Colonial and Post-Colonial Incarceration

The first study to deal extensively and comparatively with capture, imprisonment and punishment in colonial and postcolonial cultures. Offering textual as well as historical analysis, each chapter focuses on a specific national or regional arena. Each also provides foundational insight into the social, economic and cultural conditions prevalent in colonial societies. Chapters, written by a wide range of international specialists, include coverage of the early modern to the contemporary period as well as coverage of cultural arenas from Europe to Asia, Australia, northern and southern Africa and North America.

Graeme Harper is Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries at Bangor University, UK. He is Editor of New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing. His most recent novels are Moon Dance (Parlor, 2008) and Small Maps of the World (Parlor, 2006). His previous book for Continuum was Teaching Creative Writing (Continuum, 2006).

TOC 1. The History and Culture of Imprisonment: Western Traditions and the Colonial World Graeme Harper 2. Servants on the High Seas: Unfree Labour in Early Modern Captivity Narratives Daniel J. Vitkus, Florida Institute of Technology 3. European Women and the Aboriginal Folklore in Australian Captivity Narratives Susan K. Martin, La Trobe University, Canada 4. Sermons of Race: Puritanism and the Gallows in Colonial North America J. Kameron Carter, University of Virginia 5. Trading Places: Slave Traders Ensalved Kerry Sinnanan, Trinity College, Dublin 6. Urban Captivity: Imprisonment and Disease in the Eighteenth Century Cynthia Ragland, Central Connecticut State University 7. Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Captivity Narratives from North America to Australia D'Arcy Randall, University of Texas, Austin, and Kay Schaffer, University of Adelaide 8. The Imprisoned Body: Power, Property and Ownership in Mali Emily Haddad, University of South Dakota 9. Empires of Dark and Light: Japanese Prisons and Narratives of Survival James A. Whitlark, Texas University 10. Gendering Imprisonment: Muslim Women in Franch Colonial Algeria James D Le Seur, University of La Verne 11. Captivity in Kenya: Detention Camps and Independence Mary Ross, La Trobe University 12. Chinese Women and the Prisons of Exile Di Gan, Baylor University 13. The Construction of National Identity in South Africa: Apartheid Prison Narratives Shane Graham, Indiana University 14. War and Terror: Imperialism and Imprisonment in Irish Literature John Brannigan, Queens University of Belfast 15. Colonial Incarceration: Rewriting the Culture and History of the Prison Graeme Harper