The Burden of the Self: Tim Parks, Salman Rushdie and Postmodernism

Always elegant, terse and full of enthusiam, Tegla shows a remarkable grasp of the complex issues surrounding the dramatization of identity and morality in contemporary narrative. Tim ParksTegla''s study combines a keen eye for narratological detail and generic conventions with a provocative willingness to take sides. Charles I. Armstrong, Professor of British literature at the University of BergenDespite his many award-winning novels, Tim Parks has received surprisingly scant critical attention by scholars. Ms Tegla''s introduction to his novels and her intriguing analysis of identity in Europa amend this deficiency in what might prove a seminal study of a body of literary work that seems to increase in significance by the day. That she also includes Salman Rushdie''s The Ground Beneath Her Feet in her sophisticated coordination of current theories offers a bonus. Dr Ruben Moi, University of Tromsø