Gender and Identity in British Black and South Asian Writing since 1980

Dr. Chris Weedon (Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University)

The period since 1980 has seen an increase in and diversification of fictional and life writing by British writers of Black and South Asian descent. This writing includes work by both first generation migrants and refugees, some of whom came to the UK as children or young people, and British born writers. They come from diverse backgrounds and their work engages with issue that are central to the history and present of multi-ethnic Britain. This paper will look at examples of some of the ways in which issues of gender are configured in this writing as it addresses issues of identity and belonging, diasporic life, hybridity, and cultural memory.

Professor Chris Weedon is Honorary Director of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory at Cardiff University. She has published widely on feminist theory, cultural politics and women's writing. Her books include Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory (1987 & 1996); Cultural Politics: Class, Render, Race and the Postmodern World (with Glenn Jordan, 1994); Postwar Women's Writing in German (ed. 1997); Feminism, Theory and the Politics of Difference (1999); Identity and Culture: Narratives of Difference and Belonging (2004); and Gender, Feminism and Fiction in Germany 1840-1914 (2006). She is currently working on multi-ethnic Britain and cultural and collective memory.

Organiser: Gina Heathcote

Contact email: gh21@soas.ac.uk

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