Publication Date: 2023/10/05
Abstract: The term Commonwealth Literature is an umbrella term coined for the collective literature of all the postcolonial nations. It primarily refers to the literature composed by the writers belonging to the nations which were colonized by the United Kingdom. In general, Commonwealth Literature refers to the literary work done by the writers belonging to Africa, Asia, The Caribbeans and North America. All these nations had been colonized by the United Kingdom. Thus the work of the writers belonging to the countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Malaysia and Singapore is regarded as Commonwealth Literature. The concept of ‘Commonwealth’ cannot be easily defined due to the historical, geographical, political and linguistic dimensions that simultaneously hold it as a distinct body of literature. Ironically the literature of the United Kingdom is not considered as Commonwealth, even though its imperial past and language forms the basis of the concept of Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is thus related to a few factors including the common experience of British colonialism shared by the residents of these colonies, the adoption of English language in the day- to- day life, and the introduction of the British literary trends. Commonwealth Literature is thus, a complex amalgamation of different ideologies drawn from the Marxist literature, African literature, Symbolic literature, and the current literary trends which distinguish writers from different sociocultural backgrounds. The paper aims to analyse the various themes, styles and patterns commonly associated with the literature originating from the writings of the Commonwealth nations.
Keywords: Commnowealth Literature, Post-Colonialism, Displacement.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8410009
PDF: https://ijirst.demo4.arinfotech.co/assets/upload/files/IJISRT23SEP1097.pdf
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