Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel
This article analyses Jamaica Kincaid’s autobiographical novel See Now Then through the metaphor of the palimpsest with the aim of exploring the frictions between the different generic and thematic layers that make up the text. It argues that despite the novel’s generic openness, its thematic concer...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of English Studies
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies |
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| author | Bárbara Arizti |
| author_facet | Bárbara Arizti |
| author_sort | Bárbara Arizti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyses Jamaica Kincaid’s autobiographical novel See Now Then through the metaphor of the palimpsest with the aim of exploring the frictions between the different generic and thematic layers that make up the text. It argues that despite the novel’s generic openness, its thematic concerns, most notably its treatment of time and narrative temporality, encourage a backward-looking stance that reasserts the past. The theories of Sarah Dillon and Lene Johannessen on the nature of palimpsests, especially the difference between the palimpsestic and the palimpsestuous and the interaction between the horizontal and the vertical, the new and the old, will be drawn upon in conjunction with Leigh Gilmore’s investigations into limit case autobiographies – works, like Kincaid’s, that question the borders between fiction and life-writing under the pressure of traumatic experiences. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a35df9fdd88f46d1aee1ec48f6e02eeb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0860-5734 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Institute of English Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-a35df9fdd88f46d1aee1ec48f6e02eeb2025-01-02T13:08:26ZengInstitute of English StudiesAnglica. An International Journal of English Studies0860-57342022-09-0131110712310.7311/0860-5734.31.1.06Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A NovelBárbara Arizti0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-1308University of ZaragozaThis article analyses Jamaica Kincaid’s autobiographical novel See Now Then through the metaphor of the palimpsest with the aim of exploring the frictions between the different generic and thematic layers that make up the text. It argues that despite the novel’s generic openness, its thematic concerns, most notably its treatment of time and narrative temporality, encourage a backward-looking stance that reasserts the past. The theories of Sarah Dillon and Lene Johannessen on the nature of palimpsests, especially the difference between the palimpsestic and the palimpsestuous and the interaction between the horizontal and the vertical, the new and the old, will be drawn upon in conjunction with Leigh Gilmore’s investigations into limit case autobiographies – works, like Kincaid’s, that question the borders between fiction and life-writing under the pressure of traumatic experiences.jamaica kincaidautobiography(auto)pathographypost-colonial palimpsesttraumanarrative temporality |
| spellingShingle | Bárbara Arizti Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies jamaica kincaid autobiography (auto)pathography post-colonial palimpsest trauma narrative temporality |
| title | Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel |
| title_full | Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel |
| title_fullStr | Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel |
| title_full_unstemmed | Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel |
| title_short | Autobiography, Time and the Palimpsest in Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then: A Novel |
| title_sort | autobiography time and the palimpsest in jamaica kincaid s see now then a novel |
| topic | jamaica kincaid autobiography (auto)pathography post-colonial palimpsest trauma narrative temporality |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT barbaraarizti autobiographytimeandthepalimpsestinjamaicakincaidsseenowthenanovel |