THE SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN: MIGRATION, NATIONALISM, AND EXODUS IN CONTEMPORARY INDO-GUYANESE LITERATURE by Savena Budhu A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 2010 © Copyright by Savena Budhu 2010 ii THE SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN: MIGRATION, NATIONALISM, AND EXODUS IN CONTEMPORARY INDO-GUYANESE LITERATURE by Savena Budhu This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate's dissertation advisor, Dr. Wenying Xu, Department of English, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy. c~ Emily ~-ar-d-,P-h-.-D-.-=~----- Director, Comparative Studies Program ~.~a.P-db ~endakur, Ph.D. Dean, The Dorothy F. Schmidt College ofArts & Letters ~~Q:~.--- 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my committee Prof. Wenying Xu, Prof. Eric Berlatsky, Prof. Douglas McGetchin, Prof. Raphael Dalleo, and Prof. Elena Machado for your attentive readings of my work. Especial thanks to my Chair Prof. Wenying Xu for her counsel in guiding me through this academic project. I am indebted to my friends and family members who have always supported my efforts. In the last six years, almost daily someone cheered me on, read my chapters, provided ongoing feedback, and offered words of encouragement. This is all possible because I am blessed to have parents who hold me up and love me unconditionally. My father always believed in education and taught me that I can achieve the highest of goals with hard work and dedication. My mom gave me strength beyond words who worked tirelessly each day so that I could have time to pursue my dream. My supportive brother kept the sense of humor on days when I needed it the most. And, to my beautiful sister, Anjuleka, thank you for everything, above all, your unwavering belief in me. Special thanks to my dear friend Cathy for reading my chapters with the charm of a great friendship, and, to Laura, for your emotional support. To feel so loved in life makes any and all dreams possible. And finally, I want to honor all those who came before me and made the long journey over the Kali Pani to arrive in Guyana. I am able to accomplish this dream because they paved the way for me to do so. ~om shanti shanti om~ iv ABSTRACT Author: Savena Budhu Title: The South Asian Diaspora in the Caribbean: Migration, Nationalism, and Exodus in Contemporary Indo-Guyanese Literature Institution: Florida Atlantic University Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Wenying Xu Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2010 This dissertation proposes a two-part thesis on the South Asian diaspora in the Caribbean within contemporary Indo-Guyanese literature. First, Indo-Guyanese writers such as David Dabydeen, Oonya Kempadoo, and Narmala Shewcharan are using the genre of historical fiction to posit counter narratives that undermine dominant narratives of South Asian culture and gender roles. Second, even as these writers struggle against dominant narratives, their texts reinscribe the colonial discourse and rearticulate racial stereotypes. As argued in this dissertation, the dismal historical realities of ethnic tensions and failed anti-colonial tactics do not sufficiently address the flexible strategies often chosen by the characters and authors to navigate through racial and political convolution. By analyzing works by Indo-Guyanese, I attempt to open a conversation about race, place, and politics, offering some external viewpoints and revealing some important insights into the problems and contradictions in Guyana. The value of these v works is the calling for a connection to history as both a positive example (texts that show gaps in which characters can negotiate social borders) and a negative model (works that amplify racial tension and dismiss the divide and conquer strategy of the colonizer). This twofold thesis develops along three crucial historical periods—the dislocation from India and the heavy burden of indentured labor in British Guiana (1838-1917), ethnic victimization during post-independence (1970), and the subsequent flight to the First World (1980-1990): migration, nationalism, and exodus. Chapter 1 reveals the challenges of indentured labor through East Indian and African characters that disrupts racial and gender borders in David Dabydeen‘s The Counting House. Chapter 2 exposes the racial tensions following independence as the newly formed government creates an atmosphere of distrust in Oonya Kempadoo‘s and Narmala Shewcharan‘s debut novels. Chapter 3 suggests the ramifications of exodus as Guyanese reconfigure their identity in a new location in David Dabydeen‘s narratives. This body of work by Indo-Guyanese plays upon the complex web of historical, political, and racial constructs that coexist simultaneously as authors acknowledge the limits and potential of their colonized history, of nationalist movements, and the rebuilding that is left in its wake. vi DEDICATION To Mom and Dad Always, with love THE SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN: MIGRATION, NATIONALISM, AND EXODUS IN CONTEMPORARY INDO-GUYANESE LITERATURE Introduction. ―They could tell a tale. They want a say, without doubt‖— Indo-Guyanese Literature .............................................................................................. 1 Colonial Period ................................................................................................ 13 Decolonization Period ..................................................................................... 14 Exodus from Guyana ....................................................................................... 15 Chapter 1. ―‗Coolies! Welcome to the Colony!‘‖ Gender, Race, and Rebellion within the Sugar Estates in David Dabydeen‘s The Counting House ......................... 19 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 19 Section 1. Gender and Place—The Indian Woman in Colonial India and the British Caribbean Colony .......................................................................... 21 Section 2. Dual Reading of Masculinity in India and British Guiana ............ 36 Section 3. Two Ethnic Selves in One—The Black Man and the Indian Other ................................................................................................................ 43 Section 4. The Afro-Guyanese Woman Contention to Power ....................... 53 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 2. Reverberations of the Colonial Script in Oonya Kempadoo‘s Buxton Spice and Narmala Shewcharan‘s Tomorrow is Another Day ........................ 66 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 66 Section 1. Nationalist Beginnings, Ethnic Endings—Cooperative Socialism and Failed Literary Strategies ......................................................... 69 vii Section 2. Writing Within the Panopticon ...................................................... 75 Section 3. Failed Revolution of the Laboring Class ....................................... 81 Section 4. Reproducing Gendered Spaces ...................................................... 88 Section 5. The Politics of Flight and the Descent into Madness .................... 93 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 3. Writing Back to the Empire from the Center of Whiteness: Colonial Legacy, Messy Identities, and Geographical Spaces in David Dabydeen‘s The Intended and Disappearance .................................................................................... 102 Introduction ................................................................................................... 102 Section 1. The Question of an Everyman Journey—Indo- and Afro- Guyanese Experiences in England ................................................................ 107 Section 2. Remembering the Homeland from the Colonial Motherland ...... 127 Section 3. A Divided England—the Cosmopolitan Metropolis and the Dying Empire ................................................................................................ 139 Section 4. ―The Conquest of the Earth is not a Pretty Thing‖—the Intertextual Play on Joseph Conrad‘s Heart of Darkness ............................. 152 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 174 Conclusion. Emerging Voices, New Directions ...................................................... 178 Notes .......................................................................................................................... 183 Works Cited ............................................................................................................... 202 vii INTRODUCTION ―THEY COULD TELL A TALE. THEY WANT A SAY, WITHOUT DOUBT‖ INDO-GUYANESE LITERATURE Long ago, they were supply fleshed. But then, all meat fell away from the bone. Some teeth and hair remained. Someone should examine their story. After all, it‘s not that they dwindled into dust altogether. Besides, these bones