Genealogy and decolonization: The historical novel of the twentieth-century Caribbean

Georg Lukacs' argument that the development of the nineteenth-century European historical novel is tied to the political and economic changes of late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe is also applicable in the analysis of the genre of the historical novel in the Caribbean. Specifically, I propose that the historical novel of the Caribbean is inextricably linked with the process of decolonization, with the process of stepping away from the past provided by colonialism toward a past created by the postcolonial subject. Across the language barriers, the historical novel spans the twentieth century and the discourses of nation, race, ethnicity, class, and gender tied to colonization and decolonization, all the while writing and rewriting history and looking toward the future.;Lukacs' arguments concerning the origin and development of the genre of the historical novel in Europe do not depend on the language used, and likewise the development of the historical novel in the Caribbean does not depend on the language used. To analyze comprehensively the development of the historical novel in the Caribbean over the course of the twentieth century, all the languages must be included, and the limits established by traditional literary coursework in the United States must be disregarded. In agreement with Lukacs, I argue that the historical novel in the twentieth-century Caribbean developed overwhelmingly as a function of the political and economic changes taking place in this area, and as a function of the area's common economic history of colonization, slavery, plantation economies, migration to the mainland, and the tourism industry. A comparative study of the historical novels of these current and former colonies across the language barriers is made possible by the similarities between these islands and nations in terms of the process of decolonization and the struggle for political and economic independence. This dissertation discusses twentieth-century historical novels by de Lisser, Reid and Cliff of Jamaica, Rhys of Dominica, and Mittelholzer of Guyana, written in English; by Savane/Salavina and Chamoiseau of Martinique, and Schwarz-Bart and Conde of Guadeloupe, written in French; and by Gonzalez Ginorio, Munoz and Ferre of Puerto Rico, written in Spanish.