complex connections to broader social and political contexts. By examining the broad timeframe spanning from the interwar period to the globalization era, this book fosters a meaningful dialogue between the early debates surrounding core and periphery in postcolonial literature and the contemporary perspectives emerging in the present day.

Through their compelling narratives and insightful critiques, these women authors have contributed to shaping the landscape of family fiction and world-making, offering a fresh and dynamic perspective on the complexities of identity, culture, and nationhood.

\n Weight: 408g\n
Dimension: 158 x 235 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780367437947\n \n