A Multicultural And Multifaceted Study Of Ideologies And Conflicts Related To The Complex Realities And Fictions Of Nation And Identity Represented In Contemporary Literature Written In English

This book contains a multicultural and multifaceted study of ideologies and conflicts related to the complex realities and fictions of Nation and Identity represented in contemporary literature written in English. The history and present time of the United Kingdom, the British Empire and North America provide vast fields of research which have been explored by our selection of authors. Their interests range from the moral and personal consequences of modern nationalist conflicts to the memories of old racial confrontations on the British soil. Readers will find analyses and reflections on the individual’s pursuit of identity in a challenging environment that covers more than two centuries of mainly Western civilization and abound in national dilemmas, social concerns, authoritarian legacies, and problematic postcolonial hybridizations. Short stories, novels, plays and poems by Irish, American, English, Nigerian, and Scottish writers will enable readers to consider the diverse approaches, propositions and debates the issues raised by Nation and Identity are being dealt with.

Concurrent with increasing scholarly attention toward national children’s literatures, Contemporary English-language Indian Children’s Literature explores an emerging body of work that has thus far garnered little serious critical attention. Superle critically examines the ways Indian children’s writers have represented childhood in relation to the Indian nation, Indian cultural identity, and Indian girlhood. From a framework of postcolonial and feminist theories, children’s novels published between 1988 and 2008 in India are compared with those from the United Kingdom and North America from the same period, considering the differing ideologies and the current textual constructions of childhood at play in each. Broadly, Superle contends that over the past twenty years an aspirational view of childhood has developed in this literature—a view that positions children as powerful participants in the project of enabling positive social transformation. Her main argument, formed after recognizing several overarching thematic and structural patterns in more than one hundred texts, is that the novels comprise an aspirational literature with a transformative agenda: they imagine apparently empowered child characters who perform in diverse ways in the process of successfully creating and shaping the ideal Indian nation, their own well-adjusted bicultural identities in the diaspora, and/or their own empowered girlhoods. Michelle Superle is a Professor in the department of Communications at Okanagan College. She has taught children’s literature, composition, and creative writing courses at various Canadian universities and has published articles in Papers and IRCL.

The Millennium Dome, Braveheart and Rolls Royce cars. How do cultural icons reproduce and transform a sense of national identity? How does national identity vary across time and space, how is it contested, and what has been the impact of globalization upon national identity and culture?This book examines how national identity is represented, performed, spatialized and materialized through popular culture and in everyday life. National identity is revealed to be inherent in the things we often take for granted - from landscapes and eating habits, to tourism, cinema and music. Our specific experience of car ownership and motoring can enhance a sense of belonging, whilst Hollywood blockbusters and national exhibitions provide contexts for the ongoing, and often contested, process of national identity formation. These and a wealth of other cultural forms and practices are explored, with examples drawn from Scotland, the UK as a whole, India and Mauritius. This book addresses the considerable neglect of popular cultures in recent studies of nationalism and contributes to debates on the relationship between ‘high' and ‘low' culture.

"Introduction to Sociology 2e adheres to the scope and sequence of a typical, one-semester introductory sociology course. It offers comprehensive coverage of core concepts, foundational scholars, and emerging theories, which are supported by a wealth of engaging learning materials. The textbook presents detailed section reviews with rich questions, discussions that help students apply their knowledge, and features that draw learners into the discipline in meaningful ways. The second edition retains the book's conceptual organization, aligning to most courses, and has been significantly updated to reflect the latest research and provide examples most relevant to today's students. In order to help instructors transition to the revised version, the 2e changes are described within the preface."--Website of text.

A young Chinese girl and her parents immigrate to the United States and try their best to assimilate into their San Francisco neighborhood while anxiously awaiting the arrival of their green cards.

These essays include writings from Cornel West, Michael Omi, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldua and Michelle Fine. The essays address the multiplicity and scope of oppressions ranging from ableism to racism and other less-well known social aberrations.

Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over whether identities exist or not. In this provocative study, Sinisa Malesevic interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity.