<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The novels of Caryl Phillips often deal with the experiences and identities of those displaced and marginalized by society. Caryl Phillips is well known for employing different textual strategies such as spatiotemporal fragmentation, intertextuality, naming, and point of view shifts in order to portray the struggles and suffering of his characters. The aim of this article is to examine how Phillips uses naming of his characters to depict the effects exile, slavery and other forms of oppression may have on their lives and identities. In order to accomplish this, different characters from Phillips’s novels <italic>Cambridge</italic> (1991), <italic>The Nature of Blood</italic> (1997), <italic>Crossing the River</italic> (1993) and <italic>Higher Ground</italic> (1989) will be discussed. The analysis of the characters will draw upon three concepts of naming first proposed by Bénédicte Ledent (2002): anonymity, (re)naming and name alteration.</p></abstract>

The novels of Caryl Phillips often deal with the experiences and identities of those displaced and marginalized by society. Caryl Phillips is well known for employing different textual strategies such as spatiotemporal fragmentation, intertextuality, naming, and point of view shifts in order to portray the struggles and suffering of his characters. The aim of this article is to examine how Phillips uses naming of his characters to depict the effects exile, slavery and other forms of oppression may have on their lives and identities. In order to accomplish this, different characters from Phillips’s novels Cambridge (1991), The Nature of Blood (1997), Crossing the River (1993) and Higher Ground (1989) will be discussed. The analysis of the characters will draw upon three concepts of naming first proposed by Bénédicte Ledent (2002): anonymity, (re)naming and name alteration.

Lives Fractured: Re/Naming and Identity in the Writing of Caryl Phillips

Romanian Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Lives Fractured: Re/Naming and Identity in the Writing of Caryl Phillips"}

The novels of Caryl Phillips often deal with the experiences and identities of those displaced and marginalized by society. Caryl Phillips is well known for...

Lives Fractured: Re/Naming and Identity in the Writing of Caryl Phillips

Published Online: Dec 05, 2019

Page range: 32 - 41

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2019-0005

Keywords
Caryl Phillips, identity, naming, slavery, alienation, liminality

© 2019 Emina Čatić et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Lives Fractured: Re/Naming and Identity in the Writing of Caryl Phillips

Published Online: Dec 05, 2019

Page range: 32 - 41

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2019-0005

KeywordsCaryl Phillips, identity, naming, slavery, alienation, liminality

© 2019 Emina Čatić et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Caryl Phillips, identity, naming, slavery, alienation, liminality