I n t r o d u c t i o n : C o s m o p o l i t a n i s m ,

Ethics, and Materialism

C

osmopolitanism is an area of thought that seems to speak
to the fast-paced, culturally mixed, and extremely complex
world in which we live. Although the term itself is far from
new, it seems to have attracted the attention of contemporary scholars
from a number of different disciplines, who seek to explore questions
of identity, culture, society, and ethics that transcend some of the
rigid parameters that are commonly used. This book was inspired
by a similar vision, but one that also sought to demonstrate that cos-
mopolitanism has potential sociopolitical and material applications
that have so far been overlooked. This is particularly so regarding its
adoption by contemporary literary critics and theorists—a state of
affairs that I hope this book will help change.
This book sets out to answer the following questions: What does
it mean to identify particular forms of contemporary literature as
“cosmopolitan”? In what ways are texts that meet the definition
enga ging wit h issues of sociopolitic a l releva nce in t he contempora r y
moment? What might be the consequences of such engagements for
cosmopolitan theory? In essence, then, this book is an inquiry into
the genre of the contemporary cosmopolitan novel—exploring its
parameters, particularly as regards its potential sociopolitical appli-
cations. Looking at works by three contemporary novelists, each
of whom hails from a different part of the world and produces a
distinctive type of novel, I examine some of the stylistic techniques
they deploy to elicit a critical and materially attentive cosmopolitan
vision. These writers are Caryl Phillips, J. M. Coetzee, and Philip
Roth.