Routledge Handbook to Contemporary Literature and Motherhood

The Routledge Handbook to Contemporary Literature and Motherhood explores mothers, mothering, and motherhood through multiple and diverse perspectives, illuminating how such representations help readers understand motherhood as it is actually lived.The Handbook, comprising 47 chapters, is guided by four key objectives: to explore contemporary literary representations of motherhood across a wide geographical span, both in the texts analyzed and in the scholars contributing chapters; to examine mothers, mothering, and motherhood across a comprehensive range of genres, including fiction, poetry, memoir, drama, graphic novel, and the short story; to establish a matrilineal literary tradition that can inform and enrich literary theory and criticism; and to engage with contemporary maternal narratives in order to interrogate normative motherhood, offering insights for the discipline of motherhood studies on how the institution of motherhood can be challenged to effect real change in mothers' lives. With contributors from two dozen countries and more than 100 narratives examined from 42 regional standpoints, it moves beyond the white, US-centered perspective that has long characterized maternal literary studies, offering instead a richly diverse engagement with global motherhoods.This volume will be an essential resource for scholars and students in literary studies and motherhood studies, as well as researchers in gender and women's studies, cultural studies, and comparative literature. By highlighting and amplifying how contemporary literary texts across geography and genre engage with the imperatives of motherhood, it will inform and inspire new research while serving as a vital reference for anyone seeking a truly global understanding of maternal narratives.