(Re)processing the transatlantic triangle

Abstract

My thesis addresses the memory of slavery in the Caribbean by analyzing the postcolonial solutions offered by the writings of Alejo Carpentier El siglo de las luces, and Maryse Traversée de la mangrove Condé, along with Ousmane Sembene’s film Ceddo. My goal in revisiting the three axes of the triangle is to better understand how these nations appropriated a practice that would forever change the dynamics of the societies it involved. It analyzes how these authors intend to come to terms with the slave trade heritage, while grappling with questions of identity that result from such historical traumatism. Further understanding of this historical process might enable us to eradicate modern forms of discrimination, including slavery today; break away from the assumption that a “western solution” is the best solution; and accept the “other”.