A Study on the Multiple Identities of Black Women in Girl, Woman, Other from a Postcolonial Feminist Perspective

Lilin Deng

doi:10.71222/22ywds06

Authors

Lilin Deng College of International Languages and Cultures, Hohai University, Nanjing, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71222/22ywds06

Keywords:

Girl, Woman, Other, postcolonial feminism, identity, Black British women

Abstract

This comprehensive paper investigates Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 novel, Girl, Woman, Other, through the critical lens of postcolonial feminism, exploring the complex, multifaceted identity constructions of Black British women. Operating at the intersection of postmodern literature and postcolonial critique, the text subverts essentialist master narratives by deploying a highly innovative "fusion fiction" form that reflects the polyphonic realities of its twelve protagonists. By systematically mapping the characters' trajectories against the theoretical frameworks of postcolonial scholars such as Gayatri Spivak and Homi K. Bhabha, this study elucidates how marginalized subjects navigate the triple oppression of race, gender, and class. The analysis reveals that the systemic disenfranchisement experienced by these women, ranging from workplace invisibility and reproductive trauma to domestic abuse and existential displacement, does not culminate in passive victimhood. Instead, these sites of historical subjugation are actively transd into productive spaces for resistance, mutual alliance, and socio-economic empowerment. The paper argues that Evaristo's structural and thematic architecture dismantles monolithic representations of the diaspora, asserting that authentic postcolonial identity is an inherently fluid, continuous negotiation. Through entrepreneurship, artistic creation, and intersectional solidarity, the protagonists forge deeply resilient, hybrid subjectivities, transforming their marginality into a profound genesis of cultural and personal self-determination.

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