English Literatures Across the Globe: A Companion (Uni-Taschenbücher L)

English literature is a global affair. Many of the most widely read and critically acclaimed writers of our time - such as Toni Morrison, J.M. Coetzee or Salman Rushdie - write from diverse literary and cultural traditions in many parts of the world. This companion provides readers with a systematic framework to place and understand these various traditions of writing in English - from Britain to South Africa, from Canada to the Caribbean, from Australia to the USA. It critically assesses recent literary theories of transcultural exchange, and provides introductions to all major English literatures across the globe. To facilitate orientation and enable comparative perspectives, each chapter offers concise historical and political background information, an extensive overview of literary developments, and discussions of representative key texts, dealing with the legacies of colonial encounter, with postcolonial revisions, but also with literary explorations of today's global challenges.