University of Exeter Press

Not On Any Map

Essays on Postcoloniality and Cultural Nationalism

    • 208 Pages


    Why is the world in which we live so ruled by the idea of the nation? What effect have the newly independent nations of the last fifty years had on the old world order? Are countries in a post-imperial world the same now as they were in the time of imperialism? Not On Any Map seeks to answer these questions and explores the wide-ranging issues surrounding nationalism and postcoloniality.



    The collection draws on the work of scholars and creative producers from all over the world who explore the idea of the nation in a variety of postcolonial contexts. These include a piece from Wilson Harris' work-in-progress, as well as other work on literary nationalism, media arts promotion, the use of the indigene in tourism, commercial cinema, immigration, developments in communication and technology, sport and issues affecting nations both in the former colonial centres and the ex-colonies.





    The collection draws on the work of scholars and creative producers from all over the world who explore the idea of the nation in a variety of postcolonial contexts.



    "The value of Murray's collection is the specificity of the research areas it offers, in contrast to the generality and circularity that theory so often assumes. The book successfully contributes to our growing understanding of forms of nationalism and the nation outside of, and explicitly and implicitly challenging, earlier European models." (Wasafiri, Issue no. 27, Spring 1998) "Not On Any Map is a wide-ranging collection of essays by academic and creative writers, exploring the varied cultural legacies of 'post-colonialism'. . . The strength of these essays is the way in which they thrust the reader directly into unfamiliar, localized debates and particular literary scenes. . . The collection is, in fact, an effective mirror of the problem it describes: a celebration of cultural diversity falling subject to theoretical colonization." (Times Literary Supplement, 26 September 1997) "A truly impressive collection of essays from a diverse group of academics." (Colonial and Postcolonial Studies Newsletter, September 1997)





    STUART MURRAY is Lecturer in English, Trinity College, Dublin.