An autonomous place in the global city: an interpretation of Dionne Brand’s “What we all long for”

Beatriz De Carvalho Monteiro

doi:10.11606/issn.2594-9632.geoliterart.2020.167477

Beatriz De Carvalho Monteiro

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2594-9632.geoliterart.2020.167477

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Abstract

Dionne Brand creates characters with peculiar aspirations in her novel What we all long for. In Toronto, Quy, Tuyen, Carla, Oku and Jackie have their childhoods and origins shaped by the urban spaces they occupy. The author elaborates the struggles between immigrants in Canada and their children, born in the country, as these young people drift in Toronto. How much are these tensions natural in child-parent relationships? In what ways are they more difficult because of the immigrant experience? In this paper, we focus on Oku to point out that the strain in child-parent relationships resembles the tensions between the diasporic subjects and the global city. We conclude that Oku became more aware of his potential to act upon the development of his identity. The main concept that guided this interpretation was that of reterritorialization, as proposed by Kit Dobson (2006).

Highlights

What we all long for is a novel by Dionne Brand, who is a poet, essayist, professor and activist
How are these struggles typical of child-parent relationships in general? In what ways are they complexified by the immigrant experience? In this paper, we concentrate on Oku to argue that the strain in child-parent relationships is analogous to the tensions between the diasporic subjects and the global city
According to Bruce Robbins cosmopolitanism is a contestation of politics within and beyond the nation, we argue that this understanding of cosmopolitanism, Kit Dobson’s ideas on drifting (DOBSON, 2006) and What we all long for (BRAND, 2005) inspire a resistance practice against the western hegemonic designs and national stereotypes

Summary

INTRODUCTION

What we all long for is a novel by Dionne Brand, who is a poet, essayist, professor and activist She is an awarded author who lives and portrays the experiences of women, immigrants, African American and queer people. The author unfolds the tensions between immigrants and their second-generation children, as these young people drift in Toronto. How are these struggles typical of child-parent relationships in general? Major cities are the places where financial headquarters, anchor tenants, transportation systems and artistic scenes meet the wealthy, workers, students, and beggars Toronto is this kind of place, and Brand works with these encounters in the novel, giving vivid descriptions of this cosmopolitan place. According to Bruce Robbins cosmopolitanism is a contestation of politics within and beyond the nation, we argue that this understanding of cosmopolitanism, Kit Dobson’s ideas on drifting (DOBSON, 2006) and What we all long for (BRAND, 2005) inspire a resistance practice against the western hegemonic designs and national stereotypes

DEVELOPMENT

CONCLUSION