Ceremonies of Reconciliation: Paule Marshall's The Chosen Place, The Timeless People

Abstract

Paule Marshall's novel, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (published in 1969 and reprinted in 1984), illustrates for the nineties, as it did for the late sixties, the contemporary results of historical interactions between African, European, and American cultures. Set in the post-colonial period, it foregrounds a clash in cultural values which occurs when an American group arrives on a small Caribbean island to do research for a development project. Armed with all the correct social science theory and the best of liberal intentions, the American team must confront a people seemingly stuck in the past and unconcerned about having botched all previous development schemes. Neither the educated islanders, technology, nor outsiders have been able to overcome the cultural gap that separates the poor people of Bournehills from the modem world. The novel depicts the crippling legacy of economic exploitation and slavery that threatens to defeat everyone involved except Merle, a troubled but very strong island woman who sets off for Africa at the end to reclaim a portion of her past. The themes of Marshall's second novel typify both a late-sixties social consciousness and the writer's personal commitment to making connections with the past and creating a new social order. But beyond the obvious portrayal of imperialism and racism lies a complex treatment of suffering, guilt and personal empowerment that makes this novel interesting, not only because the issues have enduring relevance, but also because of current debates about multicultural curricula, intellectual traditions, and the canon. When Merle leaves Bournehills at the end for a trip to Africa, she might be seen as turning her back finally and completely on Western culture to seek her roots and embrace African values. This is not, however, an English language version of negritude. The myths and rituals that dominate this narrative and ultimately influence her choices have more in common with Western views of individualism and Judeo-Christian notions of guilt and personal responsibility than they do with the African fatalism expressed at the beginning.