rising numbers of immigrants from
around the world. Many cities in
Europe became cosmopolitan
centers, attracting not only people
in search of a new life and a better
standard of living, but also writers
and artists who still regarded
Europe as an intellectual center.
Ironically, many writers who
had helped to establish a literary
style in their homeland, such
as Rushdie, Seth, and Naipaul,
had chosen to settle in England,
where their presence inspired
younger writers, many of whom
were the offspring of immigrants
from the Indian subcontinent,
Africa, the Caribbean, and
elsewhere. Such authors described
the complex experiences of living
in multicultural cities, with Zadie
Smith exploring the integration
of immigrants into British society.In the US, however, issues of
race and cultural assimilation had
a longer history. American society
had long been based on the model
of its European settlers’ homelands,
while a quite separate culture
had developed among the African-
American descendants of slaves.
Even after many of the political
goals of the civil rights movement
had been achieved, racial tensions
persisted and this was reflected in
a distinctive body of literature by
writers such as Toni Morrison.International literature
Alongside the development of new
national voices, a global trend of
adopting postmodern stylistic
techniques gave much of the era’s
literature an international appeal.
The counterculture of the 1960s
broke down the barriers between“serious” and “popular” culture,
while sophisticated computing and
telecommunications technologies
were the inspiration for novels such
as American author Thomas
Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.
Magic realism in particular had
become a widely accepted genre,
yet new writing continued to draw
upon older forms, such as in the
allegorical satire of José Saramago
and the metafiction of Italo Calvino.
While English is now a second
language for numerous people
across the world, many novels are
also availabile in translation. The
modern readership is international,
and authors—no longer restricted
by regional boundaries—are quick
to reflect on ideas and issues that
have global resonance, such as the
dysfunctions in modern society and
the threat posed by terrorism. ■CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 295
1999 2005
J. M. Coetzee’s
novel Disgrace
details the fall
from grace of a
college lecturer in
postapartheid
South Africa.1993
Vikram Seth’s
lengthy novel A
Suitable Boy uses
four families to
explore the internal
conflicts of India
after independence.2000
Love, jealousy, and
betrayal feature in
Margaret Atwood’s
The Blind Assassin,
which offers a new
twist on gothic
fiction.2001
The Guest, by
Hwang Sok-yong,
deals with the
aftermath of
fanatical hatred
and civil strife in
the Korean War.In his novel Extremely
Loud and Incredibly
Close, Jonathan Safran
Foer uses several
experimental
techniques to shed light
on the 9/11 attacks.2000
White Teeth, by
Zadie Smith, tells the
story of two families
in multicultural,
20th-century London.2001
Jonathan Franzen’s
The Corrections
examines the hidden
dysfunctions of a
traditional family in
the American Midwest.2001
Terrorists crash three
passenger planes into
the Pentagon and the
“twin towers” of
the World Trade
Center in New York.1995
In his allegorical novel
Blindness, Portuguese
author José Saramago
describes the social
turmoil that follows
an imagined epidemic.US_294-295_Ch7_Intro.indd 295 08/10/2015 13:10