▼ This thesis explores food as a negative trope in colonial and (post)colonial British literature of the twentieth century. Food, as a carrier of culture, serves as a useful tool for deconstructing hegemonic power relationships between the (post)colonized and (post)colonizing peoples. Chapter One explores the abjection of a culture via the belittling of their food in Redmond O’Hanlon’s Into the Heart of Borneo. Jennifer Brennan’s Curries and Bugles is the focus of Chapter Two, which examines how ‘ethnic cookbooks’ can function to simplify cultures in an attempt to justify colonialism. Finally, Chapter Three analyzes how E. M. Forster, in A Passage to India, uses tea as a metaphor for the inequality of the colonial enterprise, which allows for an examination of the injustices of today’s globalization. This chapter argues for a redefinition of patriotism in the light of globalization and is ultimately an argument in support of Fair Trade. Advisors/Committee Members: Morgan, Dr. Susan.

▼ In our global age, it is essential that we adopt an ethical way of thinking about the world which stresses our commonalities while still respecting the important differences between us – cosmopolitanism. This thesis argues that W.E.B. Du Bois’ Dark Princess, the Pool Group’s film Borderline, and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room demonstrate how cosmopolitanism can be put into practice. Through their modernist questioning of identity construction and sense of double-consciousness, each of these texts suggests that intercultural coalitions can be formed when marginalized peoples use their exclusion from society as a common bond. My reading of these texts suggests that in addition to feminism and socialism, which formed political affiliations across national boundaries, an anti-colonial and anti-racist stance can also aid in creating cross-cultural coalitions. Recognizing the importance of anti-colonialism and anti-racism allows us to see the significant place that African American authors and interracial modernist works hold in the evolution of cosmopolitan thought in the twentieth century. Advisors/Committee Members: Detloff, Madelyn.