London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism

This article examines a literary triangle treating a modern re-imagining of the Dantean Inferno in Caribbean migrant experience. Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners advanced a stylistic and intellectual revolution in post-World War II British literature, inspiring Colin MacInnes’ Absolute Beginners in...

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Main Author: Tadd Graham Fernée
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: New Bulgarian University 2020-12-01
Series:English Studies at NBU
Subjects:
Online Access:https://esnbu.org/data/files/2020/esnbu.20.2.6.pdf
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author Tadd Graham Fernée
author_facet Tadd Graham Fernée
author_sort Tadd Graham Fernée
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description This article examines a literary triangle treating a modern re-imagining of the Dantean Inferno in Caribbean migrant experience. Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners advanced a stylistic and intellectual revolution in post-World War II British literature, inspiring Colin MacInnes’ Absolute Beginners in the founding literary texts of contemporary British multi-cultural society. It followed the template of Jean Rhys Voyage in the Dark. We must read these complex texts to understand the conflicted multi-cultural society that Britain has become today: they deal with identity and solidarity, atomisation and commodification, Empire and capitalism, while throwing light on the most recent advances in historical and theoretical scholarship by pioneers such as Olivette Otele and Reni Eddo-Lodge. Moreover, these texts throw new light on unanswered Structuralist and Post-Structuralist debates from Emile Durkheim to Martin Heidegger. This article examines the intersectionality of class, gender and race within both the national British framework of post-war capitalism and the wider colonial heritage of slavery and forced labour, highlighting voices who articulated an ideal of multi-cultural humanism that remains crucial today.
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spelling doaj.art-eef0e663174d49619d940ec756cf09ef2022-12-21T22:26:51ZengNew Bulgarian UniversityEnglish Studies at NBU2367-57052367-87042020-12-0162265294Windrush generation,10.33919/esnbu.20.2.6London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalismTadd Graham Fernée0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4364-3463New Bulgarian University, Sofia, BulgariaThis article examines a literary triangle treating a modern re-imagining of the Dantean Inferno in Caribbean migrant experience. Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners advanced a stylistic and intellectual revolution in post-World War II British literature, inspiring Colin MacInnes’ Absolute Beginners in the founding literary texts of contemporary British multi-cultural society. It followed the template of Jean Rhys Voyage in the Dark. We must read these complex texts to understand the conflicted multi-cultural society that Britain has become today: they deal with identity and solidarity, atomisation and commodification, Empire and capitalism, while throwing light on the most recent advances in historical and theoretical scholarship by pioneers such as Olivette Otele and Reni Eddo-Lodge. Moreover, these texts throw new light on unanswered Structuralist and Post-Structuralist debates from Emile Durkheim to Martin Heidegger. This article examines the intersectionality of class, gender and race within both the national British framework of post-war capitalism and the wider colonial heritage of slavery and forced labour, highlighting voices who articulated an ideal of multi-cultural humanism that remains crucial today.https://esnbu.org/data/files/2020/esnbu.20.2.6.pdfwindrush generationpost-colonial literaturesam selvonian macinnesjean rhysstructuralismblack historygendermulti-culturalismbritish literaturedantecapitalismcaribbean literaturecultural studiesstuart hall
spellingShingle Tadd Graham Fernée
London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
English Studies at NBU
windrush generation
post-colonial literature
sam selvon
ian macinnes
jean rhys
structuralism
black history
gender
multi-culturalism
british literature
dante
capitalism
caribbean literature
cultural studies
stuart hall
title London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
title_full London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
title_fullStr London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
title_full_unstemmed London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
title_short London's Burning: Structuralist Readings of the Urban Inferno in the 1950's British Literature of Multi-culturalism
title_sort london s burning structuralist readings of the urban inferno in the 1950 s british literature of multi culturalism
topic windrush generation
post-colonial literature
sam selvon
ian macinnes
jean rhys
structuralism
black history
gender
multi-culturalism
british literature
dante
capitalism
caribbean literature
cultural studies
stuart hall
url https://esnbu.org/data/files/2020/esnbu.20.2.6.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT taddgrahamfernee londonsburningstructuralistreadingsoftheurbaninfernointhe1950sbritishliteratureofmulticulturalism