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Representations of Matrifocality in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Fiction

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Representations of Matrifocality in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Fiction Representations of Matrifocality in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Fiction Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Leighan Renaud Department of English University of Leicester August 2018 Representations of Matrifocality in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Fiction Leighan Renaud Abstract This thesis explores the representation of African Caribbean matrifocality in the novels of five twenty-first century writers from the Caribbean: Jacob Ross’ Pynter Bender (2008); Marlon James’ The Book of Night Women (2009); Erna Brodber’s Nothing’s Mat (2014); Marie-Elena John’s Unburnable (2006); and Nalo Hopkinson’s The Salt Roads (2003). Matrifocality, meaning mother-centric or mother-focused, has been of interest within the social sciences for almost a century, particularly within the Caribbean region, and continues to be a subject of interest within the discipline. My thesis offers an analysis of the representation of matrifocality in fiction, and a consideration of what fictional engagement with the phenomenon contributes to existing and emerging debates. By situating my literary analysis of my key texts alongside debates from sociology, anthropology and history, I advocate for a multi- disciplinary approach to Caribbean literature that positions fiction as an interesting site of analysis within wider cultural studies. This thesis argues that matrifocality is represented in my five key novels as an integral component of family and community life, and functions as a driving force for each text’s storyline. I argue that each of the novels I analyse engages with existing debates about matrifocality in the Caribbean – such as tropes of missing or marginal men, the African influence on the phenomenon, and a rejection of patriarchy. Though each novel is highly unique, each positions matrifocality as a symbol of resistance against patriarchal and Eurocentric normativity, and as an important literary trope. I suggest that the novelists imagine and write matrifocality as a distinctively Caribbean phenomenon that has been influenced by the African traditions of the region’s majority population, and each attempts to reject dated misconceptions of matrifocality as a fractured system, by positioning it as a family and community structure that encourages strength and autonomy among African Caribbean women. i Acknowledgments I wish to thank a number of people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Firstly, my supervisor Dr Lucy Evans, who has provided invaluable advice and support during the process. I am grateful to Dr Zalfa Feghali who acted as an interim supervisor and was a great source of feedback and encouragement. My family have been my foundation throughout this process, and I could not have done this without them. Thank you to my parents, who have offered advice, patience, understanding, and unwavering support. Thank you to my four brothers for their unfailing good humour and timely distractions. Thank you to my nephew Micah, for being an effervescent source of joy. I dedicate this thesis to my grandmothers, Mrs Linda David and Mrs Marie Renaud. ii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Defining Matrifocality ......................................................................................................................... 2 Reading and Writing the Caribbean Family ...................................................................................... 15 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................................ 24 Chapter One: ‘Men Walked’: Constructing the Matrifocal Family in Jacob Ross’ Pynter Bender (2008) ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Nationalism and the Bildungsroman ................................................................................................ 30 Matrifocality and Missing Men ......................................................................................................... 43 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter Two: ‘Every nigger story soon become a tale ’bout they mother’: Slave Women and Rebellion in Marlon James’ The Book of Night Women (2009) ..................................................... 57 The Neo-Slave Narrative ................................................................................................................... 58 Remembering Enslaved Women ....................................................................................................... 67 Resistance, Kinship and the Night Women ....................................................................................... 76 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter Three: ‘The end linked with the beginning and was even the beginning’: Fractal Poetics in Erna Brodber’s Nothing’s Mat (2014) .......................................................................................... 88 Fractal Poetics ................................................................................................................................... 90 The ‘never-ending circles’ of the Mat and the Novel ....................................................................... 97 The Fractal, Matrifocal Family ........................................................................................................ 105 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 115 Chapter Four: ‘A Natural Aversion to Slavery’: Matrifocality as Marronage in Marie-Elena John’s Unburnable (2006) ................................................................................................................... 117 Writing Women, Writing Marronage .............................................................................................. 119 Trauma and Healing ........................................................................................................................ 131 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 144 iii Chapter Five: Local and Global Communities of Three-Twist Women in Nalo Hopkinson’s The Salt Roads (2003) ............................................................................................................................ 146 Genre, Vodou, and The Salt Roads ................................................................................................. 148 Global and Local Matrifocal Communities ...................................................................................... 160 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 174 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 176 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 182 iv Introduction This thesis explores representations of matrifocality in five novels by Caribbean writers published in the twenty-first century. Andrea O’Reilly defines matrifocality as ‘mother focused’ and ‘characteristic of a cultural cosmology that radically differs from the exaltation of the nuclear family as the most central building block of a society.’ She also suggests that ‘[cultures] that allow for matrifocality tend to be much more communal in nature’.1 The anthropological study of matrifocality, both in the Caribbean and globally, has evolved over time, and attitudes towards matrifocality have varied. More recent research into matrifocality has largely been dedicated to promoting positive attitudes towards the family structure, appreciating it as a unique element of particular communities, and understanding that women are culturally central in matrifocal families. Though there has been continuing research on matrifocality within the social sciences since the 1920s, there has yet to be a book length study on literary representations of Caribbean matrifocality, within both families and communities. My thesis extends the study of matrifocality by focussing on literary engagements with the phenomenon. By analysing the representation of matrifocality in five texts through an engagement with both literary and social science debates, I aim to set up new connections and create a dialogue between the fields of literature and social science that has the potential to benefit both. My study analyses five novels written by twenty-first century Caribbean writers: Jacob Ross’ Pynter Bender (2008); Marlon James’ The Book of Night Women (2009); Erna Brodber’s Nothing’s Mat (2014); Marie-Elena John’s Unburnable (2006); and Nalo Hopkinson’s The Salt Roads (2003). Each book features a striking and distinctive representation of Caribbean matrifocality. Underpinning my research are three key aims. Firstly, I explore definitions of matrifocality, and consider how the anthropological and sociological study
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