‘Nostalgic Utopia’ and the Critique of Universalism: Raymond Williams’s People of the Black Mountains

Raymond Williams’s two-volume work, People of the Black Mountains, has not received the attention it merits since its publication over three decades ago. This article aims to examine how Williams’s exploration of the search for ‘real identities’ beneath the superficial layers of the nation-state takes shape in his fiction. Drawing on Chinese cultural critic Wang Jie’s concept of ‘nostalgic utopia,’ we argue that Williams’s final fictional project employs this form to investigate residual identities from the past and connect them to a diverse and emerging present. The article highlights how Williams’s portrayal of the Black Mountains and its inhabitants serves as a critique of modernity and British state formation. By invoking ‘nostalgic utopia,’ Williams seeks to extract meaningful elements from past experiences, both real and imagined, offering a counter-narrative to the dominant discourse of modernity and a unified British state. This approach encourages a process of rediscovery and re-emergence beyond conventional historical narratives.