Artists of the Floating World
Subtitle: Contemporary Writings Between Cultures
Publisher: University Press of America; University Press of America, Inc.
Published: January 28, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 146
ISBN-13: 9780761835998
Subjects: Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Literary Criticism; Literature - Classics / Criticism; ASIA; Asian - General; Literary Criticism & Collections / Asian; Biculturalism in literature; Criticism and interpretation; Culture conflict in literature; Mukherjee, Bharati
Description: "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."--Jacket.