TY - JOUR

T1 - The Place of Literature in the Spaces of Belonging.

AU - Pearce, Lynne

N1 - RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : English Language and Literature

PY - 2002/8

Y1 - 2002/8

N2 - This article explores the different ways in which literary texts can help us negotiate our sense of 'home' and 'belonging' with respect to the complex intersection of our national, regional and gendered identities. Writing at a time when the map of Europe is being radically redrawn vis-a-vis the European Union (EU) and the future of the nation state, the author attempts to take us 'inside' the emotional and cognitive processes by which she, and other feminist colleagues, have struggled to produce a locational identity that is meaningful to them. As well as revealing the usefulness of national and regional literatures in this process, the article also shows how a 'strategic' use of autobiography can help mediate the complexity of our positioning.

AB - This article explores the different ways in which literary texts can help us negotiate our sense of 'home' and 'belonging' with respect to the complex intersection of our national, regional and gendered identities. Writing at a time when the map of Europe is being radically redrawn vis-a-vis the European Union (EU) and the future of the nation state, the author attempts to take us 'inside' the emotional and cognitive processes by which she, and other feminist colleagues, have struggled to produce a locational identity that is meaningful to them. As well as revealing the usefulness of national and regional literatures in this process, the article also shows how a 'strategic' use of autobiography can help mediate the complexity of our positioning.

KW - autobiography • feminist methodology • gender • identity politics • nation

U2 - 10.1177/1364942002005003065

DO - 10.1177/1364942002005003065

M3 - Journal article

VL - 5

SP - 275

EP - 291

JO - European Journal of Cultural Studies

JF - European Journal of Cultural Studies

SN - 1460-3551

IS - 3

ER -