After Raymond Williams : cultural materialism and the break-up of Britain / Hywel Rowland Dix.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dix, Hywel Rowland.

Contributor:

Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Series:

Writing Wales in English

CREW series of critical and scholarly studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Welsh authors--History and criticism.

English literature.

English literature--Welsh authors.

English literature--20th century--History and criticism.

Motion pictures--Wales--History.

Motion pictures.

History.

Wales.

Physical Description:

217 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2008.

Summary:

After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain has two broad aims. The first objective is to re-examine the concept of cultural materialism, the term used by Raymond Williams to describe his theory of how writing and other cultural forms relate to general social and historical processes. Using this theory, the second objective is to explore the material ways in which contemporary British writing participates in one particular political process - that of the break-up of Britain.

The general trajectory of the book is a matter of superseding Williams. The early chapters are devoted to extrapolating Williams's materialist theory of cultural forms; later chapters are concerned with applying this theoretical material to a series of readings of books and films produced in the years since Williams's death.

This volume is not only a detailed look at some of the writing produced in Scotland and Wales in the years surrounding political devolution, it also includes a look at the ways in which different sub-cultural communities use fiction to renegotiate their relationships with the British whole.

Contents:

Introduction: Williams and Modernity 1

1 Towards a Materialism of Culture 25

2 The Welsh Identity of Raymond Williams 56

3 Universities - Hard and Soft 85

4 Postcolonial Britain 111

5 Williams, Film and the Break-Up of Britain 143

6 Conclusion: Postmodern Williams? 173.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-208) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

ISBN:

9780708321539

0708321534

OCLC:

243821115

Publisher Number:

99936732007