The Woman with the Ibo Nose and the Scottish Tongue: Expressions of Belonging and Return in Jackie Kay’s Writing
Questions of identity—or more appropriately of identities—are at the core of much of Jackie Kay’s writing, and are often intimately linked to the writer’s personal experience of being Scottish, Black and adopted. The expression of this multiplicity necessarily implies the question of belonging, and...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/etudesecossaises, |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
| Publicado: |
Études écossaises
2011
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumario: | Questions of identity—or more appropriately of identities—are at the core of much of Jackie Kay’s writing, and are often intimately linked to the writer’s personal experience of being Scottish, Black and adopted. The expression of this multiplicity necessarily implies the question of belonging, and also in the particular case of Jackie Kay, of a painful recognition of not belonging, of the refusal of others to acknowledge her Scottish identity due to the colour of her skin.The aim of this paper is to analyse how this writer comes to terms with such questions, and more significantly, how the theme of return—be it real or imaginary—to her African origins is expressed in her work. In order to achieve this aim, it focuses on a selection of Kay’s poetry and prose which is representative of preoccupations with themes of belonging and estrangement within the context of both Scotland and Africa, for example, The Adoption Papers (1991), Off Colour (1998), or Life Mask (2005). Kay’s epic poem The Lamplighter (2007), a portrayal of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade through the experience of four women, is also dealt with in this context. |
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