Artists of the Floating World: Contemporary Writings Between Cultures

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This work analyzes the fiction of four contemporary multicultural writers who render a "floating world" in which cultures converge or collide in unexpected, exciting, and dangerous ways. The novels and short stories of Kazuo Ishiguro, Bessie Head, Bharati Mukherjee, and Salman Rushdie explore a literal and metaphorical floating world (adapted from the Japanese concept of "ukiyo"-a still-point between briefly-held earthly pleasures and spiritual immutability) where the characters, like their authors, are poised between conflicting worlds, cultures, and traditions. The manner in which these four authors articulate such a "floating" experience, Burton argues, enriches our understanding and appreciation of the increasingly interconnected world around us.

Author Bio

Rob Burton is Professor of English at California State University, Chico. He received his Ph. D. in English from Indiana University, Bloomington.