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Chapter 15 - The New British

from Part IV - Making the Modern Nation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2023

Andrew Murphy
Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin
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Summary

This chapter discusses changing conceptions of national identity as Britain entered its postcolonial phase after World War II. Structured around key moments like the attempt to reconfigure the Empire as a ’Commonwealth of Nations’, the famed 1948 arrival of the Empire Windrush with migrants from the Caribbean and the various citizenship laws passed in the wake of increasing migration from Britain’s colonial holdings, the chapter examines the work of writers who became part of the new communities settling into Britain during the post-war period. Pioneering authors E. R. Braithwaite, George Lamming, V. S. Naipaul and Sam Selvon are considered, as well as their literary inheritors, including Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jackie Kay, Hari Kunzru, Andrea Levy, Kamala Markandaya, Caryl Phillips and Benjamin Zephaniah. Ultimately, the chapter reveals how literature has both registered and assertively renegotiated the still incomplete evolution towards a more ecumenical sense of Britishness.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • The New British
  • Edited by Andrew Murphy, Trinity College Dublin
  • Book: The Nation in British Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009378871.019
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  • The New British
  • Edited by Andrew Murphy, Trinity College Dublin
  • Book: The Nation in British Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009378871.019
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The New British
  • Edited by Andrew Murphy, Trinity College Dublin
  • Book: The Nation in British Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009378871.019
Available formats
×