Pearce, Lynne (2002) The Place of Literature in the Spaces of Belonging. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 5 (3). pp. 275-291. ISSN 1460-3551
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
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.