Women's place of speech in the literature of Suriname: challenging gender and race paradigms

Natali Fabiana Da Costa e Silva

doi:10.18468/letras.2019v9n2.p79-85

Abstract

Suriname is located in the extreme north of South America in a region called Guyana Shield, that includes French Guiana, Republic of Guyana, Suriname and part of Venezuela and northern Brazil. It’s literature is marked by cultural and linguistic ethnic plurality and the thematization of social contradictions. In the case of the literature of Suriname, the narratives that compose this space inscribed in the heterogeneity are populated by characters historically silenced, as enslaved women, workers of the plantations, "bushnengués", among others, but who speak, despite being intermediated by a writer, as representatives of cultures not valued and/or little known. In this sense, this article will discuss two Surinamese historical novels written by Cynthia McLeod,<em>The free negress Elisabeth: prisoner of color</em> (2004) and <em>Tutuba: the girl from the slave-shipLeudsen</em>(2013), addressing, more specifically, how her literature questions the current literary paradigms and discusses the problematic of women’s voices, whose legitimacy is continually put in question.

Highlights

This article intends to discuss the literary production by the Surinamese writer Cynthia McLeod aiming toexamine the way her literature questions current literary paradigmsand discusses the problematic of voices whose legitimacy is continually questioned, that is, the female voices.In order to understand McLeod’s characters place of speech and the context of her writing, it will be rather necessary to understand about the region where this literature is inserted, such as its
The Guyana region is located in the extreme north of South America.It comprehends French Guiana, Suriname, the Republic of Guyana, 80 Amapá as well as part of Venezuela and Roraima2
Located in South America, it has little interconnectivity with the region,both politically and structurally,featuring few highways and a limited number of flights connecting the territory.On the other hand, it is a place of great relations with the Caribbean and, the region is known as the “Caribbean Amazon”and houses the Caribbean Communityheadquarters (CARICOM) in Georgetown, in the Republic of Guyana.In this space, the river, a fundamental and structuring element for the population, represents life, exit to other spaces and the source of the riverside community livelihood

Summary

Introduction

This article intends to discuss the literary production by the Surinamese writer Cynthia McLeod aiming toexamine the way her literature questions current literary paradigmsand discusses the problematic of voices whose legitimacy is continually questioned, that is, the female voices.In order to understand McLeod’s characters place of speech and the context of her writing, it will be rather necessary to understand about the region where this literature is inserted, such as itsThe Guyana region is located in the extreme north of South America.It comprehends French Guiana, Suriname, the Republic of Guyana (formerly English Guiana), 80 Amapá as well as part of Venezuela and Roraima2.

Results

Conclusion