Obsolete Empire: Untimely Belonging in Twentieth-Century British Literature

In The Obsolete Empire, Philip Tsang explores the aesthetics of frustrated attachment that emerged in the wake of imperial decline, focusing on the works of Henry James, James Joyce, Doris Lessing, and V. S. Naipaul. He shows how literary reading sets in motion a tense interplay of intimacy and exclusion, investigating a unique mode of belonging arising from the predicament of being conscripted into a global empire but not desired as its proper citizen.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 312 pages
\n Publication date: 02 November 2021
\n Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
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The end of the British empire brought about a significant shift in the way we think about homeland, heritage, and community. In his book "The Obsolete Empire," Philip Tsang explores the aesthetics of frustrated attachment that emerged in the aftermath of imperial decline. This collection of writings by Henry James, James Joyce, Doris Lessing, and V.S. Naipaul delves into the complexities of belonging to an empire that no longer belongs to them.

These writers, influenced by their extensive reading of English fiction and poetry, experienced a rich and textured world that they deeply identified with, yet felt excluded from. The literary England they imagined, frozen in time and out of place with the realities of imperial decline, becomes a repository of unconsummated attachments, contradictory desires, and belated exchanges in their writings.

Tsang's book challenges the linear progression from colonial to postcolonial, from empire to nation, and from subject to citizen. He demonstrates how the British empire continues to endure as a structure of desire that outlived its political lifespan. By examining the interplay of intimacy and exclusion that occurs through literary reading, Tsang explores a unique mode of belonging that arises from the predicament of being conscripted into a global empire but not desired as its proper citizen.

In conclusion, "The Obsolete Empire" offers a thought-provoking exploration of the complexities of identity and belonging in the aftermath of imperial decline. Through the writings of these influential authors, Tsang sheds light on the enduring legacy of the British empire and the challenges faced by those who sought to navigate its shifting tides.

\n Weight: 552g\n
Dimension: 159 x 234 x 28 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781421441351\n \n