Collection of Essays on Contemporary British Literature

Author: Zhang Zhongzai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: The purpose of this book is to provide readers with an overview of contemporary British literature. Writing about British contemporary literature in the form of a collection of essays has a clear advantage: it can be organized into Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, and continue until the end of contemporary British literature. From the current perspective, the end of the 20th century will not mark the conclusion of contemporary British literature; it will extend into the next century. The 27 reviews collected here cover novels, dramas, poetry, and literary theory. The four articles "Tradition and Anti-Tradition," "Literature during the Welfare State Era," "Retrospect After 30 Years – Review of 'Angry Young Men'," and "British Literature in the 1980s" provide an overview of the evolution of British literature in the 50 years after World War II, revealing the trajectory of the development of contemporary British literature. In these four review articles, most of the renowned contemporary British poets, playwrights, and novelists are introduced, but many others are not mentioned. The evaluation of the emerging talents who made their mark on the literary scene in the 1980s and 1990s is even more insufficient. Fortunately, there is still plenty of time, and they can be introduced in future volumes II or III of the collection. The individual review articles naturally cover only a fraction of the writers and works involved. For example, among poets, only the contemporary laureate Ted Hughes is reviewed. Playwrights reviewed include Samuel Beckett, Tom Stoppard, and Pinter. The 27 articles collected here cover novels, dramas, poetry, and literary theory, reviewing the masterpieces of renowned contemporary British writers since the post-war period. Among them, the four articles "Tradition and Anti-Tradition," "Literature during the Welfare State Era," "Retrospect After 30 Years – Review of 'Angry Young Men'," and "British Literature in the 1980s" provide an overview of the evolution of British literature in the 50 years after World War II, revealing the trajectory of the development of contemporary British literature.