"Towns of Unquestionable Insignificance" in Caryl Phillips' A Distant Shore

Abstract

This essay explores the figuration of English provinciality in Caryl Phillips' 2003 novel A Distant Shore. While many critics have argued that the isolated, provincial, northern town in which much of the novel is set represents British identity at its core, I show that rural and provincial areas, especially in northern England, has always been marginal to mainstream British culture, geographically, economically, and politically. Phillips uses the provincial setting and an unreliable narration to explore not only how political conflict seems to stem from place -- instead of the reverse -- but also how different individuals and groups can be both marginal and actively marginalize others.