Dwelling places Postwar Black British Writing

Dwelling Placesexplores some of the key venues of black British literary and cultural production across the postwar period: bedsits and basements; streets and cafes; train stations and tourist landscapes; the suburbs and the city; the north and south. Extending from central London to the outskirts of Glasgow, the book pursues a "devolving" landscape in order to consider what an analysis of "dwelling" might contribute to the travelling theories of diaspora discourse. What happens, for example, when we "situate" literatures of movement and migration? There are fresh readings of work by some of the key literary figures of the postwar years, including Sam Selvon, George Lamming, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Farrukh Dhondy, Hanif Kureishi, Salman Rushdie, Meera Syal and Jackie Kay. These writings are explored alongside a range of non-literary material, including photography, painting and film, in order to consider their relation to broader shifts in the politics of black representation over the past fifty years. This book will appeal to students of British and postcolonial literature.

James Procter is Lecturer in English Studies at the University of Stirling.

Part 1: General Introduction * Devolving Black Britain * "Black": a Brief British History * Dwelling and Diaspora * Part 2: Dwelling Places * Introduction: The "Open Door" and the Domestic Threshold * Descending the Stairwell * Lyons at the Circus * A "Little Land" In London: The Gate, the Arch and the Water * Conclusion: "A Place to Retire to.....' * Part 3. The Street * Introduction * From Basement to Pavement * Off-Street Locations: The Mangrove Restaurant * Rioting and Writing: The Street and Representation * Touring the City: the Black British Flaneur * "Doun De Road" : Bluefootedness * Brick Lane * Conclusion: Yellowbricklane * Part 4. Suburbia * Introduction: The Suburban Border * Ordinariness, Discrepant Cosmopolitanism and the Singhs * The Black Country, Birmingham and 'Anita and Me' * Refurbishing Suburbia *Conclusion: 'Here and There...' Part 5. The North * Introduction: 'Another country...' * Black Britain beyond the Centre * Bradford, the Rushdie Affair and the Re-imagination of Landscape * Bradford and the Tourist Landscape * Travelling North: Writing an English Journey * Conclusion: "Here" * Part 6. Conclusion: Train Stations and Travel Bags
Part 1: General Introduction * Devolving Black Britain * "Black": a Brief British History * Dwelling and Diaspora * Part 2: Dwelling Places * Introduction: The "Open Door" and the Domestic Threshold * Descending the Stairwell * Lyons at the Circus * A "Little Land" In London: The Gate, the Arch and the Water * Conclusion: "A Place to Retire to.....' * Part 3. The Street * Introduction * From Basement to Pavement * Off-Street Locations: The Mangrove Restaurant * Rioting and Writing: The Street and Representation * Touring the City: the Black British Flaneur * "Doun De Road" : Bluefootedness * Brick Lane * Conclusion: Yellowbricklane * Part 4. Suburbia * Introduction: The Suburban Border * Ordinariness, Discrepant Cosmopolitanism and the Singhs * The Black Country, Birmingham and 'Anita and Me' * Refurbishing Suburbia *Conclusion: 'Here and There...' Part 5. The North * Introduction: 'Another country...' * Black Britain beyond the Centre * Bradford, the Rushdie Affair and the Re-imagination of Landscape * Bradford and the Tourist Landscape * Travelling North: Writing an English Journey * Conclusion: "Here" * Part 6. Conclusion: Train Stations and Travel Bags