How Caribbean Writers Give Voice to Exile

In both its creative and critical components, this dissertation addresses the question of exile in Caribbean poetry. The concept of exile remains significant in contemporary Caribbean literature. Expressions of protest, distress, and emotional dissonance (traces of exile) can be found in the works of Caribbean writers who remain preoccupied with the loss of ancestral homes and attendant privileges. When considering the exilic status of poets from the Caribbean, I argue that their first loss stems from the trafficking of African ancestors to the Caribbean. The second loss, making more pronounced their exilic condition, occurs whenever the writer takes up residence away from his or her birth home. Whether this leaving is voluntary or involuntary the writer may be properly referenced as having suffered "double exile."

The critical component of the dissertation is an attempt to contribute to the study of the literature of exile by considering specific works generated by three contemporary female Caribbean poets, Lorna Goodison, Nourbese Philip, and Shara McCallum, whose exilic status facilitates comparison and interrogation. The study's main objective is to capture how each named Caribbean female writer gives voice to the condition of exile.