Artists of the Floating World: Contemporary Writings Between Cultures

By Rob Burton

Book Overview

This work analyzes the fiction of four contemporary multicultural writers who render a "floating world" in which cultures converge or collide in unexpected, exciting, and dangerous ways. The novels and short stories of Kazuo Ishiguro, Bessie Head, Bharati Mukherjee, and Salman Rushdie explore a literal and metaphorical floating world (adapted from the Japanese concept of "ukiyo"-a still-point between briefly-held earthly pleasures and spiritual immutability) where the characters, like their authors, are poised between conflicting worlds, cultures, and traditions. The manner in which these four authors articulate such a "floating" experience, Burton argues, enriches our understanding and appreciation of the increasingly interconnected world around us.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761835997
• ISBN13: 9780761835998
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: University Press of America
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.4" x 8.5"