earticle

영어

This paper analyzes Michelle Cliff’s Abeng as a literary reconstruction of Caribbean history, focusing on the interplay of history, gender, and shame. The White Creole protagonist, Clare Savage, occupies a position at the intersection of colonial privilege and colonized resistance, as the novel exposes the complex entanglement of race, gender, and class. Clare integrates the resistant narratives of Queen Nanny and the Maroon community into her exploration of identity, creatively transforming suppressed histories and contradictions into alternative narratives. This transformation functions as a literary mechanism that connects the past and present while envisioning new possibilities for the future of the Caribbean. Cliff combines autobiographical storytelling with historical fiction in Abeng to restore suppressed histories and reconstruct silenced identities. Through the narrative of resistant figures like Queen Nanny, Cliff reimagines the Caribbean as a space of hybridity and resistance, challenging Western-centric narratives. Clare’s evolving identity explores the impact of history, gender, and shame on individual and collective identities, presenting possibilities for transformation within the colonial legacy.