Writing on the Margins: M. Nourbese Philip and Questions of Be/Longing

Autori

  • Beatriz Marques Gonçalves University of Coimbra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53154/Oltreoceano67

Parole chiave:

M. NourbeSe Philip, identity, migration, transculturation, in-between

Abstract

Tobago-born M. NourbeSe Philip is a poet and essayist living in Toronto, Canada. Her work often focuses on her experiences as a poet who is a Black immigrant woman. Although physically in Canada, Philip asserts that she writes from Tobago, creating a metaphorical isthmus that connects the culture and peoples of two spaces that were once British colonies and that share the same official language. By analyzing a selection of poems from She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1989) and essays from Bla_K: Essays & Interviews (2017), I aim at exploring how this metaphorical isthmus between Tobago and Canada is reflected in Philip’s work. Anchored to Fernando Ortiz’s concept of “transculturation” and Homi Bhabha’s concept of the “in-between,” I argue that Philip’s poems and essays reflect how the poet negotiates her identity as a Black immigrant woman in a country such as Canada, and how this affects the way she moves in this cultural and geographic space.

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Riferimenti bibliografici

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Pubblicato

14.02.2023

Come citare

Gonçalves, B. M. (2023). Writing on the Margins: M. Nourbese Philip and Questions of Be/Longing. Oltreoceano - Rivista Sulle Migrazioni, (21), 121–129. https://doi.org/10.53154/Oltreoceano67