(Re)negotiating home: exile/migrancy and return in Caryl Phillips' 'A state of independence' and Zakes Mda's 'The heart of redness'

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Title:	(Re)negotiating home: exile/migrancy and return in Caryl Phillips' 'A state of independence' and Zakes Mda's 'The heart of redness'
Author:	Ngongkum, Eunice
Year:	2009
Periodical:	Research Review (ISSN 0855-4412)
Volume:	25
Issue:	2
Pages:	63-81
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	South Africa world
Subjects:	novels migrants return migration self-concept diasporas literature Exiles in literature Home--Psychological aspects Forced migration
About persons:	Caryl Phillips (1958-) Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (1948-)
Abstract:	Using tenets of postcolonial theory, this paper draws from the premise that in 'return home' narratives a common thematic frame is apparent, based on the returnee's personal odyssey to answer the question: where do I belong? The paper shows that the exilic/migrant experience problematizes and complicates the issues of home and identity in the returning subject, who cannot, in the circumstances, recover a plenitudinous sense of 'home'. It argues that the returnee operating from an 'outsider' position must rethink his identity on the 'voyage in'. It demonstrates that to be at home means (re)negotiating the 'outsider' position in often new and innovative ways. The paper uses 'A state of independence' by Caryl Phillips (St. Kitts) and 'The heart of redness' by Zakes Mda (South Africa) as a springboard for this discussion. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French [Journal abstract]