Postcolonial routes and diasporic identities: Belonging and displacement in Caryl Phillips's The Final Passage and A Distant Shore

Abstract

This article discusses Caryl Phillips's novels The Final Passage (1985) and A Distant Shore (2003), with reference to the displacement and hybridity of the diasporic subject. In Phillips's concept of the “new world order” hegemonic borders are crossed through migration, enabling negotiation and interaction between different cultures. The study examines how Caryl Phillips's novels show his displaced characters in the imperial metropolis coming to redefine their identity in terms of their diasporic black British experience. In this way they contribute to the exploration of new routes in postcolonial studies.

Keywords:

• Caryl Phillips
• hybridity
• diaspora
• displacement
• belonging
• black British writing