An analysis of Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place (1988): Between History and Auto-Biography, Modernism and Postmodernism.

Abstract

This thesis is an analyses of the book by Jamaica Kincaid entitled A Small Place. Although this book has spurred some controversies because of its critical tone,I argue that it is in fact a very important book for literature. It helps understand Jamaica Kincaid's literary production and it also revisits some important notions such as history and feminism in a postcolonial key. Thus, Kincaid provides an innovative interpretation of gender and of what history means and is, as well as of colonialism and neo-colonialism. The book starts from the situation of Antiguans today but it provides a wider insight into the situation of the Caribbean region. It also establishes links between the situation of black Antiguans and that of other populations who have suffered from slavery and colonialism. I analyze the book in itself and within the context of Kincaid’s literary production. I consider the context in which the book was written and what it tells about the life and thoughts of the author. I use the thought of some famous Caribbean thinkers such as Edouard Glissant to shed light on some aspects of Kincaid’s thought.