Narrative Form and Palimpsestic Memory in Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift

Angelo Monaco

doi:10.17456/simple-159

Abstract

This essay explores Namwali Serpell’s debut novel The Old Drift (2019) through the lens of ‘palimpsestic memory’, contending that the novel articulates an interconnectedness between memory and migration. Firstly, I will investigate how the tension between aeonic temporality and some paratextual elements that attempt to install order and direct the reader’s orientation mimic and resonate with the intricate motif of the palimpsest. Then, I will illustrate how the alternation between extradiegetic and intradiegetic narration and the format of the multigenerational novel contribute to create a palimpsestic tale where several generations and different stories are inextricably intertwined, generating a spiral pattern where the multiple and invisible trajectories of temporality are refracted and eventually converge.

Highlights

: L’articolo esplora il romanzo di esordio di Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift (2019), attraverso la lente della ‘memoria del palinsesto’, individuando l’interconnessione tra memoria e migrazione
As Rushdie’s comment illustrates, the strength of The Old Drift lies in the kaleidoscopic variety of its narrative forms, refusing categorisation and blurring the borders among various literary genres, from epical myth to magic realism
The novel engages with questions of memory and migration, as it comes to grips with the physical and mental displacement of three families – one black, one white and one interracial – recounted mainly from the viewpoint of women

Summary

Introduction

: L’articolo esplora il romanzo di esordio di Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift (2019), attraverso la lente della ‘memoria del palinsesto’, individuando l’interconnessione tra memoria e migrazione. Following nine members of the families – Agnes, Thandiwe and Joseph for the family descending from Clark; Matha, Sylvia and Jacob, who belong to N’gulube’s family; and Sibilla, Isabella and Naila, the descendants of the Italian Gavuzzis – The Old Drift spans more than one hundred years, recounting the transition from colonial Zambia towards a close imagined future, while connecting memory frictions with stories of migration.

Results

Conclusion