Abstract:
Caribbean cultural ideas and values placed on death
and mourning, especially in relation to cultural roles
women are expected to perform, are primary motivating
factors in the development of female self and identity in
Caribbean women's literature. Based on analysis of three texts, QPH, Annie John, and Beyond the Limbo Silence, I
argue that notions of death and funerary rituals are
employed within Caribbean women's literature to (re)connect
protagonist females to their homeland and secure a sense of
identity. In addition, while some texts highlight the
necessity of prescribing to the socially constructed roles
of women within the ritual context and rely on the uproper"
adherence to the traditional process to maintain the status
quo, other texts show that the inversion or subversion of
these traditions is also an important aspect of funerary
rituals and notions of death that permeate contemporary
Caribbean culture.