Myriam Moïse (Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/ University of the West Indies)
African Caribbean women are characterized by their essentially hybrid background, a consequence of their diverse colonial influences, the creolization of African and Anglophone Caribbean religious practices and a history of continuous displacement and diaspora. The Caribbean is also a hybrid place through its linguistic diversity resulting from a multilingual history. Coming from a matriarchal hybrid community, African Caribbean women writers who have relocated to North America settled in a predominantly white patriarchal western society whether it be Canada or the USA. This paper aims at analysing the different impacts of this new literary culture on the dominant cultural discourse. As a matter of fact, to what extent can the diasporic female voice be considered as an instrument for redemption, innovation and reconnection? To what degree do they come to terms with race, class and gender stereotypes of their culture to set themselves free and to voice their history and cultural identity thus reconnecting their hybrid self?
Caribbean American writer Michelle Cliff’s prose and poetry work The Land of Look Behind (1985) and Caribbean Canadian poet Marlene Nourbese Philip’s poetry collection She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1988) will be at the heart of this demonstration. Issues of transcultural identities, linguistic conflicts, re-appropriation and meta-production will be considered with regards to the diasporic female text as these two in-between writers will take us through their ‘Journey into Speech’. While a part of this enquiry will look into language through issues of multilingualism and creolization/hybridization, the main purpose is yet to demonstrate the effects of this new language attitude on the dominant discourse.
Caribbean American writer Michelle Cliff’s prose and poetry work The Land of Look Behind (1985) and Caribbean Canadian poet Marlene Nourbese Philip’s poetry collection She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1988) will be at the heart of this demonstration. Issues of transcultural identities, linguistic conflicts, re-appropriation and meta-production will be considered with regards to the diasporic female text as these two in-between writers will take us through their ‘Journey into Speech’. While a part of this enquiry will look into language through issues of multilingualism and creolization/hybridization, the main purpose is yet to demonstrate the effects of this new language attitude on the dominant discourse.
