Transoceanic Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh's Ibis Trilogy

Transoceanic Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh's Ibis Trilogy studies Ghosh's Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015) in relation to maritime criticism. Juan-José Martín-González draws upon the intersections between maritime criticism and postcolonial thought to provide, via an analysis of the Ibis trilogy, alternative insights into nationalism(s), cosmopolitanism and globalization. He shows that the Victorian age in its transoceanic dimension can be read as an era of proto-globalization that facilitates a materialist critique of the inequities of contemporary global neo-liberalism. The book argues that in order to maintain its critical sharpness, postcolonialism must re-direct its focus towards today's most obvious legacy of nineteenth-century imperialism: capitalist globalization. Tracing the migrating characters who engage in transoceanic crossings through Victorian sea lanes in the Ibis trilogy, Martín-González explores how these dispossessed collectives made sense of their identities in the Victorian waterworlds and illustrates the political possibilities provided by the sea crossing and its fluid boundaries.

Contributes to the latest debates in postcolonial thought and globalization studies Demonstrates how Ghosh's Ibis trilogy records the changing notions of cosmopolitanism Extends neo-Victorian studies to encapsulate a postcolonial maritime studies

Autorentext

Juan-José Martín-González is Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Málaga, Spain. He researches and publishes in the fields of maritime and migration studies, neo-Victorian fiction and postcolonialism.

Klappentext

Transoceanic Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh s Ibis Trilogy studies Ghosh s Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015) in relation to maritime criticism. Juan-José Martín-González draws upon the intersections between maritime criticism and postcolonial thought to provide, via an analysis of the Ibis trilogy, alternative insights into nationalism(s), cosmopolitanism and globalization. He shows that the Victorian age in its transoceanic dimension can be read as an era of proto-globalization that facilitates a materialist critique of the inequities of contemporary global neo-liberalism. The book argues that in order to maintain its critical sharpness, postcolonialism must re-direct its focus towards today s most obvious legacy of nineteenth-century imperialism: capitalist globalization. Tracing the migrating characters who engage in transoceanic crossings through Victorian sea lanes in the Ibis trilogy, Martín-González explores how these dispossessed collectives made sense of their identities in the Victorian waterworlds and illustrates the political possibilities provided by the sea crossing and its fluid boundaries.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The 'Oceanic Turn' and the Indian Ocean: Maritime Criticism, Cosmopolitanism and Nineteenth-Century Oceanic Culture.- 3. Of Coolies, Lascars, and the Kala Pani: Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies (2008).- 4. Of Hongs, Achhas, and Fanqui-Town: Amitav Ghosh's River of Smoke (2011).- 5. Of Buchas, Opium Wars, and the Kali Yuga: Amitav Ghosh's Flood of Fire (2015).- 6. Conclusion.