Colonial reason, de-colonial imaginary and feminisms: Nancy Morejón, Jamaica Kincaid and the construction of cultural identity in Caribbean poetics

Abstract

This paper raises the crucial question as to whether non-Western feminisms have reached a postcolonial historical moment in which new proposals and alternatives may open up a horizon of expectations to counter the development of colonial history and its patriarchal legacy. Engaged writers like Nancy Morejón (La Habana 1944–) and Jamaica Kincaid (St John’s Antigua, 1949–) set themselves up to make room for black women in history, a counternarrative to patriarchal History. An analysis of representative pieces of poetry and fiction by both writers in a dialogue with ideas such as the decolonial imaginary, border thinking and rewriting History shed light on alternatives for emancipatory feminist projects for the 21st century.