Violence in Caribbean literature : stories of stones and blood / Véronique Maisier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maisier, Véronique, author.

Series:

After the empire

After the empire: the Francophone world and postcolonial France

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caribbean fiction (English)--History and criticism.

Caribbean fiction (English).

Caribbean fiction (French)--History and criticism.

Caribbean fiction (French).

Violence in literature.

Literature and society--Caribbean Area.

Literature and society.

Caribbean Area.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 141 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham ; Boulder ; New York ; London : Lexington Books, [2015]

Summary:

Violence in Caribbean Literature: Stones of Stones and Blood uses the scene of the throwing of a stone found in five novels and as a starting point to examine the turmoil of history in the Caribbean, the colonial education imposed on Caribbean populations, the gendered relations that exist today in the Caribbean region, the political status and aspirations of Caribbean nations, and the psychological impact of colonization. The trope of the stone and the analysis of the violence it delivers provide the threads that guide the readings of these novels, written by Dominican Jean Rhys, Trinidadian Merle Hodge, Guadcloupean Giselc Pineau, Martinican Patrick Chamoiseau, and Jamaican-American Michelle Cliff. The analytical and critical readings of these writers' novels complement one another and draw out commonalities, echoes, and differences, while the juxtaposition of Anglophone and Francophone novels from different Caribbean nations contributes to a polyphonic understanding of the region. While the book offers diversity in the range of countries and languages represented, and in the interdisciplinarity of the scholarly fields that intersect in its cultural discussions, it maintains coherence with the unifying theme of violence and its representations in Caribbean literature. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Violence of History: Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea 1

A Jagged Trajectory 4

A Shattered Identity 8

Ricochets 10

Historical Fictions 14

Rewritings 21

Notes 27

2 An Education in Violence; Merle Hodge's Crick Crack, Monkey 31

Schools for the Few 32

Cultural Stakes 36

Stone, Crime, and Punishment 41

Subjects and Subject Matters 45

Postcolonial Curriculums 48

Notes 53

3 Gendered Violence: Gisèle Pineau's The Drifting of Spirits 57

Stalemates 60

Death of a Teacher 63

Matadoras 69

Notes 75

4 The Politics of Violence: Patrick Chamoiseau's Texaco 79

From Dreams to Stones 81

Beginnings 85

The "Julot-Effect" 90

Caribbean Political Realities 94

Notes 100

5 Violent Dreams; Michelle Cliff's Abeng 105

Who are the Savages? 109

Literary Echoes 111

Ruination 114

Notes 121.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739197110

0739197118

OCLC:

890625397