“Looking across the Atlantic” in Caryl Phillips's In the Falling Snow

摘要

Caryl Phillips's novel In the Falling Snow (200927. Phillips, Caryl. 2009. In the Falling Snow, London: Harvill. View all references) explores a spectrum of black British diasporan positions, moving from the early optimism and subsequent disappointment of the Windrush generation of migrants to encounter the difficulties facing second- and third-generation black Britons in a sometimes inhospitable and turbulent country. This article argues that In the Falling Snow is especially interested in the lasting relationship between black America and black Britain - evidenced not least of all by the novel's intertextual relationship with works by Richard Wright. Critics have mentioned the significance of Wright's novel Native Son (194043. Wright, Richard. 2000. Native Son. 1940, London: Vintage. View all references) to Phillips's choice of career, and it is clear that the concerns of this novel with the politics of mixed-race relations finds commonality with Phillips's works. However, the connections between Wright's haiku and Phillips's In the Falling Snow are equally important, and reveal an evolving, and reflective, relationship with Wright. Although the associations between Phillips and Wright suggest a continuation of Phillips's interest in the relationship between black Britain and black America, the black British identity explored in In the Falling Snow is both crucially informed by, but also different from, black American identifications.View full textDownload full textKeywordsCaryl Phillips, Richard Wright, transatlantic, black Britain, black America, Paul GilroyRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2011.560013