The Ethics of Postcolonial Healing in Astrid Roemer’s Trilogy of

Patricia Krus

Two different, yet related strands inform this paper. The first is the motif of the infected wound, an image which appears in Derek Walcott’s epic poem Omeros, and functions as a metaphor for the postcolonial condition of his native Caribbean. The second stems from the search for metaphorical and creative outlets to heal the “incurable / wound of time” evoked by Walcott in Omeros1 through the literary production of the Caribbean and in particular in the work of Surinamese writer Astrid Roemer. Born in in 1947 and a resident of the since the seventies, Astrid Roemer first gained recognition among Dutch and Surinamese literary circles with a debut novel entitled Neem mij terug, Suriname (Take me back, Suriname, 1974)2 which relates the tragic affair between a young Surinamese migrant living in the Netherlands and a white, Dutch prostitute. Through the themes of love and sexual longing, Roemer explores the competing allegiances endured by Surinamese people, torn between the desire to earn themselves a place in the Low Countries while remaining faithful to their own culture and identity. This intertwining of the personal and the communal remain central to her work. As in any (sexual) relationship, the bonds between Suriname and the Netherlands are complex, taut, strong yet fragile at the same time. The publication in rapid succession of three novels between 1996 and 1999 marks the culmination of Astrid Roemer’s exploration of this ambiguous relationship. Roemer’s trilogy, which comprises the novels Gewaagd Leven (Risky Life), Lijken op Liefde (Looks like Love) and Was Getekend (Signed), is concerned both with the political and societal problems of

1 Derek Walcott, Omeros (New York: Farrar: 1990), p. 319. 2 Astrid Roemer, Neem mij terug, Suriname (Schoorl: Uitgeverij Conserve, 2005 [1974]). Roemer’s debut novel was reprinted by Uitgeverij Conserve in 2005 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of its publication, an event which coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of Suriname’s independence. Conserve has included Roemer’s novel in its series “Surinaamse klassieken” which aims to make available a number of key texts of the Surinamese literary canon. 176 Patricia Krus late twentieth-century Suriname and with the historical burden of colonialism and slavery.3 The three novels deal with the recent history of Suriname, a Dutch colony from the 1660s to 1975, and more specifically with the economic and political upheavals of the 1970s and early 1980s. The Dutch decolonisation process has taken various forms: while Indonesia fought violently to sever its ties with the Netherlands, Suriname’s autonomy came peacefully, but nevertheless suddenly.4 To this day, the country remains the only former Dutch colony in the Caribbean to have obtained full political independence while the Netherlands Antilles and have elected to stay within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, surprised by the rapid change of status, large sections of the population migrated to the Netherlands, taking advantage of the opportunity to choose their country of . As a result, by the end of 1975 a quarter of the Surinamese population was living in the Netherlands. Despite migration, ties between and their country and culture of origin remain strong. In her three novels, Roemer tackles Suriname’s passage from colony to autonomous country by including a number of key events from the political stage as historical milestones in her narrative. The most significant and central event is the coup d’état perpetrated by Surinamese military forces in 1980 after years of political and economic unrest, and the subsequent “December Moorden” or December Killings. On 8th December 1982, fifteen opponents of the ruling military regime – among whom opposition leaders, lawyers, trade union leaders and journalists – were secretly executed at Fort Zeelandia, the military headquarters in Paramaribo. Although attempts

3 The three novels which form the trilogy are: Gewaagd leven [A Risky Life], (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1996 [1999], Lijken op liefde [Looks like Love], (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1997), and Was getekend [Signed], (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1998). Subsequent references are to these editions, all translations are my own. 4 Suriname’s rapid accession to independence can be partly attributed to the Dutch government’s desire to avoid another colonial conflict, as was the case with Indonesia. For a comprehensive account of the Dutch decolonisation process, see Gert Oostindie, Paradise Overseas: The Dutch Caribbean, Colonialism and its Transatlantic Legacies, (Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean, 2005); and Gert Oostindie and Inge Klinkers, Knellende koninkrijksbanden: Het Nederlandse dekolonisatiebeleid in de Caraïben, 1940-2000, deel 1 1940-1954, (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2001).