Claiming a hybrid language, seeking a hybrid form: From the vernacular to digital media in Robert Antoni’s As Flies to Whatless Boys (2013)

Abstract

Starting with reflections on the genealogical and formal issues surrounding Caribbean fiction, Robert Antoni provides in this article an introduction to his latest book, As Flies to Whatless Boys (2013). The focus is very much on the formally experimental aspects of this historical novel, notably its use of the vernacular but also the creative ways in which it exploits digital resources to implicate the reader in the extraordinary adventures it narrates and thereby challenge some of the limitations of the genre.

Keywords:

• Robert Antoni
• As Flies to Whatless Boys
• West Indian novel
• form
• vernacular
• digital resources

Notes

1. A reading of the above extracts can be found at https://youtu.be/H4scMxkdhVY.

2. The film is available at http://whatlessboys.com/silence.