Author Information
Alvin Joseph, Mahatma Gandhi University, IndiaAbstract
The paper discusses Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family from the perspective of memory studies, diasporic studies and postcolonial theory. It indicates that Roots can be read as a personal and collective archive of African American memory resisting hegemonic historical narratives and reclaiming Black diasporic identity. The novel foregrounds the politics of remembering and forgetting in postcolonial contexts through its representation of ancestral memory across centuries of displacement, enslavement and resistance. Roots stages a transgenerational act of cultural remembrance through the projects of post memory and genealogical recovery, that is not only retrospective but also centrally concerned with the continuity of Black American culture. This paper considers how Haley’s narrative is a counter-historical project in that it denies the erasure of African origins and reclaims the agency of the enslaved through remembered lineage. The study contextualizes Roots within postcolonial and diasporic discourse to demonstrate how memory can be a powerful tool for rebuilding identity and achieving historical justice.
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress