Bodies and Bones

In Bodies and Bones, Tanya Shields argues that a repeated engagement with the Caribbeans iconic and historic touchstones offers a new sense of (inter)national belonging that brings an alternative and dynamic vision to the gendered legacy of brutality against black bodies, flesh, and bone. Using a distinctive methodology she calls "e;feminist rehearsal"e; to chart the Caribbeans multiple and contradictory accounts of historical events, the author highlights the gendered and emergent connections between art, history, and belonging. By drawing on a significant range of genresnovels, short stories, poetry, plays, public statuary, and paintingShields proposes innovative interpretations of the work of Grace Nichols, Pauline Melville, Fred DAguiar, Alejo Carpentier, Edwidge Danticat, Aim Csaire, Marie-Hlne Cauvin, and Rose Marie Desruisseau. She shows how empathetic alliances can challenge both hierarchical institutions and regressive nationalisms and facilitate more democratic interaction.