Concert of Voices, second edition: An Anthology of World Writing in English
"A significant improvement to the original 1995 edition, the updated and expanded version of Victor J. Ramraj's Concert of Voices remains my favorite collection of this kind. Few critics have a better grasp of the vast and quickly evolving field for whose mapping—Ramraj was so right in the introduction to the first edition and is even more right today—'postcolonial' and the concepts and paradigms usually swirling around it have become largely insufficient. Concert of Voices is no longer an 'alternative' to other volumes of this sort but the anthology of world writing in English for the global-age, transnational, twenty-first century. Comprehensive, eminently teachable, and a great pedagogical resource overall, the volume really lives up to its title." (Christian Moraru)"This second edition takes the most classroom-friendly anthology of world writing in English and makes it even more so by adding more essays and memoirs, extending biographical notes and explanatory footnotes, and underscoring familiar postcolonial themes such as in-betweenness, writing back, and mimicry. A good blend of human commonalities and, in Northrop Frye's words, 'loyalty to one's place in the class structure,' this book is vital for contemporary literature studies." (John C. Hawley)"Concert of Voices is an impressively varied selection of first-rate writing from around the colonized and postcolonial world. Encouraging readers to see the shared commonalities of human experience across diverse literary and cultural traditions – from Maori to Guyanese, Nigerian to Sri Lankan – Victor J. Ramraj deftly juxtaposes works on similar themes and suggests rewarding comparative analyses. This concert features the frisson of dissonance as well as the pleasures of harmony; it will get students tuning in to the voices of the world and wanting to hear more." (John Clement Ball)