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Gender, Race, and Empire in Caribbean Indenture Narratives City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2015 The Ties that Bind: Gender, Race, and Empire in Caribbean Indenture Narratives Alison Joan Klein Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/582 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE TIES THAT BIND: GENDER, RACE, AND EMPIRE IN CARIBBEAN INDENTURE NARRATIVES by ALISON KLEIN A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2015 © 2015 ALISON JOAN KLEIN All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in English in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Ashley Dawson __________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Mario DiGangi __________________ Date Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii THE TIES THAT BIND: GENDER, RACE, AND EMPIRE IN CARIBBEAN INDENTURE NARRATIVES by ALISON KLEIN Adviser: Professor Ashley Dawson This dissertation traces the ways that oppressive gender roles and racial tensions in the Caribbean today developed out of the British imperial system of indentured labor. Between 1837 and 1920, after slavery was abolished in the British colonies and before most colonies achieved independence, approximately 750,000 laborers, primarily from India and China, traveled to the Caribbean under indenture. This is a critical but under-explored aspect of colonial history, as this immigration dramatically altered the ethnic make up of the Caribbean, the cultural norms and traditions of those who migrated, and the structure of British imperialism. I focus on depictions of marriage, sexuality, and homosocial relationships in novels and autobiographies about this time as a key component to understanding the history and impact of indenture. I show that these depictions are used to support ideologies of race, empire, and nationhood, and that even those authors who critique empire reinforce patriarchy as they do so. To further understand the rhetoric that helped shape these dynamics, I use a comparative approach, considering texts by authors from different time periods and different nations, including Trinidad, Guyana, Britain, and the United States. For example, I examine a common trope in indenture narratives, a relationship between a British man in power and a female Indian laborer, and the ways that this trope is used to justify empire in texts that were written at the time of indenture, such as Edward Jenkins’ Lutchmee and Dilloo (1877), or to attack colonization and indenture in contemporary texts, like David Dabydeen’s The Counting House (1996). Through a iv close reading of indenture narratives and the historical circumstances that produced them, I demonstrate that the British Empire rested on intersecting hierarchies of labor, race, gender, and class, and that these hierarchies linger in the Caribbean today. v Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to Ashley Dawson, the director of my dissertation committee, for his vital guidance and support on this project and at each stage of my doctoral degree. I would also like to thank my committee members, Herman Bennett and Barbara Webb, for directing my research and offering thoughtful feedback on my drafts. Lyn Di Iorio and Mikhal Dekel gave formative assistance in the early stages of this project. The CUNY Graduate Center's Doctoral Student Research Grant Program and The Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Summer Research Travel Fellowship funded the research for this project, and the Graduate Center English Department’s Millennium Fellowship gave me much needed time to complete this project. The rich archives in the West Indiana and Special Collections Division at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and in the Caribbean Research Library at the University of Guyana deepened my understanding of indenture. The staff at both libraries were unfailingly kind and helpful. While I was conducting my research at the University of the West Indies, Brinsley Samaroo, Patricia Mohammed, Gabrielle Hosein, Bridget Brereton, and Shaheeda Hosein took the time to talk with me about my project and my research, and I am especially grateful to Dr. Samaroo for assisting with the practical side of getting settled in Trinidad. On research trips within the United States, Donette Francis, Tim Watson, and Samantha Pinto helped me frame my ideas. I am profoundly thankful to Ira, Kim, Melissa and Hilary Klein for their various forms of support during this process, ranging from reading drafts to hosting me in New York City. Sameena Mulla, Jasia Pietrzak, and Lindsay Monte helped me navigate the ups and downs of graduate school with encouragement and practical advice. Matthew Pavesich was a generous and thoughtful reader whom I called upon frequently, and always to good use. Fiona Lee, Ian Foster, Kiran Mascarenhas, Lily Saint, and the other members of the Postcolonial Studies Group gave me a sense of community at the Graduate Center and shared their wisdom and experience with me. It was a delight and honor to take part in a Caribbean studies seminar with Ashley Williard, Nicole Burrowes, Ryan Mann-Hamilton, and Gordon Barnes. I also feel fortunate to have met and shared ideas with Liam O’Loughlin and Kavita Singh at conferences. Finally, a special thanks to my study buddy Anne Donlon, who has been a constant and steady source of calmness, humor, and intellectual stimulation. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ...................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ....................................................................................... vi List of Illustrations ................................................................................... viii Introduction ..................................................................................................1 Works Cited ...............................................................................................24 Chapter 1 Tying the Knot: Early Depictions of Indenture: .......................................25 Works Cited ...............................................................................................95 Chapter 2 Tangled Up: Gendered Metaphors of Nation in Contemporary Indo-Caribbean Narratives: .......................................................................91 Works Cited .............................................................................................150 Chapter 3: At the End of their Tether: Echoes of Indenture in Contemporary Novels ......................................................................................................155 Works Cited .............................................................................................216 Chapter 4: To Have and to Hold: The Role of Marriage in Nonfiction Indenture Narratives ................................................................................................212 Works Cited .............................................................................................263 Conclusion: .............................................................................................268 Works Cited .............................................................................................278 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. “The Managers House”: Woodcut of Indentured Laborers .....................8 viii Introduction Liminal Laborers The short story “Boodhoo,” by Alfred Mendes, was published in 1932 in The Beacon, the first literary magazine of Trinidad and Tobago. It is a striking story, depicting a sexual relationship between the British wife of a planter and her half-Indian servant. Written shortly before the fracturing of the British Empire, “Boodhoo” challenges the view of the British as a noble, civilizing force, and it draws attention to the complex interactions of gender, race, and labor in the colonies of the Caribbean, as well as the impact of the British imperial indenture system of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Minnie, who has come to Trinidad as the wife of Henry, a plantation owner, is initially “nauseated” when she hears talk of planters having children by their Indian laborers (145). Yet, she is lonely and isolated, and is drawn into a love affair with her half-Indian, half-British servant, Boodhoo. Shortly after becoming pregnant, she learns that Boodhoo’s mother, an Indian woman, had been a laborer on Henry’s plantation twenty years before, and that Henry is Boodhoo’s father. Minnie dies in childbirth, terrified that her child will be dark skinned and give away her infidelity. The story is unusual for its time in several ways: it offers a sympathetic depiction of a woman’s infidelity, it features a love affair between a British woman and a half-Indian man, and it highlights the ways that planters often abused their power over their laborers. Most importantly, it demonstrates the destruction created by imperialism and indenture, not just to the colonized, but to the colonizers as well. Henry’s liaison with an Indian woman in his youth leads to his wife’s affair and death.
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