Grandchild of empire : about irony, mainly in the Commonwealth

ISBN: 9781553800019 (pbk.)
ISBN: 155380001X (pbk.)
Physical Description: print 92 p. : ill ; 23 cm.
Publisher: Vancouver, B.C. : Ronsdale Press, c2003.

New, W. H. (William Herbert) 1938- (Author).

Summary: The author looks at the politics of irony in modern writing and explains how it relates to imperial history, how it impacts upon personal memories, how it speaks from the margin, and how it indirectly teaches us to resist presumptuous authority. Focusing on postcolonial poetry and prose, but also including autobiographical incidents and memories, New establishes how irony speaks "about" - from the outside. He emphasizes the importance of voice in communicating what irony has to say, the necessity of listening closely to how ironic literature speaks. And he draws his examples from around the world, ranging from Canada and the Caribbean to Africa, India and Australia.