Originary Violations: Discursive Constructions of Caribbean Motherhood and Motherlands

Caribbean
motherhood reflects a complex interplay of ancestry and diaspora shaped by both violence
and resilience. Originary Violations investigates
how female embodiment, sexuality and
maternal power were defined by the histories of slavery and colonialism as well as by
social hierarchies built on race, class, gender and nationality. It considers the ways
legacies of trauma and dispossession continue to shape family life, patterns of migration,
cultural expression and the Caribbean landscape itself.

The volume
brings together the voices of Caribbean writers and artists such as Erna Brodber,
Olive Senior, Dionne Brand, Kei Miller, Marlon James and Derek Walcott. Through their
fiction, poetry and art, they reveal how violence, loss and cultural struggles continue to
leave marks on Caribbean people and landscapes. At the same time, their work also
opens space for healing and new beginnings. By moving beyond only women's voices, this
book adds men's perspectives as well, offering a richer understanding of motherhood and identity in the
Caribbean.