Snackz logo
No Country

Sonali Perera

250 Pages
2014-01-28

No Country

Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization

Columbia University Press

Below is just a GPT summary! If you really want to learn something:

โšก Free 3min Summary

"No Country" - Summary

Sonali Perera's "No Country: Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization" is a compelling exploration of international working-class literature. Perera bridges the gap between various noncanonical texts, highlighting the connections between literary radicalism, feminist recovery projects, and anticolonial and postcolonial fiction. By examining works from authors like Mulk Raj Anand, Tillie Olsen, Ambalavaner Sivanandan, Mahasweta Devi, and Bessie Head, Perera paints a vivid picture of the global economy and the working-class experience. This book is special because it challenges Eurocentric perspectives and redefines working-class writing as a significant part of world literature. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the intricate relationships between literature, politics, and history.

Key Ideas

1

Global Working-Class Experience

"No Country" emphasizes the shared experiences of the working class across different cultures and time periods. By connecting the struggles of workers from various parts of the world, Perera highlights the universal nature of their challenges and triumphs, making the reader appreciate the global dimension of working-class literature.

2

Intersection of Literature and Politics

The book delves into how literature serves as a powerful tool for political expression and change. Perera showcases how authors use their works to address social injustices, advocate for workers' rights, and challenge oppressive systems. This theme underscores the importance of literature in shaping political discourse and inspiring activism.

3

Feminist Perspectives in Working-Class Writing

Perera brings to light the significant contributions of feminist writers to working-class literature. By examining the works of female authors and activists, she highlights the intersection of gender and class struggles. This theme is crucial as it broadens the understanding of working-class literature to include diverse voices and perspectives, enriching the overall narrative.

FAQ's

The main focus of "No Country: Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization" is to explore international working-class literature and highlight the connections between literary radicalism, feminist recovery projects, and anticolonial and postcolonial fiction.

"No Country: Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization" examines works from authors such as Mulk Raj Anand, Tillie Olsen, Ambalavaner Sivanandan, Mahasweta Devi, and Bessie Head.

"No Country: Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization" is considered significant because it challenges Eurocentric perspectives and redefines working-class writing as an important part of world literature, emphasizing the global dimension of the working-class experience and the intersection of literature, politics, and history.

๐Ÿ’ก Full 15min Summary

Understanding working-class literature requires a global perspective, acknowledging narrative disruptions and socialist ethics.
0:00 / 2:13

"No Country" delves into the world of working-class literature, taking a global and comparative approach. It highlights the works of writers from the global South and brings to light the lesser-known traditions and counter-narratives within the realm of working-class writing.

The crux of the argument is that working-class literature cannot be understood merely by looking at the class background of the authors or through the celebrated stories of labor histories and revolutions in the global North. Instead, it should be viewed through the lens of shared sociologies of form, narrative disruptions, and socialist ethics ideologies that bind working-class writing across different languages, nations, and regions.

Working-class writing often features a "serial interrupted form" - narratives that are broken, filled with gaps, interpolations, and heteroglossia. These interruptions symbolize the challenge of portraying class as a stable identity or a fixed entity. Class is a relationship, not an object. This ephemerality and dispersal of class are vividly portrayed through the literary forms in working-class writing.

Criticism is directed towards the frameworks that define working-class writing solely through famous histories like the English industrial revolution or the US proletarian fiction of the 1930s. These approaches tend to overlook colonial and postcolonial perspectives. Similarly, literary histories that focus solely on autonomous form often disregard the political engagements of working-class writing.

The book delves into the analysis of working-class novels and stories from Indian, Sri Lankan, and southern African writers like Mulk Raj Anand, Ambalavaner Sivanandan, and Bessie Head. It incorporates perspectives from subaltern studies and postcolonialism to broaden the Eurocentric approaches prevalent in labor history and Marxist literary criticism.

A significant argument made is that working-class writing should be viewed through the lens of ethics as well as politics.

