Neocolonial Fictions of the Global Cold War

“Neocolonial Fictions distinguishes itself in the field of new Cold War studies by arguing that, at least in terms of culture and literature, the Cold War was not sui generis, but rather was distinguished by relations and dynamics that came into being long before 1946 and have, in many cases, continued to the present. The contributors read Cold War–era literature with an eye to decolonization, the civil rights movement in the U.S., the struggle for women’s liberation, and the metastasis of the bureaucratic state.”—Greg Barnhisel, author, Cold War Modernists: Art, Literature, and American Cultural Diplomacy

“Neocolonial Fictions is a welcome, worthwhile collection that takes seriously the centrality of world liberation movements in the making of a mid-century U.S. literary canon; as important, the anthology maps the afterlives of such movements and Cold War–engagements vis-à-vis the contemporary ‘War on Terror’ imaginary. Neocolonial Fictions is impressive and capacious.” —Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, author, War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian American Memory Work