Historical narratives in the Caribbean: Women giving voice to history.

Abstract

This dissertation explores how the historical novel has been adapted by Caribbean women writers to relate their view of the history of the area. These writers reinscribe women, descendants of slaves, and poor people back into Caribbean history. The first chapter discusses some complexities of the Caribbean: definition of the area, and the use of history and language as ideological tools. The development of the historical novel in Europe and Latin America is outlined and it is shown that this type of novel has often been used as a propaganda tool. In the second chapter, Sab: A Portrayal of 19th Century Slavery, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda's work is discussed. Sab reflects a colonial Cuban society in which Africans suffered under slavery. The status of women is compared to that of slaves. The third chapter, Escalera para Electra: History as Myth, explores the work of Dominican writer Aida Cartagena Portalatin. In her novel, Portalatin narrates the violent history of her country as she reinterprets the Greek Electra myth. Portalatin makes the father figure become a dictator who carries on abusive relationships with his wife and daughter. In the fourth chapter, Maldito Amor: The Dismantling of His/story, the discussion focuses on Rosario Ferre's Maldito Amor which reexamines the history of Puerto Rico. Topics explored are racism, the position of black women in Puerto Rican society, and the North American presence on the island. These three women writers not only reinterpret and destabilize Caribbean history but in a feminist stance advocate change in their cultures. Their work reveals complexities about Caribbean history that might otherwise have remained hidden. In the final chapter I discuss the elements shared by these novels: the family as synecdoche for the nation, female bonding and competition, foreign intervention, and parentage as problematic. Unlike the traditional historical novel, Sab, Escalera para Electra, and Maldito Amor do not focus on revolutions or mass struggles. They stem from an interest in individuals and their place in Caribbean history. In this dissertation I show that women's story-telling in the Caribbean has often been subversive and has offered an alternative view of history.