Negotiating Identity in Diaspora: Memory and Belonging in Dionne Brand's Land to Light On andAustin Clarke's The Origin of Waves by Cheryl Elliot A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of English University of Manitoba Wiruripeg, Manitoba November 16,2007 Copyright @ 2007 by Cheryl Elliot THE UNTVERSITY OF MANITOBA FACULTY OF GÌADUATE STUDIES COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Negotiating Identify in Diaspora: Memory and Belonging in Dionne Brand's Lønd to Líght On and Austin Clarke's TIte Origin of llaves BY Cheryl Elliot A Thesis/Practicum submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree MASTER OF ARTS Cheryl Elliot @2007 Permission has been granted to the University of Manitoba Libraries to lend a copy of this thesis/practicum, to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to lend a copy of this thesis/practicum, and to LAC's agent (UMI/ProQuest) to microfÌlm, sell copies and to publish an abstract of this thesis/practicum. This reproduction or copy of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowiedgements .....1 Dedication ,...11 Abstract Chapter I: The Immigrant Writer's Landscape .. ... .......1 Chapter II: Colonial Haunting and Adrift in Diaspora . ..... 24 Chapter III: Past Imperfect and Giving Up on Landing. .......49 Conclusion 76 Works Cited. ......g1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Warren Cariou for his support, guidance, patience, and inspiration. I also applaud his sense of humour. I would also like to thank my committee, Dr. Diana Brydon, Dr. V. Ravindiran, and Dr. Mark Libin for their encouragement and advice. DEDICATION I dedicate this effort to my loving and patient life partner, Geoffrey, my children Rocky and Spencer, who revel in their hybridity, my late grandmother, Enid Applewhaite, a midwife, who "grew" me, and my mother, cyralene Gale, whose trailblazing accomplishments as journalist, politician and diplomat have been an inspiration. ABSTRACT Inhabitants of contemporary diasporas may have no desire to return to a homeland, but their experiences of displacement from their 'homes', and the memories they choose to carry with them help shape their identities in diaspora. This thesis will examine two texts of first-generation Caribbean Canadian writers, Austin Clarke and Dionne Brand, to investigate how coming to terms with the memories of self and homeland is crucial in forging a place of belonging in diaspora. By analyzingClarke's The Orígin of Waves and Brand' s Land to Light On, I will argue that while both authors approach negotiating diaspora differently, ultimately both challenge the notions of fixity of identity and belonging, while at the same time realizingdifferent outcomes. The study will show that although both texts advocate the fluidity, if not the rejection, of identity, Brand responds to this notion by extending her work to a global perspective, whereas Clark, in his text, appears to promote aretreaf.from the present as an approach to negotiating diaspora. ilI Chapter I The Immigrant Writer's Landscape flJdentity is always a question of producing in thefuture an account of the past, that is to say it is always about narrative, the stories which cultures tell themselves about who they are and where they came from. Stuart Hall "Negotiating Caribbean ldentities" (3) Writers inhabiting Canada's recent diasporas are emerging as a significant force on its contemporary literary landscape. Among those writers are migrants from the former British colonies in the Caribbean, who have been settling in Canada since the mid-1950s. Their distinctly postcolonial writings not only reflect experiences of the Caribbean diaspora, at times in tandem with colonial experiences of home, but also provide a gauge of how inhabitants of diaspora negotiate identity as they situate themselves within a Canadian context. Although not unique, the Caribbean diaspora is complicated by its inhabitants' histories and ethnic diversity, and it is from this background that I explore how Caribbean Canadian writers draw on memory of their homelands to locate their place and identity within their host country. In keeping with Stuart Hall's epigraph, I agree that the narratives of a culture are the best places to look when defining a people. Furthermore, I propose that Wendy W. Walters' contention that "diasporic identity is performed in writing" (viii), and that it is "more than a literary performance; it is [...] a political act" (ix) is confirmed in the ways Caribbean Canadian writers depict experiences of diaspora and home that expose fissures in the social and political fabrics of both places. Hall's and Walters' claims are the point of departure for my thesis that examines two texts by first-generation Caribbean Canadian writers, Austin Clarke and Dionne Brand, to investigate how coming to terms with the memories of self and homeland is