The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place
Paul Ugor editor Arnab Dutta Roy editor Simone Maria Puleo editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
Published:1st Jan '26
Should be back in stock very soon
In recent decades authors from across the world have adopted and adapted the bildungsroman literary genre to reflect on coming of age in postcolonial spaces and places. The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place emphasizes matters of space, place, and environment—concepts intrinsically linked to the bildungsroman’s processes of meaning-making and critique.
From Latin America to South Asia to Africa, the contributors focus on three distinct but interrelated themes: ecology, cultural geography, and mediascapes. They consider aesthetic formations that address the themes of spatiality, youth, individual and collective experiences of social stagnation or growth, the unique challenges faced by certain global subjects on account of the places they inhabit, and whether or not futurity is guaranteed for them. This unique collection delves into myriad features of the postcolonial bildungsroman, enlarging our theoretical understanding of the genre as well as of media and literature in the postcolonial world.
"The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place is a vital addition to the field, proving that the genre has evolved far beyond the linear trajectory of European modernity."—Sevket Sarper Dörter, Global South Literary Studies
“This collection masterfully redefines the postcolonial bildungsroman, intertwining the personal and collective struggles of individuals in spaces fraught with ecological degradation, social stagnation, and cultural upheaval. With great nuance, the contributors probe how youth identity, spatial politics, and ecological crises shape coming-of-age narratives, offering new perspectives on postcolonial studies. Essential reading for anyone interested in the intersections of space, culture, and power, this volume reimagines the possibilities of the bildungsroman in contemporary global contexts.”—Imre Szeman, director of the Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability at the University of Toronto Scarborough and coeditor of Power Shift: Keywords for a New Politics of Energy “Global in the scope of its content and the institutional locations of its contributors, this timely volume spotlights provocative and teachable chapters on the eco-bildung, spatial relations in coming-of-age narratives, and emergent postcolonial subjectivities. It effectively exploits the malleability of the genre to bring to light new screen media and literary texts and presents fresh analyses of well-known bildungsroman, such as Sara Sureli’s Meatless Days and the Apu trilogy of Satyajit Ray. Scholars and students will find The Postcolonial Bildungsroman and the Character of Place useful.”—Carmela Garritano, associate professor of international studies and Africana studies at Texas A&M University and author of African Energy Worlds in Film and MediaISBN: 9781496242648
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
322 pages