The Stepmother Tongue

'It is high time that someone knowledgeable attempted to give new literatures in English a meaningful theoretical context based as much on place as on language ... a book of this sort would be useful to students and scholars and would no doubt enlarge their conception of the scope of the field today.' - Professor Bernth Lindfors, University of Texas 'This comprehensive survey can be safely recommended to students looking for interesting novelists, or for those already reading interesting novelists who might like to think about their contexts. John Skinner's galloping concision is always accessible...It is a spirited attempt to avoid recent arguments about cultural hegemonies and historically tenacious racial politics, which have long determined the discussions of literature in English otherwise categorised as post-colonial or Commonwealth.' - Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement

There are numerous twentieth century writers in English who are not technically native speakers of the language, and whose relation to it is ambivalent, problematic or even hostile: by a simple kinship analogy one may often speak of the 'stepmother tongue'.There are numerous twentieth century writers in English who are not technically native speakers of the language, and whose relation to it is ambivalent, problematic or even hostile: by a simple kinship analogy one may often speak of the 'stepmother tongue'. Whilst fully aware of the current debates in postcolonial theory, John Skinner is also conscious of its sometimes unhelpful complexities and contradictions. The focus of this study is thus firmly on the fictional practice of the writers discussed. He offers the reader an insight into the diversity and rewards of contemporary anglophone fiction, whilst analysing some eighty individual texts. A uniquely comprehensive guide, the book will be welcomed by students and teachers of postcolonial literature.