crucial in forging aplace of belonging in diaspora. By analyzing and comparing Clarke's The Origin of lhavest and Brand' s Land to Light On2,Iwill argue that while the authors approach negotiating diaspora differently, ultimately both challenge the notions of fixity of identity and belonging, while at the same time realizing different outcomes. The study will show that Brand's text advocates fluidity, if not rejection, of identity that moves her characters beyond the local to a more global perspective in negotiating diaspora. In contrast, Clarke, whose text also resists stability of identity, appears content to promote a retreat from the present, and, as a result, leaves his characters in diasporic limbo. Caribbean Diasporic Writing Since the middle of the last century Caribbean immigrants have been streaming into Canada carcying not only their material possessions, but also armed with experiences, traditions, and history that fashioned their lives in the places they lived before. But once they arrive, what of their life in the host country? How do these immigrants participate fully and develop a sense of belonging in their new setting? I The Origin of Ll/aves will be referred to as I4/øves in the thesis. ' Lqnd to Light On will be referred to as Land in the thesis. Furthermore, who do they become when they venture into diaspora, an imagined place/space with its elastic and porous cultural, social, and political boundaries? Turning to Caribbean Canadian literature is helpful in tackling these questions because it presents the Canadian experiences of Caribbean immigrants through their unique lens. By reading through Brand's and Clarke's chatacters, I will examine these questions to uncover how Caribbean immigrants struggle to construct an identity and a sense of belonging, while, at the same time, coping with constraints of imposed identification by the host country and their diaspora. However, it is important to recognize that Caribbean immigrants are already practiced at grappling with identity in diasporas back home. A Caribbean identity has always been difficult to articulate because the region resists categorization and containment as a result of its legacy of slavery and history of migration. Indeed, Stuart Hall, in his discussion of the Caribbean and cultural identity, speaks of the.,rift of separation", and the 'loss of identity' [resulting from slavery] which has been integral to the Caribbean experience" (Colonial Discourse 394). Critic Carole Boyce Davies adds to this discourse when she characterizes Caribbean identities as "products of numerous processes of migration" (13). She suggests that the region is often seen as "not so much a geographical location, but a cultural construction based on a series of mixtures, languages, communities of people" (13). consequently, caribbean immigrants, who are already dealing with the quandary of identity back home, are faced with a similar dilemma when they arrive in Canada. But as Brand observes, "There is something distinctly Canadian about trying to focus on an identity or a place which would describe where we live and who we are" (Austin Clarke Reader l4). Despite Brand,s allusion to a common Canadian focus of identity, this study will show that Caribbean immigrants seeking their place/space in Canada face ethnic, racist, and gender hurdles, as well as government policies and programs that are geared to encouraging immigrants to retain their cultural heritage. Brand's Land to Líght On and Clarke's The Origin of Waves, both published in 1997 , ate representative of a body of late twentieth-century Caribbean Canadian immigrant literature that critiques colonialism, identity, racism, sexism, and sexuality at home and in diaspora. Although both Brand and Clarke employ memories of home alongside experiences in diaspora to explore identity formation, nevertheless, the writers engage diaspora and home differently. Brand's engagement with landscape, women,s lives, and language in her poetry questions the stability of identity and underscores the role of patriarchal systems in Canada and at home in shaping women's lives. On the other hand, Clarke's narrative meanders in step with the reminiscences of his main characters, Tim and John, to expose the indelible mark left by the British in the colonies. It is a mark that is diffrcult for Clarke's characters to erase and leaves them poised in a state of in-betweeness even as old men. The different approaches of the authors, influenced by the particularities within their similar backgrounds, explained below, are significant in exposing the heterogeneity of diasporas in their texts. Brand and Clarke, like many labeled "Caribbean wïiters", write out of diaspora. Both Toronto-based authors were influenced by the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements in the United States and are well-known for their political activism.