Eating and Identity in Postcolonial Fiction
Consuming Passions, Unpalatable Truths
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About This Book
This book focuses on the fiction of four postcolonial authors: V.S. Naipaul, Anita Desai, Timothy Mo and Salman Rushdie. It argues that meals in their novels act as sites where the relationships between the individual subject and the social identities of race, class and gender are enacted. Drawing upon a variety of academic fields and disciplines â including postcolonial theory, historical research, food studies and recent attempts to rethink the concept of world literature â it dedicates a chapter to each author, tracing the literary, cultural and historical contexts in which their texts are located and exploring the ways in which food and the act of eating acquire meanings and how those meanings might clash, collide and be disputed. Not only does this book offer suggestive new readings of the work of its four key authors, but it challenges the reader to consider the significance of food in postcolonial fiction more generally.
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Bibliography
Primary Sources
Anita Desai
Fiction by Anita Desai (in Order of First Publication)
- Cry, the Peacock (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1980). First published London: Peter Owen, 1963.
- Voices in the City (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1995). First published London: Peter Owen, 1965.
- Bye-Bye- Blackbird (Delhi: Vision Books, 1985). First published Delhi: Hind, 1971.
- The Peacock Garden (London: Heinemann, 1979). First Published Bombay: India Book House, 1974.
- Where Shall We Go This Summer? (Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1975).
- Fire on the Mountain (London: Heinemann, 1977).
- Games at Twilight (London: Heinemann, 1978).
- Clear Light of Day (London: Vintage, 2001). First published London: Heinemann, 1980.
- The Village by the Sea (London: Heinemann, 1982).
- In Custody (London: Vintage, 1999). First published London: Heinemann, 1984.
- Baumgartnerâs Bombay (London: Chatto and Windus, 1988).
- âGames at Twilightâ, in The Vintage Book of Indian Writing 1947â1997 , ed. Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West (London: Vintage, 1997), pp.121â9. First published in Games at Twilight (London: Heinemann, 1978), pp.1â10.
- Scholar and Gypsy (London: Phoenix, 1996).
- Journey to Ithaca (London: Vintage, 2001). First published London: Heinemann, 1995.
- Fasting, Feasting (London: Chatto & Windus, 1999).
- Diamond Dust and Other Stories (London: Vintage, 2001).
- The Zigzag Way (London: Chatto and Windus, 2004).
- The Artist of Disappearance (London: Chatto and Windus, 2011).
Selected Non-Fiction by Anita Desai
- âA Coat of Many Colorsâ, in South Asian English: Structure, Use and Users , ed. Robert J. Baumgardner (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), pp.221â30.
- âA Secret Connivanceâ, Times Literary Supplement , 14 September 1990, pp.972, 976.
- âIndian Fiction Todayâ, Daedalus , 118.4 (Fall 1989), 207â31.
- âIndian Women Writersâ, in The Eye of the Beholder: Indian Writing m English , ed. Maggie Butcher (London: Commonwealth Institute, 1983), pp.54â8.
- âIntroductionâ to Rabindranath Tagore, in The Home and the World , trans. Surendranath Tagore (London: Penguin, 1995), pp.7â14.
- âIntroductionâ to Salman Rushdieâs Midnightâs Children (London: Everyman, 1995), pp.viiâxxi.
- âThe Indian Writerâs Problemsâ, in Explorations in Modern Indo-English Fiction , ed. R.K. Dhawan (New Delhi: Bahri Publications, 1982), pp.223â6. First published in The Literary Criterion , 12 (Summer 1975), 26â36.
- âThe Rage for the Rajâ, New Republic , 25 November 1985, pp.26â30.
- âWhere Cultures Clash by Night: Midnightâs Children by Salman Rushdieâ, Washington Post , 15 March 1981, Book World, p.11.
- âWords for Salman Rushdieâ, New Statesman and Society , 31 March 1989, p.25.
Timothy Mo
Novels by Timothy Mo (in Order of First Publication)
- The Monkey King (London: Abacus, 1984). First published London: Deutsche, 1978.
- Sour Sweet (London: Deutsch, 1982).
- Sour Sweet , TextPlus edn, int. David Yip, notes by Andrew Spicer (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1990).
- An Insular Possession (London: Chatto and Windus, 1986).
- The Redundancy of Courage (London: Chatto and Windus, 1991).
- Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard (London: Paddleless, 1995).
- Renegade or Halo 2 (London: Paddleless, 2000). First published London: Paddleless, 1999.
- Pure (London: Turnaround Books, 2012).
Selected Non-Fiction by Timothy Mo
- âChina: Two Thrillers on the Great Leap Backwardsâ, Sunday Times , 17 September 1978, p.41.
- âFighting Their Writingâ, in New Writing 5, ed. Christopher Hope and Peter Porter (London: Vintage in Association with the British Council, 1996), pp.299â318.
- âFile Under Nutsâ, Independent , 8 May 1993, p.29.
- âFrom the Mines of Curry Powderâ, New York Times Book Review , 28 February 1988, p.14.
- âThey Will Not Apologiseâ, Daily Telegraph , 7 March 1998, Weekend Section, p.15.
- âWhy Canât They Write Better Novels?â, Spectator , 6 January 1996, pp.23â4.
V.S. Naipaul
V.S. Naipaul: Fiction (in Order of First Publication)
- The Mystic Masseur , int. Paul Edwards and Gordon Rohlehr (London: Heinemann, 1971). First published London: Deutsch, 1957.
- The Suffrage of Elvira (London: Deutsch, 1958).
- Miguel Street (London: Penguin, 1971). First published London: Deutsch, 1959.
- A House for Mr Biswas , int. Ian Buruma (London: Penguin, 1992). First published London: Deutsch, 1961.
- Mr Stone and the Knights Companion (London: Deutsch, 1963).
- The Mimic Men (London: Picador, 2002). First published London: Deutsche, 1967.
- A Flag on the Island (London: Deutsch, 1967).
- In a Free State (London: Picador, 2002). First published London: Deutsch, 1971.
- Guerrillas (London: Vintage, 1990). First published London: Deutsch, 1975.
- A Bend in the River (London: Vintage, 1989). First published London: Deutsch, 1979.
- The Enigma of Arrival (London: Viking, 1987...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Front Matter
- Introduction: Ways of Reading a Meal
- âOur Little Bastard Worldâ: Food, History, and Identity in the Novels of V.S. Naipaul
- âIt Was Actually Wonderful to See What Fertile Ground the Dining Table Was for Discussion and Debateâ: Food, Gender, and Culture in the Novels of Anita Desai
- Stereotypes, Family Values, and Chop Suey: Food, Authority, and Authenticity in the Novels of Timothy Mo
- The Chutnification of History and the Limits of Gastronomic Pluralism: Food, Identity, and the Commodification of Culture in the Novels of Salman Rushdie
- Conclusion
- Correction to: Stereotypes, Family Values, and Chop Suey: Food, Authority, and Authenticity in the Novels of Timothy Mo
- Back Matter