Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing PDF
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Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing This page intentionally left blank Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing Brinda Mehta notions of identity, diaspora, and gender in caribbean women’s writing Copyright © Brinda Mehta, 2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-61881-7 All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin‘s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-38151-7 ISBN 978-0-230-10050-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230100503 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mehta, Brinda J. Notions of identity, diaspora and gender in Caribbean women’s writing / Brinda J. Mehta. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-38151-7 (alk. paper) 1. Caribbean literature—Women authors—History and criticism. 2. Group identity in literature. 3. Gender identity in literature. 4. Caribbean Area—In literature. 5. West Indies—In literature. I. Title. PN849.C3M39 2009 809'.8928709729—dc22 2009006222 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: September 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 I have reprinted some or all of each of the following articles from journals and other volumes by generous permission of those publications’ original publishers: “Dyasporic Dissonance and the Violence of Memory in Edwidge Danticat’s TheDew Breaker.”Countours: A Journal of the African Diaspora 3:2 (Fall 2005), 47–73. Copyright 2005 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with permission of the University of Illinois Press. Chapter Two. Mehta, Brinda J. 2002. “Re-creating Ayida-Wedo: Feminizing the Serpent in Lilas Desquiron’s LesCheminsdeLoco-Miroir.”Callaloo 25:2 (2002), 654–670. Reprinted with permission of The Johns Hopkins University Press. Chapter Five. Mehta, Brinda J. 2005. “Culinary Diasporas: Identity and the Language of Food in Gisèle Pineau’s UnPapillondanslacité and L’Exil selon Julia.InternationalJournalofFrancophone Studies 8:1. 23–51. Chapter Three. Mehta, Brinda J. 2008. “Exilic Dispositions and Dougla Identity in Laure Moutoussamy’s PasserelledeVie (TheBridgeofLife).” In Parvati Raghuram, Ajaya Kumar Sahoo, Brij Maharaj and Dave Sangha, eds., TracinganIndianDiaspora: Contexts, Memories, Representations, 428–450. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Chapter Two. dedicated to the memory of my beloved mother Kunda Jagadish Mehta my life, my world This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Diasporic Identities in Francophone Caribbean Women’s Literature 1 1 Diasporic Fractures in Colonial Saint Domingue: From Enslavement to Resistance in Evelyne Trouillot’s Rosaliel’infâme 29 2 Dyasporic Trauma, Memory, and Migration in Edwidge Danticat’sTheDewBreaker. 63 3 Culinary Diasporas: Identity and the Transnational Geography of Food in Gisèle Pineau’s Unpapillondanslacité and L’Exil selon Julia. 89 4 Diasporic Identity: Problematizing the Figure of the Dougla in Laure Moutoussamy’s Passerelledevie and Maryse Condé’s La migrationdescoeurs. 121 5 The Voice of Sycorax: Diasporic Maternal Thought 157 Conclusion 193 References 205 Index 217 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I am very grateful to everyone who contributed to the success of this book. I thank Brigitte Shull in particular for her enthusiastic support and endorse- ment of my work. Lee Norton’s editorial expertise has made the publication process effortless and most enjoyable. They are a fine editorial team! Sincere thanks to Carole Boyce Davies, Abiola Irele, Lewis Gordon, David Barry Gaspar, and Ajaya Kumar Sahoo for their faith in this project. This book would not have been possible without the inspiring narratives of the writers and scholars themselves. I give special thanks to Evelyne Trouillot and Edwidge Danticat. I express my sincere gratitude to Walter Mignolo. His influential work has made me rethink my own framings of the Caribbean and postcolonial theory in general. My friends are a constant source of strength, community, and support. I remain indebted to Renée Larrier, Simone James Alexander, Adlai Murdoch, Grant Farred, Myriam Chancy, Neil Roberts, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Paget Henry, Melinda Micco, Teodros Kiros, Kamal Salhi, Patricia Donatien-Yssa, Robin Mitchell, and Ramabai Espinet. I am very grateful to Jorge Dávila for permitting me to use his art for the book cover. Spark Carranza’s invaluable technical assistance transformed the manuscript into publishable form. I thank her for her patience and reassurance. I give thanks to my husband Arturo Dávila-Sánchez for his humbling and inspiring presence in my life. I honor my father Dr. Jagadish Mehta in this book. His wondrous spirit remains alive in my writing. I dedicate Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing to my mother. Her life and passing bear witness to the triumphs and pain of diaspora.
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