Marginality in the Contemporary British Novel

(Paperback, NIPPOD)

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The 'Marginal' as a concept has become an integral part of the British novel as it stands at the turn of the century. Both popular and literary fiction since the mid-1970s has seen an increasing emphasis on the marginal subject.

This study offers readings of a wide range of contemporary British novels that represent characters or communities at the margin of society. Nicola Allen analyses three conceptual categories representing the marginal subject in the contemporary British novel: the character of the misfit or outsider; the emergence of the grotesque; and the rediscovery of previously marginalized narratives such as myth and fantasy. This innovative and original monograph focuses on the contention that the contemporary novel of marginality conveys a belief in the socially transformative powers of narrative, and suggests that narrative has played a central role in bringing marginal politics and marginal issues to the fore in contemporary Britain.

Reviews

"Allen focuses on a key critical concept which, as she demonstrates, has in recent years concerned many of those researching fiction, but has largely been addressed without an adequate theoretical and historical account. Allen's timely book redresses these failings, and rejects essentialist readings that neglect the concept's vitality and heterogeneous signification... Allen's study is original both in its analysis and its framing of a complex account of marginality, demonstrating a depth of knowledge of the study of the novel as a genre." - Professor Philip Tew, Brunel University, UK
Mention -Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12, 2008
"Allen's study is, in sum, fine, both in the sense of effectively fulfilling the research tasks it sets itself and in the sense of providing some excellent, thought-provoking statements about the contemporary British novel." The Review of English Studies, October 2009
A cogent and useful study of a fascinating area.' - Modern Language Review, January 2010
Mention in College Literature, Vol. 36.2, Spring 2009
This comprehensive book, which is the result of a doctoral project, does more than its title promises... At a time when there is an influx of new texts from the margins, Allen's book is a must for those who want to investigate whether these texts are socially transformative or not.' -- English Studies

Author Bio

Nicola Allen is Lecturer in Contemporary British Fiction at The University of Northampton, UK.