Spatial Representations of British Identities

This volume of 'anglistik & englischunterricht' concentrates on the relationship between representations of space and the formation of personal and group identities. Resulting from the 2009 conference of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures at Paderborn University, the papers share a special focus on the ways in which literary texts construct and/or undermine coherent spaces and thereby shape their protagonists' search for a functioning sense of self. In addition, the portrayal and reading of spaces in other (particularly visual) media will also play an important role. Readers are thereby offered a comprehensive and comparative overview of spatially grounded identity representations in the British Isles, with a temporal focus on the period from the 19th to the 21st century. Thus, the volume constitutes a valuable contribution to a vibrant discussion which - after the 'spatial turn' - is taking place in many fields of literary and cultural studies. von Tönnies, Merle