Violence in Caribbean Literature: Stories of Stones and Blood

(Hardback)

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Violence in Caribbean Literature: Stories of Stones and Blood, this book looks at the scene of the throwing of a stone found in five novels, and uses it as a starting point to an examination of the turmoil of history in the Caribbean, the colonial education imposed on Caribbean populations, the gendered relations that exist today in the Caribbean region, the political status and aspirations of Caribbean nations, and the psychological impact of colonization on Caribbean minds. The trope of the stone and the analysis of the violence it delivers provide the thread that conducts the linked readings of these novels, written by Dominican Jean Rhys, Trinidadian Merle Hodge, Guadeloupean Gisle Pineau, Martinican Patrick Chamoiseau, and Jamaican-American Michelle Cliff. The analytical and critical readings of these writers novels complement each other, and draw out their commonalities, echoes, and differences, while the juxtaposition of Anglophone and Francophone novels from different Caribbean nations contributes to a polyphonic understanding of the region. While the book offers diversity in the range of countries and languages represented, and in the interdisciplinarity of the scholarly fields that intersect in its cultural discussions, it maintains its coherence by the unifying theme of violence and its representations in Caribbean literature.

Reviews

Violence in Caribbean Literature provides an important and much needed contribution to the corpus of literary studies of Caribbean literature. . . .[It] represents a laudable and welcome addition to this much needed scholarly enterprise. * Research in African Literatures *
Violence in Caribbean Literature successfully combines original textual analysis with well-documented contextual explanations. As such, it is likely to appeal to specialists of Caribbean literature as well as to newcomers to the field and will most certainly enhance or facilitate their understanding of a cultural area whose foundational ambivalence can render it elusive. * New West Indian Guide *
Using theoretical framework from cultural and literary studies, Vronique Maisiers Violence in Caribbean Literature: Stories of Stones and Blood analyzes the representation of epistemic violence whether it be colonial, cultural, psychological, and physical in Caribbean Francophone and Anglophone literature. This book offers insights into the complexities resulting from the legacy of colonial violence and its disastrous effects on people who share a history of slavery and colonialism. It should be useful to scholars in literature, postcolonial, Anglophone, and Francophone studies. -- Anne M. Franois, Eastern University

Author Bio

Vronique Maisier is associate professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where she teachers French and Francophone literature and culture.