Although multiculturalism became an official government policy iduring the 1970s, this was not mirrored on the literary scene in Canada instantly. It was not before the 1980s and 90s when an emerging group of female writers, who offered alternative accounts for the representation of different individual concepts of the self, came into the public focus. Finding answers to what constitutes Canadian identity becomes more and more difficult, when literary backgrounds and biographies shift from linear to more complex settings.
Being born in 1953 on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Dionne Brand stands for the “New Voices of the 1990s” (Howell 205), especially for the emergence of authors coming from an African descent. Her experiences as a teacher and as social and political activist provide a rich soil for her narrative imagination as she “conveys her politics in her poetry, essays, and films, as well as through her community activism” (Johnson and Curtright). Being a lesbian black feminist, she revives some of her experiences of being marginalized in several ways and reconsiders them in In Another Place, Not Here in a love story of two black women, which is situated partially in Toronto and the Caribbean.
In this paper I will argue, that Brand takes on a position in her novel, which shows that the construction of an identity for (lesbian) Caribbean-Canadian women cannot be based on assimilation into the society of Canadian urban areas at its current appearance, since it oppresses marginal groups in various ways. The question of home or “here”, which is central in an individual’s identity, is constantly being negotiated, as the title of the novel already implies, within the individual characters of the novel. For this purpose I will examine the representation of Elizete and Verlia, the two protagonists of the novel, and Verlia’s aunt and uncle in Sudbury, who hosted her the first weeks after she had come to Canada. In doing so, I will refer to theoretical frameworks of the neo-slave narrative and the concepts of “Passing” and “The Black Atlantic” as they provide fruitful applications for interpreting the novel in this context.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Three Different Encounters with a Repressive Society
2.1 Neo-Slavery Experiences by Elizete
2.2 Passing for White Middle Class – Verlia’s Aunt and Uncle
2.3 The Search for Home – Liquid Imagery in the Description of Verlia and the Movement
3 Conclusion
4 Bibliography
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the representation of Caribbean immigrant identity in Dionne Brand's novel In Another Place, Not Here, specifically focusing on how protagonists navigate Canada's social and cultural landscape. It investigates whether Canada, often mythologized as a place of refuge, truly offers a sustainable home for those who face racial and social marginalization.
- Analysis of neo-slavery experiences through the character of Elizete.
- Examination of the sociological phenomenon of "passing" within the migrant experience.
- Exploration of liquid imagery as a narrative device for identity and movement.
- Critique of the "North Star" myth regarding Canada as an utopian destination.
- Interpretation of the "Black Atlantic" framework in relation to displaced identities.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Neo-Slavery Experiences by Elizete
The first character I will try to examine is Elizete. After having a sensual love affair with Verlia on her home island in the Caribbean and eventually seeing her leaping into death, she decides to see Canada herself and trace back the history of her former lover. Brand dedicates an individual part of her novel to each of the two protagonists, which enables her to focus on the very different ways of discovering the self between Verlia and Elizete, who are contrasted by the use of imagery. While Verlia is connected to liquid imagery, which can be associated with the unsteadiness and movement of water, Elizete is described more earthbound, being more stable, rigid and continuous than Verlia. Brand establishes this complementation very early in the novel:
“Elizete, you is bigger than me by millennia and you can hold me between your legs like rock hold water. […] I wonder if you can see me beyond rock and beyond water as something human that need to eat […]” (5).
Throughout the novel, Elizete and especially her body is connected to more or less solid and earthbound materiality. By doing so, Brand reflects on Elizete’s body about experiences and feelings of love, but also about the punishment, pain and violence society in general or individuals apply onto her. Sometimes, like the example above shows, this can be a reference to sturdiness or tenacity. But on other occasions the description of earthly material also applies to painful experiences, for example when Elizete was raped by her employer, “she thought of sand, her face in the sand, the particles flying down her nostrils into her lung; [...] She felt her breath thicken, dense to sand” (90-91).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter outlines the search for national identity in Canadian literature and introduces Dionne Brand’s novel as a counter-narrative to traditional assimilationist portrayals of Caribbean immigrants.
2 Three Different Encounters with a Repressive Society: This core section analyzes the distinct experiences of Elizete, Verlia, and Verlia’s relatives in Canada, utilizing theoretical frameworks such as the neo-slave narrative, the concept of "passing," and liquid imagery.
3 Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, arguing that Canada fails to provide a resting place for identity, forcing immigrants to perpetually seek their home "in another place."
Keywords
Dionne Brand, In Another Place, Not Here, Canadian literature, Caribbean immigrants, identity construction, neo-slave narrative, passing, liquid imagery, Black Atlantic, diaspora, alienation, race, social repression, migrant experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this study?
This study focuses on how Dionne Brand’s novel In Another Place, Not Here represents the struggles of Caribbean immigrants in Canada, particularly how they negotiate identity within a society they perceive as repressive.
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
The paper covers the themes of neo-slavery, the sociological act of "passing," the quest for a stable home, and the use of metaphorical imagery to describe displacement and self-discovery.
What is the primary objective of the research?
The primary objective is to demonstrate that Canada does not provide a definitive, utopian "home" for Caribbean immigrants, but rather serves as a site of negotiation and often disappointment.
Which scientific methodologies are employed?
The author uses literary analysis, drawing upon post-colonial theory, the "Black Atlantic" framework by Paul Gilroy, and sociological concepts regarding identity and racial passing.
What is addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body examines three distinct character paths: Elizete’s experiences of labor exploitation, the "passing" behavior of Verlia’s aunt and uncle, and Verlia’s own journey through disillusionment and political activism.
Which keywords characterize this research?
Key terms include Caribbean-Canadian identity, neo-slave narrative, liquid imagery, race, assimilation, displacement, and the "North Star" myth.
How does liquid imagery function in the novel?
Liquid imagery, such as water and oceans, is used to contrast Verlia’s search for fluidity and a revolutionary "Black self" against the rigid, earthbound reality of her initial Canadian experiences.
Why does the author consider Verlia's jump into the ocean as an act of empowerment?
The author argues that the final leap represents an escape from societal expectations and a return to the "Black Atlantic," allowing Verlia to find an identity that transcends the limited options offered by the Canadian state.
- Quote paper
- Diplom Sportwissenschaftler Dirk Steines (Author), 2007, "Third world people going to the white man country", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/74498
