“Poor Visitor”: the Migrant Woman and the Intersectional Perspective in Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/3kfgvf11Keywords:
identity, intersectionality, migration, hegemonic parameters, subalternityAbstract
This article analyzes the novel Lucy, written by the Antiguan writer Jamaica Kincaid, taking as a starting point a concept of paramount importance to understand women's social position and the complexity of their identity construction: intersectionality. The mother daughter relationship is considered as a relevant component in such construction. Given the fact that Lucy, the protagonist of the novel, is a migrant woman (like Kincaid), the analysis also takes this reality into account and its close relation with the intersectional categories presented here (especially, race and nationality). Furthermore, a connection is established between author and character through a dynamic interplay of factors that enables both to reclaim their identity and, consequently, their place in the world. Therefore, given the novel’s autobiographical elements, this analysis proposes to place it in dialogue with a piece written by Kincaid after the publication of Lucy, in order to examine her position as a non-white migrant today.
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