Enjoyed the sneak peak? Get the full summary!

Explore Summaries

Theories of Underdevelopment

Theories of Underdevelopment

Ian Roxborough

198 Pages
1979
Summary and Analysis of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Summary and Analysis of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Based on the Book by Erik Larson

Worth Books

55 Pages
2017-02-21
Good Omens

Good Omens

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

434 Pages
2011-06-28
The Hidden Girl

The Hidden Girl

Lucinda Riley

0 Pages
2024-09-17
The Scarlet Slipper Mystery

The Scarlet Slipper Mystery

Carolyn Keene

160 Pages
1959
The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism

The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism

Buddhism

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Jack Miles

0 Pages
2017-09-26
Savage Messiah

Savage Messiah

How Dr. Jordan Peterson Is Saving Western Civilization

Jim Proser

320 Pages
2020-01-21
Whiskey Tender

Whiskey Tender

A Memoir

Deborah Taffa

349 Pages
2024-02-27
No B.S. Direct Marketing

No B.S. Direct Marketing

The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses

Dan S. Kennedy

196 Pages
2013-04-01
The Echo of Old Books

The Echo of Old Books

A Novel

Barbara Davis

0 Pages
2023-03-28
The Cost of Hope

The Cost of Hope

A Memoir

Amanda Bennett

241 Pages
2012-06-05
Othello

Othello

William Shakespeare

136 Pages
1883
Disability Visibility

Disability Visibility

First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Alice Wong

338 Pages
2020-06-30
Elantris

Elantris

Brandon Sanderson

508 Pages
2005-05
Homecoming

Homecoming

Diane Dakers

115 Pages
2014-09
Crocodile on the Sandbank

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Miss Marple crossed with Indiana Jones!

Elizabeth Peters

289 Pages
2011-09-01
Rumble in the Jungle Reloaded

Rumble in the Jungle Reloaded

Navigating Business on the African Continent

Rutendo Hwindingwi

0 Pages
2022
Age as Disease

Age as Disease

Anti-Aging Technologies, Sites and Practices

David-Jack Fletcher

349 Pages
2021-03-21
Machine Learning For Dummies

Machine Learning For Dummies

John Paul Mueller, Luca Massaron

464 Pages
2021-01-07
The Lorax

The Lorax

Dr. Seuss

72 Pages
2013-09-24
The Midnight Feast

The Midnight Feast

Lucy Foley

0 Pages
2024-06-18
Sunset

Sunset

--

638 Pages
1926
The Count of Monte Cristo Volume 1รขle Comte de Monte-Cristo Tome 1: English-French Parallel Text Edition in Six Volumes

The Count of Monte Cristo Volume 1รขle Comte de Monte-Cristo Tome 1: English-French Parallel Text Edition in Six Volumes

Alexandre Dumas

433 Pages
2010-04-07
The Beautiful Mystery

The Beautiful Mystery

A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

Louise Penny

384 Pages
2012-08-28
Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

Rachel Koestler-Grack

52 Pages
2009-08-07
Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary

A Novel

Helen Fielding

292 Pages
1999-06-01
Good Strategy Bad Strategy

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

The Difference and Why It Matters

Richard Rumelt

338 Pages
2011-07-19
They Called Us Exceptional

They Called Us Exceptional

And Other Lies That Raised Us

Prachi Gupta

289 Pages
2024-08-20
Adelaide

Adelaide

A Novel

Genevieve Wheeler

277 Pages
2023-04-18
The Biz

The Biz

The Basic Business, Legal, and Financial Aspects of the Film Industry in a Digital World

Schuyler M. Moore

0 Pages
2018

Get book summaries directly into your inbox!

Join more than 10,000 readers in our newsletter

Snackz book
Snackz logo

The right book at the right time will change your life.

Get the books directly into your inbox!

โœ… New Release

โœ… Book Recommendation

โœ… Book Summaries

Copyright 2023-2024. All rights reserved.