Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Portugal, Jose Alberto
Area of Concentration
Literature
Abstract
This thesis is a reading of Alejo Carpentier’s 1949 novel The Kingdom of This World. Chapter one, divided in two parts, will be focusing on the representation of violence through the configuration of different perspectives and voices. The first part will examine the representation of slaves’ bodies as sites of violence; the second part will examine the generalization of violence, articulating the parallels between social revolts and natural illnesses. The second chapter focuses on the representation of memory: how memory aids in the formation of identity through storytelling and the emergence of slaves’ religion; and how memory manifests as haunting. For this chapter, Marianne Hirsch’s definition of “postmemory” is adapted to anchor the analysis of the key topics. This reading and analysis allows us to see how Carpentier creates through this novel a new and uniquely American representation of the history of the Haitian Revolution.
Recommended Citation
Carpenter, Renee, "A Close Reading of Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of This World: Violence, Memory and a Uniquely American Representations of History" (2021). Theses & ETDs. 6040.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6040