Journal | Il Tolomeo
Monographic journal issue | 23 | 2021
Research Article | Running In (and Out) the Family
Abstract
The genre of the family novel can be identified in many postcolonial literary cultures. Initially, it was often read as an example of “national allegory” (Jameson 1986), thus considering family narrative in a tight relationship with postcolonial nation-building, but this theoretical framework has been later criticised from different perspectives, ranging from post-national to feminist critiques. Furthermore, the genre of the postcolonial family novel has been refashioned due to the emergence of diasporic narratives, leading to the diffusion of the “postcolonial fictions of adoption” (McLeod 2006). Nowadays, the high competition in the global literary market – namely, with family novels and sagas in the US literary market – drives this genre towards highly individualised, as well as hybridised, outcomes. While focusing, in particular, on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz and Lara ([1997] 2009) by Bernardine Evaristo, this survey of family novels across different literary traditions aims to show the intrinsic porosity, as well as the strenuous resistance, of the genre.
Submitted: July 15, 2021 | Accepted: Oct. 7, 2021 | Published Dec. 20, 2021 | Language: en
Keywords Postcolonial family novels • Diasporic narratives • National allegory • African, South Asian and South American traditions
Copyright © 2021 Lorenzo Mari. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Tol/2499-5975/2021/23/019
Testi Creativi | Creative Works | Créations
Dossier. Postcolonial Genre Fiction | Les genres populaires dans les littératures postcoloniales | Letteratura di genere postcoloniale
Varia
Interviste | Interviews | Interviews
Recensioni | Reviews | Comptes rendus
Necrologi | Obituaries | Nécrologies
DC Field | Value |
---|---|
dc.identifier |
ECF_article_6919 |
dc.title |
Running In (and Out) the Family. Postcolonial Family Novels in Perspective |
dc.contributor.author |
Mari Lorenzo |
dc.publisher |
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari |
dc.type |
Research Article |
dc.language.iso |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/il-tolomeo/2021/1/running-in-and-out-the-family/ |
dc.description.abstract |
The genre of the family novel can be identified in many postcolonial literary cultures. Initially, it was often read as an example of “national allegory” (Jameson 1986), thus considering family narrative in a tight relationship with postcolonial nation-building, but this theoretical framework has been later criticised from different perspectives, ranging from post-national to feminist critiques. Furthermore, the genre of the postcolonial family novel has been refashioned due to the emergence of diasporic narratives, leading to the diffusion of the “postcolonial fictions of adoption” (McLeod 2006). Nowadays, the high competition in the global literary market – namely, with family novels and sagas in the US literary market – drives this genre towards highly individualised, as well as hybridised, outcomes. While focusing, in particular, on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz and Lara ([1997] 2009) by Bernardine Evaristo, this survey of family novels across different literary traditions aims to show the intrinsic porosity, as well as the strenuous resistance, of the genre. |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Il Tolomeo |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Vol. 23 | December 2021 |
dc.issued |
2021-12-20 |
dc.dateAccepted |
2021-10-07 |
dc.dateSubmitted |
2021-07-15 |
dc.identifier.issn |
|
dc.identifier.eissn |
2499-5975 |
dc.rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.30687/Tol/2499-5975/2021/23/019 |
dc.peer-review |
yes |
dc.subject |
African, South Asian and South American traditions |
dc.subject |
African, South Asian and South American traditions |
dc.subject |
Diasporic narratives |
dc.subject |
Diasporic narratives |
dc.subject |
National allegory |
dc.subject |
National allegory |
dc.subject |
Postcolonial family novels |
dc.subject |
Postcolonial family novels |
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