Negotiating Identities, Spaces, and Institutions: Transnationalism in Select Novels of Bernardine Evaristo

Abstract

This thesis attempts to analyze and further the conceptualization of the burgeoning field of transnational fiction through the literary works of Bernardine Evaristo, a Black British woman writer. The theory of transnationalism challenges the construction of nations as homogeneous and self-contained, by highlighting migrations within and across borders. Transnational fiction as a category remains relatively undertheorized. Therefore, this thesis explores what transnational fiction, in conjunction with intersectionality, may entail and its importance in examining the construct of the modern nation. The thesis does not merely identify characteristic features of transnational fiction in Evaristo’s work, but also uses the novels as grounds to further the theorization of transnational fiction by focusing on three key aspects: intersectional identities, hybrid spaces, and transforming institutions.

The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part lays out the theories of intersectionality, transnationalism, and transnational fiction, while also dwelling on the backdrop of Black British writing. The second part entails the analysis of two novels set in 21st century Britain: Mr. Loverman (2010) and Girl, Woman, Other (2019). Both these novels show the myriad ways in which categories of identity (such as race, gender, sexuality, age, etc) inform, inflect, and intersect with the idea of nation. The third part critically assesses The Emperor’s Babe (2001) and Blonde Roots (2008). Both these novels are contemporary publications but hark back to different historical periods: the former explores Roman Britannia through a Black woman protagonist, while the latter reverses history (the colonizer-colonized binary) to deconstruct the institution of slavery. Through the analysis of these two novels, I argue that Evaristo’s reimagination of history establishes a longue-durée presence of Black people in Britain. Cumulatively, these novels unsettle the cultural hegemony of the white, male, and heterosexual British citizen, and foreground its already-always hybrid and heterogeneous composition.