The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial ExperienceSouth End Press, 1996 - 223 pages In this book, acclaimed South Asian American poet and novelist Meena Alexander unleashes a fury of prose and poetry to confront the stereotypes and explore the challenges facing postcolonial immigrants in America. Commenting on the history of memory, language, shame, and exile, Alexander poignantly describes the wealth of experiences and imaginings that have shaped her life and writing. Her project: "to make space for what was crossed out in the decorum of femininity, in the high places of classical hierarchy, in the racism of a canonical knowledge, in the obliterations of a national memory ... all this is part of our task, part of the violent, fractured worlds that we must etch into beauty". |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 15
Page 64
... land , far away . Land of maharajahs and snake charmers and poverty so desperate it ends in the plague . ' Hindu , they called me Hindu , then threw eggs at me . A group of skinheads in a car . I ran all the way home , ' one of my ...
... land , far away . Land of maharajahs and snake charmers and poverty so desperate it ends in the plague . ' Hindu , they called me Hindu , then threw eggs at me . A group of skinheads in a car . I ran all the way home , ' one of my ...
Page 85
... lands is exploded by Israeli gunfire ; and while the death of the young child has no possible consolation , nationalism , the naming of this land as ours , provides the narra- tor with a momentary hope : ' Look , this is a mountain ...
... lands is exploded by Israeli gunfire ; and while the death of the young child has no possible consolation , nationalism , the naming of this land as ours , provides the narra- tor with a momentary hope : ' Look , this is a mountain ...
Page 199
... land up in ether . Nowhere ! D : Here am I ! She murmured this and started dancing in the room , the long , elaborate dance of her exile , her eyes darting , her ankles hopping and flying , the long tresses coming loose in the heat of ...
... land up in ether . Nowhere ! D : Here am I ! She murmured this and started dancing in the room , the long , elaborate dance of her exile , her eyes darting , her ankles hopping and flying , the long tresses coming loose in the heat of ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic America artist Ashtamudi Lake Asian Asian-American art Balamaniamma bits blood born breath British burning child cloth colonialism cried culture dance dark death decolonization Delhi dharma Draupadi dream earth edge English eyes face feminine fierce figure filled fire flesh forced Frantz Fanon Gandhi garden girl hair hands Hashmi head Hyderabad imagination India Kathakali Kerala Khartoum Lalithambika language light lines living Malayalam maternal Meena Alexander memory mother mouth Native American never painted Parasurama passion poem poet poetry political postcolonial published river rock Safdar Hashmi San Andreas Fault sari Sarojini Naidu sense sexual shock of arrival Sita skin Skin Song snow Song soul space speak speech stone street struggle tell Tethi Thankam things thought tion Tiruvella tongue torn trees turned Vasco da Gama violence voice walking wall window woman words writing young