![]() ![]() ![]() The book reconsiders a range of rural locations through the lens of British colonial involvement, including East India Company activity and the slavery business. It presents new perspectives on the ‘English’ flora and fauna that feature in literature, parks, allotments, and suburban gardens. ![]() It interrogates the idea that country houses are models for civilised living or that moorlands are places of freedom. The book questions the countryside’s reputation as a retreat from urban life. In particular, the book argues that Black and British Asian writers have challenged narrow, nostalgic views of rural England but also expressed attachment to English landscapes and the natural world. It also examines four centuries of literary response to explore how race, class, and gender have both created and deconstructed England’s pastoral mythologies. ![]() The book presents historical evidence to show that rural England was a place of conflict and global expansion. Green Unpleasant Land explores the countryside’s repressed colonial past and demonstrates its importance as a source of ideas about Englishness. Corinne Fowler, Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England’s Colonial Connections (Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 2021), 324 pages, ISBN: 978-1845234829, £20 / $30. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |