The Novel and Europe

Literary criticism has constituted the field of European literature in various ways: as a collection of national literatures; as a collection of canonical authors; and as a collection of canonical texts disseminated around Europe. This volume of essays tests an alternative approach to the topic. Taking Europe as the starting point of study, rather than texts or authors, Imagining the Continent in Contemporary Fiction explores ways in which literature has reflected on continental realities since 1945. Through a focus on fiction, contributors examine ideas and concerns arising from continent-wide experience, activity and identity which have traversed borders and circulated across Europe and beyond. In seeking to formulate a literature about Europe, the volume highlights intellectual relations between national literatures, drawing together a range of cultural heritages without suggesting cultural unity.