Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - Judit Molnár: The Spatio-Temporal Dimension of Diasporic Discourse from the Carrebian on the Canadian Literary Scene

that past of hers which she retained; she becomes an Obeah woman because that was one of the things that black people in the Americas managed to retain, some sense of the past that is not a past controlled by those things that seem to control her now. (273) Blossom turns to, and builds up a mystical relationship with Oya, the black goddess and becomes a priestess to her. She talks in "old African tongues" (42). Each night Blossom grow more into Oya. Blossom singing, singing for Oya to come, "Oya arriwo Oya, Oya arriwo Oya, Oya, kauako arriwo, Arripiti O Oya." Each night Blossom learn a new piece of Oya and finally, it come to she. She had the power to see and the power to fight; she had the power to feel pain and the power to heal. For life was nothing as it could be taken away any minute; waht was earthly was fleeting; what could be done was joy and it have no beauty in suffering. "Oya O Ologbo O de, Ma yak baMa Who! leh, Oya O de, Ma yak ba Ma Who! leh, Oya Oh deO Ologo arrivo, Oya Oh de cumale." (401) This particular story demonstrates that Brand lives and writes in a multi-vocal space, a special continuum, where languages commingle. Standard English is juxtaposed to vernacular Carribean English. Heteroglossia becomes one of the means of representing the intricate nature of how cultures exist in contact with one another and thus an inter-cultural space is produced. To maintain one's linguistic heritage is of crucial importance for Brand in accordance with which she endows her characters with idiosyncratic speech manners. The multifaceted nature of cultural representation happens in a peculiar linguistic space. The short stories "St. Mary's Estate" and "Photograph" echo each other. These are reminiscences of a past childhood in which the specificities of colonial spaciality and colonial subordination are depicted. The construction of the following quotation built on parallels gives emphasis to the clear-cut segregation between whites and blacks: This is where I was born. This is the white people's house. This is the overseer's shack. Those are the estate workers' barracks. This is where I was born. That is the white people's house this is the overseers' shack those are the slave barracks. That is the slave owner's house this is the overseer's shack those are the slave barracks. (49) 214