Reterritorialising the Caribbean: Marching alongside Earl Lovelace

Abstract

This study revolves around the figure of Caribbean writer Earl Lovelace. The thesis demonstrates that the emphasis on the deterritorialisation of the Caribbean region and the focus on transnationalism has meant that what is produced within its geographical boundaries is sidelined in favour of what is produced beyond them. The study argues that even though Western academia holds transnationalism as the most appropriate and encompassing approach to deal with Caribbean literature, its applicability is limited to those writings produced in metropolitan spaces. In fact, due to the transnational nature of the Caribbean region itself, it is possible to see the Caribbean as both an intercultural and transcultural space and to recognise that the nation-state is a reality.

The figure of Trinidadian writer Earl Lovelace serves to reclaim the importance of Caribbean-based narratives. Lovelace’s alternative journey distinguishes him from the majority of West Indian writers. To start with, he has made the extremely political choice of staying in Trinidad and has thus rejected the pull towards migrating, which is still a staple for the West Indian artist. However, his choice is not without consequences. Because of his decision to stay in the region he has been labelled a regional and national writer, since his work is not tailored for a Western readership and offers context-based narratives in which Creole language is present. As a result, his writings have been excluded from the mainstream postcolonial literary field.

This thesis foregrounds Lovelace’s writings as an extremely important intervention in the Caribbean, as they prove that the Caribbean nation is also a place where people can build a life. In his writings Lovelace contests the representations which establish the perceived impossibility of residing in the Caribbean and the pervading idea of the region as a non-place populated by non-people who have created nothing – a construct which ultimately contributes to maintaining the region dependant on Western approval and tutelage.

Like many other West Indian creative writers, Lovelace has theorised on Caribbean culture and literature. Aware of the historic roots of the ills of the region but optimistic about the possibilities of constructing a new culture, he has emphasised that the heterogeneity of the region is its most enriching characteristic and one that allows for the creation of a new future together. Lovelace has argued that the diverse and heterogeneous nature of the region, as its real heritage, not only needs to be valued, but it needs to be seen as a precondition which allows for the creation of a New World.

While the Trinidadian author argues that the construction of a New World for the region can only be accomplished through the collective involvement of the different communities, this study argues that in order to reverse the trend that sidelines non-diasporic Caribbean writing, a similar collective endeavour is needed. This collective endeavour includes a variety of cultural agents: writers, intellectuals, activists, publishers, critics, scholars and translators alike. Indeed, ethically and politically motivated translations of West Indian literary texts can also participate in the critical network that contributes to the collective dimension of social struggles. Through their artistic renditions of a source text, literary translators can help spread these narratives’ symbolic force.

Aquesta tesi doctoral explora la figura de l’escriptor de Trinidad i Tobago Earl Lovelace. Actualment el món de la literatura postcolonial està dominat, en gran mesura, per obres literàries que s’estudien des de teories transnacionals i post-nacionals.

L’estudi subratlla la necessitat de recuperar narratives caribenyes situades al Carib i escrites per autors no diaspòrics; autors que són definits com a locals o nacionals des d’un punt de vista hegemònic, i als que no se’ls dóna cabuda en el panorama literari mundial. De fet, els textos de Lovelace són de gran importància en el context de les lletres caribenyes perquè no només se situen sempre a l’illa de Trinidad, microcosmos del Carib, sinó que a més el Carib es presenta com un lloc amb una rica cultura pròpia i on és possible construir-hi una vida. És a dir, els textos de Lovelace ofereixen una visió del Carib que pretén contrarestar construccions freqüentment utilitzades per referir-se a la regió i que en última instància contribueixen a mantenir la regió sota tutela del món occidental.

Així com Lovelace manté que la construcció d’un nou inici per al Carib – New World – només és possible amb la participació col·lectiva de les diferents comunitats de la regió, aquesta tesi defensa que per tal de revertir la tendència actual que menysté els textos d’autors no diaspòrics, és necessària una implicació col·lectiva d’escriptors, editors, crítics, acadèmics i traductors. D’aquesta manera, l’estudi posa en relleu la figura del traductor literari com un agent amb la capacitat de contribuir, amb les seves traduccions de textos literaris caribenys, a oferir una visió del Carib més plural i rica que no menystingui autors com Earl Lovelace.