The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place - (Frontiers of Narrative) by Arnab Dutta Roy & Paul Ugor & Simone Maria Puleo (Hardcover)

About the Book

Tracing the linkages between the postcolonial bildungsroman and spatial discourses, this volume emphasizes three distinct but interrelated themes, including ecocritical concerns, cultural geography, and coming-of-age stories in alternate mediascapes.

Book Synopsis

In recent decades authors from across the world have adopted and adapted the bildungsroman literary genre to reflect on coming of age in postcolonial spaces and places. The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place emphasizes matters of space, place, and environment--concepts intrinsically linked to the bildungsroman's processes of meaning-making and critique.

From Latin America to South Asia to Africa, the contributors focus on three distinct but interrelated themes: ecology, cultural geography, and mediascapes. They consider aesthetic formations that address the themes of spatiality, youth, individual and collective experiences of social stagnation or growth, the unique challenges faced by certain global subjects on account of the places they inhabit, and whether or not futurity is guaranteed for them. This unique collection delves into myriad features of the postcolonial bildungsroman, enlarging our theoretical understanding of the genre as well as of media and literature in the postcolonial world.

Review Quotes

"This collection masterfully redefines the postcolonial bildungsroman, intertwining the personal and collective struggles of individuals in spaces fraught with ecological degradation, social stagnation, and cultural upheaval. With great nuance, the contributors probe how youth identity, spatial politics, and ecological crises shape coming-of-age narratives, offering new perspectives on postcolonial studies. Essential reading for anyone interested in the intersections of space, culture, and power, this volume reimagines the possibilities of the bildungsroman in contemporary global contexts."--Imre Szeman, director of the Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability at the University of Toronto Scarborough

About the Author

Arnab Dutta Roy is an assistant professor of English at Florida Gulf Coast University. Paul Ugor is a professor of English at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of Nollywood: Popular Culture and Narratives of Youth Struggles in Nigeria. Simone Maria Puleo is an assistant professor of Italian at Central Connecticut State University.