BICTEL/e - ULg

Meyer, Gilles

Bonnabel, Silv\ue8re

Dhillon, Inderjit

Bach, Francis

Absil, Pierre-Antoine

Geurts, Pierre

Sepulchre, Rodolphe

Wehenkel, Louis

Geometric optimization algorithms for linear regression on fixed-rank matrices

Pedoux, Sophie

Marage, P.

Lansberg, J. Ph.

Cugnon, Joseph

Leray, S.

Surdej, Jean

Cudell, Jean-Ren\ue9

Extension of the Li\ue8ge Intranuclear Cascade Model to the 2-15 GeV Incident Energy Range

Terwagne, Denis

Couder, Y.

Bush, J.W.M.

Brunet, Ph.

Bastin, Thierry

Dorbolo, St\ue9phane

Vandewalle, Nicolas

Bouncing droplets, the role of deformations

Saint-Amand, Denis

Bertrand, Jean-Pierre

Glinoer, Anthony

Aron, Paul

Purnelle, G\ue9rald

Durand, Pascal

Le Dictionnaire au second degr\ue9. Socio-logiques d'un d\ue9tournement g\ue9n\ue9rique.

Jonville, Marie

DE MOL, Patrick

FREDERICH, Michel

OLLIVIER, Evelyne

BALANSARD, Guy

ANGENOT, Luc

DIJOUX, Marie-genevi\ue8ve

RIAD, Elias

MATTAR-LAURAIN, Dominique

PIETERS, Luc

TITS, Monique

Etude de la composition chimique et des potentialit\ue9s antipaludiques de plantes utilis\ue9es en m\ue9decine traditionnelle au Cambodge et dans l'archipel des Mascareignes

Feyers, Doroth\ue9e

COLLETTE, Fabienne

BERDART, Serge

SALMON, Eric

DESGRANGES, B\ue9atrice

ISINGRINI, Michel

Conscience de soi dans le vieillissement normal et pathologique.

Dhouib, Jawhar Ahmed

Ledent, B\ue9n\ue9dicte

Delrez, Marc

Tarchouna, Nessima

Triki, Mounir

Gyssels, Kathleen

Schlepovich, Edward

              
 
COTUTELLE de THÈSE INTERNATIONALE ENTRE 
 
UNIVERSITÉ DE LIÈGE 
Académie universitaire Wallonie-Europe 
et 
UNIVERSITÉ DE SFAX 
Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines 
 
 
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BLACK DIASPORA ON 
DISTANT SHORES:  
SHATTERED SUBJECTS AND FRAGMENTATION IN THE 
WRITING OF CARYL PHILLIPS 
 
 
 
 
Thèse présentée par Jawhar Ahmed DHOUIB  en vue de l‟obtention du titre de 
Docteur en Langues et Lettres à l‟Université de Liège et de Docteur en 
Langue et Littérature Anglaises à l‟Université de Sfax 
Sous la direction de Prof. Bénédicte Ledent (Université de Liège) et de Prof. 
Mounir Triki  (Université de Sfax) 
 
 
 
Année académique 2010 – 2011 
            
               
 
ABSTRACT 
     
he literature of Caribbean-born writer Caryl Phillips has gained critical prominence 
during the last two decades thanks to his texts, which meticulously depict historical, 
cultural and psychological facets of the black diaspora.  
This dissertation takes as its prime objective the examination of overlaps between 
Phillips‟s representation of the diasporan subject and his use of fragmentation as a formal 
device. The different chapters of this thesis suggest that Phillips‟s writing bears witness to his 
creative rendering of the realities of the diasporic condition, either thematically, through a 
constant focus on migration and fluctuation between spaces, or aesthetically, through a series 
of techniques meant to convey the sense of fragmentation. In this conception, I would like to 
postulate that the experience of the diaspora and the fragmentation in the selected works of 
Phillips represent an inextricable duo. 
To advance my argument, the first part of the dissertation is dedicated to addressing 
the thematic aspect of fragmentation. The first two chapters complement each other in that 
they take into account the subtleties underlying the various strands of the diaspora while 
covering historical, contemporary and even metaphoric experiences of migration and 
displacement. In turn, the second part of the dissertation is devised to examine the formal 
techniques that Phillips resorts to while formulating his vision of the diaspora. For this 
purpose, three overlapping chapters inquire into the multiplicity of points of view, structural 
disjointedness and generic fluidity, which are viewed as essential elements conveying the 
sense of fragmentation in the selected corpus of Phillips‟s works. 
 
