British Fictions of the Sixties The Making of the Swinging Decade [Paperback]

British Fictions of the Sixtiesfocuses on the major socio-political changes that marked the sixties in relationship to the development of literature over the decade. This book is the first critical study to acknowledge that the 1960s can only be understood if, next to its contemporary socio-political history, its fictions and mythologies are acknowledged as a vital constituent in the understanding of the decade. Groes uncovers a major epistemological shift, and presents a powerful meta-narrative about post-war literature in the UK, and beyond.

British Fictions of the Sixtiesoffers a re-examination of canonical writers such as Iris Murdoch, Angela Carter, Muriel Spark and John Fowles. It also pays critical attention to avant-garde writers including Ann Quinn, Bridget Brophy, Eva Figes, Christine Brooke-Rose, and J. G. Ballard, presenting a comprehensive insight into the continuing power the decade exerts on the contemporary imagination.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Revolutions of the Mind

Chapter One: Authenticity and Audiotape

Chapter Two: Realism Renegotiated

Chapter Three: Women's Skinny Fiction

Chapter Four: Infinite Londons

Chapter Five: English Anti-Novels

Chapter Six: The Extreme Sixties

Chapter Seven: Pornotopia

Conclusion: The Future of the Sixties

Bibliography

Index

Sebastian Groesis Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Roehampton, UK. He is the editor series editor of Bloomsbury'sContemporary Critical Perspectivesseries, the editor ofIan McEwan (2013),and co-editor ofKazuo Ishiguro(2009)andJulian Barnes(2011), all published by Bloomsbury. His monographThe Making of London(2011) traces the representation of London in contemporary fiction.