Inhabiting the Other: Essays on Literature and Exile

Literary inspiration that drew impetus from a state of exile and suffering has engaged the attention of scholars in view of its overwhelming occurrence in contemporary literature. Texts built around the sign of displacement have allowed readings at multiple levels of space and time leading to shifts in trends in hermeneutics. The editor’s goal in this volume is to give a critical overview of certain common denominators present in texts of a similar persuasion, functioning within identical parameters, albeit at different junctures of history. Physical exile and isolation led, in many instances, to a blossoming of the creative faculties which sought to ease the numbing feeling of an inner exile. The present collection of essays, representing texts from different countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, institute a discussion on certain issues that plagued the minds of some of the greatest writers of the world.