Comedy, Fantasy and ColonialismGraeme Harper Annotation Postcolonial studies overlook colonialism's "challenge to the literal," according to Harper (English, U. of Wales, Bangor). In introducing 13 contributed chapters striving to draw the line between reality and fantasy, he stresses that comedy and fantasy in colonial cultures need to be grounded in both the social and personal. One case studies exemplifies the disconnect between Western definitions of fantasy in critical texts and indigenous African traditions. A study of British women colonial writers' comic novels at the Empire's sunset explores the issue from a colonial framework. Other topics include magic realism as trans- cultural humor, carnival in Malta under British rule, and Native American trickster-outlaws and the comedy of survival. Illustrations include mid-19th century editorial cartoons. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com). |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Adventures Anishinabe antipodes anxieties asserts Bakhtin becomes blackface British Israelite British women Cairo Cape Town Cape-to-Cairo Carnival character Chippewa colonial comedy and fantasy comic crinoline critical Cuba Cuban cultural dialogue discourse Edgeworth Egypt Empire England English Erdrich European fairies fantasy figure Freemasonry genre Gerald Vizenor Hajjî Baba humour Ibid idea images imaginary voyages imagination imperial incongruity Indian Rebellion indigenous Irish Bulls Irish joke language laughing laughter literary literature London Louise Erdrich Love MADC magic realism Magical Realist Fiction male Malta Maltese Manoel Theatre Mikhail Bakhtin Morier's Nanabozho Nanapush narrative narrator novel Oxford Pantomime parody Persia Peter Wilkins play political popular postcolonial published Punch racial rape readers reality representation satire sense sexual Slavoj Žižek social Sophie's South African space stereotype story suggests teatro bufo texts theatre traditional trickster Ukcombekcantsini University Press Victorian Vizenor Western woman writing Zimbabwe Žižek Zulu