Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing

237 Pages·2009·1.529 MB·English

by  Brinda Mehta (auth.)

Notions of Identity, Diaspora, and
Gender in Caribbean Women’s Writing
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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
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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
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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.