Posthuman Intersections in BrexLit: Representing Migration in Contemporary British Fiction

Abstract

The United Kingdom European Union membership or, in common parlance, Brexit referendum, held in the United Kingdom on 23rd June 2016, was an unprecedented event in European politics. This article analyses a literary corpus of long fiction, known as BrexLit, which have all drawn inspiration from this poll and its subsequent consequences for British society. Novels such as Ali Smith’s Autumn (2017), Anthony Cartwright’s The Cut (2017), Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (2017), Jonathan Coe’s Middle England (2018), John Lanchester’s The Wall (2019) or Ian McEwan’s The Cockroach (2019), and others, will be examined through the lens of Posthuman Studies to establish the numerous intersections that can be identified within these texts’ realist and speculative worldviews. BrexLit questions traditional norms, such as the Humanist conception of the white man being the center of the universe, as well as it provides representation for migratory movements. In fact, migratory and refuge issues will form the centerpiece of this study as the majority of these novels challenge the abundant political discourses against the “Other” that have flourished before, during and after the Brexit campaign.