<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Michael Moorcock is often described as “one of the most prolific and varied writers working in Britain” (Malcolm 146). His success as a writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy literature is well established, but he is also the author of two novels about London, Mother London (1988) and King of the City (2000). Hardly known, Mother London by Michael Moorcock, offers itself to a variety of approaches that have been widely discussed in the context of studies on English literature during the Thatcher years, post-modernism, and psycho-geography. The novel resonates with the author’s own childhood in war-time London without being autobiographical. It tells the story of three Londoners who were traumatised during the Blitz. The following article focuses on the mysteries of subterranean London that represents the hidden and unconscious identities of its inhabitants in the post-war period.</p></abstract>

Michael Moorcock is often described as “one of the most prolific and varied writers working in Britain” (Malcolm 146). His success as a writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy literature is well established, but he is also the author of two novels about London, Mother London (1988) and King of the City (2000). Hardly known, Mother London by Michael Moorcock, offers itself to a variety of approaches that have been widely discussed in the context of studies on English literature during the Thatcher years, post-modernism, and psycho-geography. The novel resonates with the author’s own childhood in war-time London without being autobiographical. It tells the story of three Londoners who were traumatised during the Blitz. The following article focuses on the mysteries of subterranean London that represents the hidden and unconscious identities of its inhabitants in the post-war period.

“This fabulous flotsam”: Michael Moorcock’s Urban Anthropology in “London under London”

Prague Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Michael Moorcock is often described as “one of the most prolific and varied writers working in Britain” (Malcolm 146). His success as a writer and editor of...

“This fabulous flotsam”: Michael Moorcock’s Urban Anthropology in “London under London”

Published Online: Aug 04, 2015

Page range: 61 - 75

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjes-2015-0004

Keywords
Subterranean London, underground, nostalgia, Blitz, trauma, war generation, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair

© Faculty of Education, Charles University

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“This fabulous flotsam”: Michael Moorcock’s Urban Anthropology in “London under London”

Published Online: Aug 04, 2015

Page range: 61 - 75

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjes-2015-0004

KeywordsSubterranean London, underground, nostalgia, Blitz, trauma, war generation, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair

© Faculty of Education, Charles University

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Subterranean London, underground, nostalgia, Blitz, trauma, war generation, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair