First published 2013
Myriam Chancy examines how contemporary women artists from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba use their work to challenge historical exclusions and reimagine Caribbean identity. She focuses on three central themes: sovereignty, sugar, and revolution as connecting forces across these nations. Chancy argues that Haiti's marginalization in Caribbean literary studies stems from its role as a site of ontological defiance. The book analyzes how writers including Edwidge Danticat, Julia Alvarez, Zoe Valdes, Loida Maritza Perez, Marilyn Bobes, Achy Obejas, Nancy Morejon, and visual artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons function as "archaeologists of amnesia." These artists work to illuminate women's diverse experiences within male-defined national identities. They transcend national boundaries to address gender, race, sexuality, and class in ways that connect all three countries. Chancy demonstrates how these women's gendered perspectives offer new possibilities for less exclusionary visions of Caribbean social and political realities.
Genres: history, art, literary-criticism, gender-studies, feminism, 21st-century, academic, cultural-studies
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: gender-roles, identity, social-justice
Setting: Caribbean, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti
Period: 21st Century
392 pages · Paperback · Wilfrid Laurier University Press