Neil Bissoondath's imaginary homeland : the search for possible places and space in A Casual Brutality

Title: Neil Bissoondath's imaginary homeland : the search for possible places and space in A Casual Brutality
Author: Molnár, Judit
Source document: The Central European journal of Canadian studies. 2012, vol. 8, iss. [1], pp. 61-70
Extent
61-70
  • ISSN
    1213-7715 (print)
    2336-4556 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Rights access
embargoed access
 

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Abstract(s)
Neil Bisssoondath's novel A Casual Brutality (1988), later translated into French as Retour à Casaquemada (1992), focuses on a return journey to an imaginary homeland. My aim is to show how the main character tries to define his transformed identity on an island through his relationship with the places and the space that he used to know but lost contact with. Casaquemada means "a house burnt down"; it suggests that the narrator goes through a process in which his sense of belonging is seriously threatened. The article is a systematic analysis of the main protagonist's relationship to various locations: houses, rooms, landscapes, cityscapes. My intention is to demonstrate that the ambiguous relation between here (Canada) and there (an island in the Caribbean) results in a strong sense of unquestionable dislocation.
Le roman de Neil Bissoondath, A Casual Brutality (1988), traduit en français sous le titre de Retour à Casaquemada (1992), presente un voyage de retour dans une patrie imaginaire. Je me propose de montrer comment le protagoniste essaie de définir son identité transformée, lors d'un sejour dans une île, à travers son rapport avec les lieux et les espaces qu'il avait connus, mais avec lesquels il aperdu tout contact. "Casaquemada" signifie "la maison complètement brûlée", suggérant que le narrateur-personnage est sujet à un processus de transformation dans lequel son sentiment d'appartenance à un lieu est fortement ébranlé. Mon étude donne une analyse systématique des rapports d'aliénation entre le protagoniste et divers types de lieux: maison, chambres, paysages campagnards et urbains. Mon objectif est de démontrer que le rapport ambigu entre "ici" (le Canada) et "là-bas" (une île des Carabïes) produit dans ce roman un sentiment très fort d'incontestable de dépaysement.
References
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[2] Bissoondath, Neil. A Casual Brutality. Markham (Ont.): Penguin Books, 1989.

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[4] Bissoondath, Neil. Interview. "Hungering for an Imperfect Homeland". Sunday Guardian. February 25, 2001. 7. http://www.nalis.gov.tt/.../ 9 April 2009.

[5] Bissoondath, Neil. Interview. "Up-And-Coming". http://aurora.icaap.org/archive.bissoondath.html 21 February 2008.

[6] Foucault, Michael. "Of Other Spaces". Diacritics Vol. 16. No.1. (1986), 22-27. | DOI 10.2307/464648

[7] Genetsch, Martin. The Texture of Identity: The Fiction of M.G. Vassanji, Neil Bissoondath, and Rohinton Mistry. Toronto: TSAR, 2007.

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