This work argues for a greater reception of transnationalism in literary studies. Though the steady rise of transnationalism has already been studied in many areas of academia, literary studies has only begun to pay attention to it, and scholars appear to remain largely rooted in postcolonial or nationalistic thought. Refusing to read current texts through the lens of transnationalism hinders the literary academy's relevancy since creative writers today are addressing changes to the national structure in their fictive works. This study suggests why a new theoretical construct is needed to understand those texts, and it uses two representative examples: Zadie Smith's novel White Teeth and Dave Eggers' novel What Is the What. Smith's work focuses intently upon the friction people experience in the face of transnationalism when they refuse to let go of their colonial mindset. Eggers' text centers on a Lost Boy from Sudan and, through an alternative form of narration, examines how storytelling itself will have to change, since simple narratives no longer exist in a transnational world and people no longer identify with one nation or setting.
","abstract_html":"<p>This work argues for a greater reception of transnationalism in literary studies. Though the steady rise of transnationalism has already been studied in many areas of academia, literary studies has only begun to pay attention to it, and scholars appear to remain largely rooted in postcolonial or nationalistic thought. Refusing to read current texts through the lens of transnationalism hinders the literary academy's relevancy since creative writers today are addressing changes to the national structure in their fictive works. This study suggests why a new theoretical construct is needed to understand those texts, and it uses two representative examples: Zadie Smith's novel <em>White Teeth</em> and Dave Eggers' novel <em>What Is the What</em>. Smith's work focuses intently upon the friction people experience in the face of transnationalism when they refuse to let go of their colonial mindset. Eggers' text centers on a Lost Boy from Sudan and, through an alternative form of narration, examines how storytelling itself will have to change, since simple narratives no longer exist in a transnational world and people no longer identify with one nation or setting.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shake, Nelson"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in English (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis (open access)","degree_discipline":"Department of Literature and Philosophy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Gautam Kundu","Joe Pellegrino"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:26:17Z","subjects":["ETD","Literary transnationalism","Nationalism","Samad Iqbal","Achak Deng","Necropolitics","American Literature","Comparative Literature","Literature in English, British Isles"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/49","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Gautam Kundu","Joe Pellegrino"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shake, Nelson"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-07-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Literature and Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis (open access)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in English (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ETD","Literary transnationalism","Nationalism","Samad Iqbal","Achak Deng","Necropolitics","American Literature","Comparative Literature","Literature in English, British Isles"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/49"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This work argues for a greater reception of transnationalism in literary studies. Though the steady rise of transnationalism has already been studied in many areas of academia, literary studies has only begun to pay attention to it, and scholars appear to remain largely rooted in postcolonial or nationalistic thought. Refusing to read current texts through the lens of transnationalism hinders the literary academy's relevancy since creative writers today are addressing changes to the national structure in their fictive works. This study suggests why a new theoretical construct is needed to understand those texts, and it uses two representative examples: Zadie Smith's novel White Teeth and Dave Eggers' novel What Is the What. Smith's work focuses intently upon the friction people experience in the face of transnationalism when they refuse to let go of their colonial mindset. Eggers' text centers on a Lost Boy from Sudan and, through an alternative form of narration, examines how storytelling itself will have to change, since simple narratives no longer exist in a transnational world and people no longer identify with one nation or setting.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Narrating Literary Transnationalism in Zake Smith and Dave Eggers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Gautam Kundu","Joe Pellegrino"],"dc:creator":["Shake, Nelson"],"dc:date.available":["2013-07-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This work argues for a greater reception of transnationalism in literary studies. Though the steady rise of transnationalism has already been studied in many areas of academia, literary studies has only begun to pay attention to it, and scholars appear to remain largely rooted in postcolonial or nationalistic thought. Refusing to read current texts through the lens of transnationalism hinders the literary academy's relevancy since creative writers today are addressing changes to the national structure in their fictive works. This study suggests why a new theoretical construct is needed to understand those texts, and it uses two representative examples: Zadie Smith's novel White Teeth and Dave Eggers' novel What Is the What. Smith's work focuses intently upon the friction people experience in the face of transnationalism when they refuse to let go of their colonial mindset. Eggers' text centers on a Lost Boy from Sudan and, through an alternative form of narration, examines how storytelling itself will have to change, since simple narratives no longer exist in a transnational world and people no longer identify with one nation or setting.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/49"],"dc:subject":["ETD","Literary transnationalism","Nationalism","Samad Iqbal","Achak Deng","Necropolitics","American Literature","Comparative Literature","Literature in English, British Isles"],"dc:title":["Narrating Literary Transnationalism in Zake Smith and Dave Eggers"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Literature and Philosophy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis (open access)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in English (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:26:17Z"}