Attraverso l’analisi di opere scelte, la tesi si propone di fornire una rassegna del romanzo caraibico degli anni Cinquanta, un decennio caratterizzato da un vero e proprio ‘boom’ letterario, con particolare attenzione all’uso del realismo quale sua fondamentale modalità rappresentativa. L’opera intende indagare il ruolo del realismo sociale nella formazione dell’identità caraibica nel periodo immediatamente precedente l’indipendenza, ma anche in relazione alle richieste del mercato letterario inglese. La ricerca, tuttavia, è anche tesa ad evidenziare la natura ricca e polifonica del romanzo caraibico che, sia dal punto di vista formale che contenutistico, tende frequentemente ad inglobare forme, modi e generi altri, superando così il mero ‘descrittivismo’ per accogliere istanze anti-realistiche o sperimentali. La mia indagine, che insiste sulla continuità tra la tradizione letteraria inglese e quella caraibica, copre un periodo di circa dodici anni per concentrarsi su quattro autori significativi: Edgar Mittelholzer, Roger Mais, V. S. Naipaul and Wilson Harris.
The main purpose of this work is to provide, through the study of selected works, a survey of the Caribbean novel and of realism as its fundamental mode of representation in a decade, the 1950s, characterised by a veritable Caribbean literary ‘boom.’ The thesis investigates the role of social realism in the formation of a West Indian identity in the pre-independence period, but also in relation to the requests of the British literary market. Nevertheless, the research also intends to emphasize the rich and polyphonic nature of the Caribbean novel which, both formally and thematically, often tends to absorb other forms, modes or genres transcending mere ‘descriptivism’ to welcome anti-realistic or experimental stances. My investigation, which insists on the continuity between the English and the Caribbean literary traditions, covers a period of about twelve years and focuses on four representative authors: Edgar Mittelholzer, Roger Mais, V. S. Naipaul and Wilson Harris.
Realism(s) in the Caribbean: the Early Fiction of Edgar Mittelholzer, Roger Mais, V.S. Naipaul and Wilson Harris (1950-1962)
SCALINCI, Francesca
2007-01-01
Abstract
The main purpose of this work is to provide, through the study of selected works, a survey of the Caribbean novel and of realism as its fundamental mode of representation in a decade, the 1950s, characterised by a veritable Caribbean literary ‘boom.’ The thesis investigates the role of social realism in the formation of a West Indian identity in the pre-independence period, but also in relation to the requests of the British literary market. Nevertheless, the research also intends to emphasize the rich and polyphonic nature of the Caribbean novel which, both formally and thematically, often tends to absorb other forms, modes or genres transcending mere ‘descriptivism’ to welcome anti-realistic or experimental stances. My investigation, which insists on the continuity between the English and the Caribbean literary traditions, covers a period of about twelve years and focuses on four representative authors: Edgar Mittelholzer, Roger Mais, V. S. Naipaul and Wilson Harris.
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