{"id":3468,"date":"2009-11-27T00:35:13","date_gmt":"2009-11-27T00:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=3468"},"modified":"2014-01-16T15:56:57","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T15:56:57","slug":"toubab-la-literary-representations-of-mixed-race-characters-in-the-african-diaspora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=3468","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Toubab La!\u2019 Literary Representations of Mixed-Race Characters in the African Diaspora"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Toubab La!\u2019 Literary Representations of Mixed-Race Characters in the African Diaspora<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cambridge Scholars Publishing<\/a>
\nJuly 2007
\n453 pages
\nISBN13: 9781847182319
\nISBN: 1-84718-231-3<\/p>\n

Ginette Curry<\/a><\/strong>, Professor of English
\nFlorida International University<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The book is an examination of mixed-race characters from writers in the United States, The French and British Caribbean islands (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia and Jamaica), Europe (France and England) and Africa (Burkina Faso, South Africa, Botswana and Senegal). The objective of this study is to capture a realistic view of the literature of the African diaspora as it pertains to biracial and multiracial people. For example, the expression \u201cToubab La!\u201d as used in the title, is from the Wolof ethnic group in Senegal, West Africa. It means \u201cThis is a white person\u201d or \u201cThis is a black person who looks or acts white.\u201d It is used as a metaphor to illustrate multiethnic people\u2019s plight in many areas of the African diaspora and how it has evolved.<\/strong> The analysis addresses the different ways multiracial characters look at the world and how the world looks at them. These characters experience historical, economic, sociological and emotional realities in various environments from either white or black people. Their lineage as both white and black determines a new self, making them constantly search for their identity. Each section of the manuscript provides an in-depth analysis of specific authors\u2019 novels that is a window into their true experiences.<\/p>\n

The first section is a study of mixed race characters in three acclaimed contemporary novels from the United States. James McBride<\/a>\u2019s The Color of Water<\/em> (1996), Danzy Senna<\/a>\u2019s Caucasia<\/em> (1998) and Rebecca Walker<\/a>\u2019s Black White and Jewish<\/em> (2001) reveal the conflicting dynamics of being biracial in today\u2019s American society. The second section is an examination of mixed-race characters in the following French Caribbean novels: Mayotte Cap\u00e9cia<\/a>\u2019s I Am a Martinican Woman<\/em> (1948), Mich\u00e8le Lacrosil<\/a>\u2019s Cajou<\/em> (1961) and Ravines du Devant-Jour<\/em> (1993) by Rapha\u00ebl Confiant<\/a>. Section three is about their literary representations in Derek Walcott<\/a>\u2019s What the Twilight Says<\/em> (1970), Another Life<\/em> (1973), Dream on Monkey Mountain<\/em> (1967) and Michelle Cliff<\/a>\u2019s Abeng<\/a><\/em> (1995) from the British Caribbean islands. Section four is an in-depth analysis of their plight in novels written by contemporary mulatto writers from Europe such as Marie N\u2019Diaye<\/a>\u2019s Among Family<\/em> (1997), Zadie Smith<\/a>\u2019s White Teeth<\/em> (2000) and Bernardine Evaristo<\/a>\u2019s Lara<\/a><\/em> (1997). Finally, the last section of the book is a study of novels from West African and South African writers. The analysis of Monique Ilboudo<\/a>\u2019s Le Mal de Peau<\/em> (2001), Bessie Head<\/a>\u2019s A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings<\/em> (1990) and Abdoulaye Sadji<\/a>\u2019s Nini, Mul\u00e2tresse du S\u00e9n\u00e9gal<\/em> (1947) concludes this literary journey that takes the readers through several continents at different points in time.<\/p>\n

Overall, this comprehensive study of mixed-race characters in the literature of the African diaspora reveals not only the old but also the new ways they decline, contest and refuse racial clich\u00e9s. Likewise, the book unveils how these characters resist, create, reappropriate and revise fixed forms of identity in the African diaspora of the 20th and 21st century. Most importantly, it is also an examination of how the authors themselves deal with the complex reality of a multiracial identity.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n