Exorcising Caribbean ghosts: The family, the hero, and the plantation in Julia Alvarez's Saving the World, In the Name of Salome and Maryse Conde's Tree of Life, I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem 3276174.
Hamill, Maria Cristina
2007
Abstract
<italic>Exorcising Caribbean Ghosts: the Family, the Hero, and the Plantation </italic> searches for common hierarchical, racial, sexual, familial, and political echoes that the plantation system left in Caribbean texts. It argues that in spite of linguistic, religious, and political differences throughout the archipelago, the Caribbean self continues to act in reaction to the initial trauma of the plantation. The plantation placed Europeans above Africans, creating racism leading to an unequal distribution of social standing. It gave white men sexual control of his wife and slaves, thus, curtailing sexual agency and women's rights. A vague notion of paternity erupted from its sexual economy. Power surrounded mostly one man, the master, leaving the alternative discourses of black women and men, white women, and mixed creoles, outside of its realm. By signaling the continuous use of the plantation as a reference point for the distribution of sexual agency, social status, and political power in Caribbean texts, the thesis undermines the plantation's blinding glare. Focusing on close readings of the novels of Dominican-American Julia Alvarez' <italic>In the Name of Salome</italic> and Guadeloupean Maryse Conde's <italic>Tree of Life,</italic> the first two chapters elucidate how white and black racism, the double standards affecting women's education and sexuality, and class conflict fragment and disrupt Caribbean families. Their texts suggest new economies of relating outside of old value systems to achieve more honest interaction among family members. Chapters IV and V analyze Alvarez and Conde's attempt at a redistribution of power achieved by their giving voice to alternative historical discourses. Alvarez' <italic>Saving the World</italic> and Conde's <italic>I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem</italic> critique the lack of accurate historical documentation surrounding prominent women's lives whose historical roles have profoundly affected the Americas. By imagining a buried past, these writers enrich the encyclopedia of the historically impoverished Caribbean woman. Guided by Edouard Glissant and Benitez-Rojo's theoretical frameworks, the conclusion links the previous analyses to the Caribbean plantation origins by searching for repeating racial, sexual, and hierarchical patterns of interaction among characters in all four novels. By dismantling old myths and suggesting new ways for the Caribbean self of relating to its historical legacy, the thesis proves how Alvarez and Conde's narratives blueprint pathways to enhance the future of the region.Subjects
Alvarez, Julia Caribbean Conde, Maryse Dominican Republic Exorcising Family Ghosts Guadeloupe Hero I, Tituba, Black Witch Of Salem In The Name Of Salome Plantation Saving The World Tree Of Life
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