 
ii 
T 
            
               
 
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 
     
 
 The Atlantic Sound (AS) 
 Crossing the River (CR) 
 A Distant Shore (DS) 
 The European Tribe (ET) 
 In the Falling Snow (FS) 
 The Final Passage (FP) 
 Foreigners: Three English Lives (Foreigners) 
 Higher Ground (HG) 
 The Nature of Blood (NB) 
 A New World Order (NWO) 
 Strange Fruit (SF) 
 
 
iii 
            
               
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Acknowledgements.………………………………………………………………..…….         i 
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….…….        ii 
List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………….…….       iii 
 
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………..……..        1 
 
PART I: THEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF THE DIASPORA  
 
CHAPTER ONE: FACETS OF THE DIASPORAN PRESENCE IN THE WRITING   
OF CARYL PHILLIPS……………………………….……………………………………….          21 
1.1. Diasporic Identities and Fractured „Chronotopes‟….……………………………….       23 
1.2. The Journey Back Home and the Rhetoric of Return……………………………….       29 
1.3. The „Re-vision‟ of the Middle Passage...……………………………………………       53 
 
CHAPTER TWO:  FROM THE CARIBBEAN TO THE METROPOLIS:  
IMMIGRATION AND “THE „HIGH ANXIETY‟ OF BELONGING”……….…….….       75 
2.1. The „Windrush Generation‟ and the Imaginary „Mother Country‟….………………       77 
2.2. Black Britons and “the „High Anxiety‟ of Belonging”….……………………..……       92 
2.3. The Colour is English: Mixed-Race and the Mutation of Racism….………….........     101 
 
            
               
PART II: ASPECTS OF FORMAL FRAGMENTATION 
 
CHAPTER THREE:  THE EMERGENCE OF “SUNDRY RESTLESS VOICES”            
IN CAMBRIDGE…………….……….………………………...……………………….       116 
3.1. Dialogism, Polyphony and the Dialogue between the Self and the Other…………       118 
3.2. Voices Emerging from the Margins….…………………………………………...…     123 
 
CHAPTER FOUR:  THE READER „WRITES BACK‟:  FRAGMENTED  
STRUCTURE AND INTERPRETATION IN CROSSING THE RIVER………….……..      156 
4.1. Structural Disjointedness and „Transular‟ Connections……………………..………     158 
4.2. Reading through the „Ruelles‟ of the Text..…………………………………………     181 
 
CHAPTER FIVE:  WRITING BETWEEN THE WORLD OF FACTS AND  
THE REALM OF FICTION IN FOREIGNERS AND THE ATLANTIC SOUND…      205 
5.1. Historiographic „Paratexts‟ and the Reconstruction of Broken Narratives….………     207 
5.2. The Novel in Postcolonial Writing: Motives of the Choice…………………………     233 
 
CONCLUSION…………………………………….……...……………………….…….     242 
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………..……….…………………………………………    253 
 


The Experience of the Black Diaspora on Distant Shores: Shattered Subjects and Fragmentation in the Writing of Caryl Phillips

Gerard, Pierre

Brouy\ue8re, Serge

Olivella Pastalle, Sebastian

Talandier, Jean

Hueckel, Tomasz

Collin, Fr\ue9d\ue9ric

Charlier, Robert

L\ue9onard, Ang\ue9lieur

Impact des transferts de gaz sur le comportement poro-m\ue9canique des mat\ue9riaux argileux/Impact of gas transfers on the poro-mechanical behaviour of argillaceous materials

Cerda Cristerna, Bernardino Isaac

POZOS, Amaury

HEINEN, Ernst

GERARD, Christiane

FROEHLICH, Eleonore

FLORES, Hector

DUBRUEL, Peter

GRANDFILS, Christian

SONDAG, Daniele

ROMPEN, Eric

Hemocompatibility and camouflaging efficiency of functionalized poly(dimethylamino-ethylmethacrylate) based polymers

Hanson, Sophie

MICHEL, Quentin

MERENNE-SCHOUMAKER, Bernadette

P\uc2QUES, Michel

Entre Union europ\ue9enne et R\ue9gion wallonne: multiplicit\ue9 des \ue9chelons de pouvoir et subsidiarit\ue9 territoriale. Analyse de la subsidiarit\ue9 territoriale au travers des directives Seveso, IPPC, responsabilit\ue9 environnementale et de leurs mesures de transposition en R\ue9gion wallonne.

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