V.S. Naipaul

In this comprehensive study, Suntan Gupta provides a critical evaluation of the work of V. S. Naipaul up to the present, analysing his ideological and artistic development over five decades within the numerous cultural contexts he has addressed. Features which cut across the broad corpus of Naipaul's works are highlighted: his attempts at comparative cultural evaluation, his reflections on colonial and post-colonial history, and the spiritual and political aspirations of individuals and communities. The cosmopolitan world Naipaul inhabits provides a variety of cultural perspectives from which Naipaul is able to express his concern about twentieth-century uncertainties and the questionable effects of imperialism.
About the Author

Suman Gupta is Lecturer in English Literature, Roehampton Institute London, where he teaches courses on modern and contemporary literature and literary theory, including colonial/post-colonial literature. His most recent book is Two Texts and Disciplines of Knowledge and the Literary Subject (1999).