Pastoral and Anti-Pastoral: Representation of City and Village in Literature

The volume has a global approach—the contributors examine literary representation of village and city from very diverse locations.

Village is not just a place, but an idea. Likewise, a city is not just a place, but a metaphor. Human imagination has conceived both village and city as opposite to one another. When we were tired of living in villages, we invented cities; when we no-longer wanted to stay in the cities, we went back to villages. Village life is conventionally perceived as idyllic with clean air, water, food and helpful neighbors; whereas life in the city is often regarded as complicated, isolated, expensive and dwelling of crime. This collected volume critically discusses the literary representation of the village and the city. Its contributors argue that villages are also capable of crime, violence, and punishment along with cities, and cities can also be a place of deep love, friendship, and compassion just like villages. Many contributors also bring home the environmental implications of both village and city with reference to the contemporary model of development. The volume has a global approach—the contributors examine literary representation of village and city from such diverse locations as India, England, America, Nigeria, Algeria, Island, Turkey, Greece, South Asia, and many more.