Blending postcolonial identities: A reexamination of the formation of Caribbean cultural and gendered identitie

Two powerful forces in contemporary theory are those of cultural hybridity, set forth by Homi Bhabha, and gender performativity, made political and then material by Judith Butler. Bhabha's theory of cultural hybridity focuses on moments of linguistic subversion, arguing that it is through language and culture the colonized are better able to resist complete assimilation. Butler argues that there is no a priori gender, but rather socially constructed notions of gender tied to repeated, stylized actions such as behavior and dress which constitute what we perceive as gender. I examine how postcolonial Caribbean identities are constructed within the novels of Michelle Cliff (Abeng and No Telephone to Heaven ), Earl Lovelace (The Dragon Can't Dance), and Patricia Powell (The Pagoda). By combining the theories of cultural hybridity and gender performativity, I postulate that in order for the construction of identity to be productive for both the individual and the nation, both must remain in a dialectical relationship between the representative binaries for both the individual (masculine and feminine genders) and the nation (Western and native cultures).