The Stepmother Tongue: An Introduction to New Anglophone Fiction

There are numerous 20th century writers who are not technically native speakers of the language, and whose relation to it is ambivalent, problematic or even hostile: by a simple kinship analogy one may often speak of the “stepmother tongue.” While fully aware of the current debates in post-colonial theory, John Skinner is also conscious of its sometimes unhelpful complexities and contradictions. The focus of this study is thus firmly on the fictional practice of the writers discussed. “The Stepmother Tongue” offers the reader both an insight into the diversity and rewards of contemporary anglophone fiction and analyses of some eighty individual texts.