Rethinking Race and Identity in Contemporary British Fiction

This book takes a post-racial approach to the representation of race in contemporary British fiction, re-imagining studies of race and British literature away from concerns with specific racial groups towards a more sophisticated analysis of the contribution of a broad, post-racial British writing. Speaking to the specific contexts of British cultural politics, and directly connecting with contemporary debates surrounding race and identity in Britain, the author engages with a wide range of both mainstream and neglected authors. This volume explores how contemporary fiction is at the centre of re-thinking how we engage with the question of race in twenty-first-century Britain.

Sara Upstone is Principal Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at Kingston University, UK.

Contents Introduction: Utopian Realism and Writing Beyond Race Chapter 1: Utopian Histories: Retroactive Possibilities Chapter 2: Utopian Destinies: Anti-biological Textualities Chapter 3: Utopian Ecologies: Post-human, Post-racial Chapter 4: Utopian Bodies: Some Kind of Blackness Chapter 5: Utopian Difference: Making Love Chapter 6: Utopian Failures: Pitfalls of the Post Chapter 7: Utopian Realities: Practical Utopias Works Cited