Wednesday 2 November 2011, 5.30pm-8.00pm
Venue: The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

A panel discussion jointly organised by Queen Mary, University of London and the British Academy

The purpose of this discussion was to open up the connections between the end of the British Empire and the English novel. The main focus was with English fiction more narrowly defined – Josephine Tey, John Masters, William Boyd, A S Byatt, Penelope Lively, Alan Hollinghurst, Ian McEwan and popular feminine romance. These authors are not conventionally read as postcolonial, but they have much of interest to say about the fate of England after the Empire. There has been no sustained discussion of these writers and their relationship to the end of the Empire. The discussion illuminated both questions to do with the properties of the English novel, and with English history since 1945.

First session: THE ISSUES

End of Empire and the English Novel
Bill Schwarz, Queen Mary, University of London (Chair)

Cold War and the End of Empire in the late 1940s
Patrick Parrinder, University of Reading

William Golding
Rachel Gilmour, Queen Mary, University of London

Tim Parks
Suzanne Hobson, Queen Mary, University of London

Second session: RESPONSES

Elleke Boehmer, University of Oxford (Chair)

Catherine Hall, University College London

Susheila Nasta, Open University

Marina Warner FBA, novelist/University of Essex

End of Empire and the English Novel

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. ​

From artificial intelligence to climate change, from building prosperity to improving well-being – today’s complex challenges can only be resolved by deepening our insight into people, cultures and societies.​

We invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, ​engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for ​the benefit of everyone. ​