| Author: | Susanne Pichler | |
| Istitutional affiliation: | University of Innsbruck | |
| Country: | Austria | |
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| Title: | Journeying into the Past to (Re)Claim One's Rights in the Present | |
Abstract: |
Globalization, international migration, and the processes of decolonization have all increased intercultural and transcultural encounters. Paradoxically, however, these processes do not seem to be producing either cultural uniformity or greater tolerance and cosmopolitanism. In fact, the space for transnational exchange, cultural hybridity and diasporic thinking seems to be dwindling away when cultures meet, and civilizations clash. Why is it that nowadays in multicultural, polyethnic Britain as well as in other European countries, concerns about cultural and ethnic identity are still so very critical? Why is it that in British society clashes and conflicts occur not only for newcomers, but also for those who have always been part of the social make-up, for people born to West Indian, African, and Asian, second- and third-generation immigrants? The paper intends to demonstrate how contemporary (black) British writers Andrea Levy and Bernardine Evaristo penetrate the borders of the island nation, 'migrate' into the history of Great Britain, and make an impact on its national memory. In my reading of Evaristo's Lara (1997), and Levy's Fruit of the Lemon (1999) we will observe that the authors delve into the matrixes of history and memory-individual, collective and cultural&-persuade us to build an ethical attachment to memories of their shared British post/colonial past, and empower their protagonists to (re)claim their rights on British soil against all odds. Their texts transcend boundaries, rewrite rights, and help establish a "global 'we'." | |