The term 'religion' is treated as problematic in studying the works of non-Western authors because it is rooted in Western history and socio-political constructions. In this contribution to
postcolonial studies, Darroch (theology and religious studies, U. of Glasgow) reads Guyanese writers in tandem with contemporary theorists of religion. In critical readings of Wilson Harris's
Jonestown, the poetry of John Agard, the works of David Dabydeen and others, she sheds light on themes including European pilgrimage to a mythic new land, local memory in relationship to
colonial trauma, double-consciousness, and the question of the relevance of psychoanalysis--another European product--to critical studies of this literature. Annotation 穢2009 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
