"During the last decades of the twentieth century it became increasingly difficult to consider British literature as 'national' or 'mainstream'. This book investigates contemporary fiction and poetry written in, or relating to, Britain and discovers a distinct sense of a new and different national and social reality." "Tracing the literary effects of migration, globalisation and regionalisation, the book focuses on literary tradition as an inspiration or object of hate or frustration for the exploration and expression of post-imperial experiences. The domain of the intercultural is extended from encounters of ethnicity only, to gender, social groups, history and genre - in short, to where an awareness on impacts that 'disturb' traditional notions contributes to a radically changing landscape in literary Britain."--Jacket.