Abstract
Caribbean citizenship in the postcolonial era is defined by the (in)ability of those at its margins to permeate the boundaries of belonging in their cultural circumstance. Hana Masri, who investigates the material culture of transnational human movements, posits that their study must abandon a fixed identity framework to grasp the marginality of those subjected to them. The colonial construction of sexed and gendered bodies must be deconstructed to recognize relational legacies connecting homeland and diaspora in the migratory passage. Regardless of how a diasporic subject is conventionally gendered, passing national bounds moves them toward a “coalitional queerness,” for Masri. This queerness results of a diasporic condition that treats subjects as both outside the homeland, but “surplus” to the new nation. The state of diaspora is thus akin to that of Caribbeans with oppressed sexualities/genders. Tracy Robinson investigates how gender inequality in the Caribbean applies a “special status” to women, assuming “inherent womanness, [as] something other than citizenship,” that lands in Masri’s realm of “surplus.” Diaspora and the construction of gender are alike in the marginality they impose. Theoretical perspectives on both are engaged in this piece to assess how their “queerness” forms a symbiotic relationship to the homeland, shaping stakeholders’ marginal and ruptured subjectivity.
Presenters
Emilia TamayoStudent, Government and Latin American Studies, Smith College, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Diaspora, Queerness, Caribbean, Identity, Gender, West Africa, Biological Reductionism, Transnational
