Looking Back, Looking Forward:Revisiting the Windrush Myth

Donnell, Alison (2019) Looking Back, Looking Forward:Revisiting the Windrush Myth. In: Cambridge History of Black and Asian British Writing. Cambridge University Press, 195 - 211. ISBN 9781108164146

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Abstract

This chapter offers a critical overview of historical, cultural, and literary debates around ‘Windrush’. It revisits how the boat’s arrival in 1948 has come to represent the ‘beginnings’ of multicultural Britain and the consequent reshaping of the nation’s identity. It examines which factors influenced the writers and works that came to prominence and gained an enduring currency as Windrush narratives; it also attends to works that have been less celebrated. The particular focus of the chapter is on how the construction of the Windrush experience within literary works has aligned with wider political narratives to emphasise the ongoing challenges around the recognition and accommodation of black subjects within British culture and society. The chapter addresses two important blind spots within the literary framing of the Windrush experience: writings that emphasise transnational attachments and cultural mobility, as well as writings by women.

Item Type:	Book Section
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Modern and Contemporary Writing Research Group
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	15 Aug 2018 14:30
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2025 02:01
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/68047
DOI:	10.1017/9781108164146.014

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