My PhD Thesis

I have studied time as critical category, with a special focus on its representation in contemporary Caribbean literature. Many works by writers of Caribbean origins insist on the compresence of different temporal perceptions. The polysemic term “representation” has been my red line throughout the research, because the characters of iconographic representation are often used by the narrators of the novels as means to deconstruct and reinvent time.

My PhD thesis is almost entirely devoted to finding texts in which time is among the themes of narration. The analytical study of each novel follows a complex articulation, and the central section divides into past, present and future. The thesis goes beyond this structure by showing that time is often the metaphor of a sense of uneasiness, of lack of authenticity and frustration with everyday experiences. The features of its representation in Caribbean novel show a struggle to imagine a new dimension that allows a more creative and free expression of oneself.