‘Nobody will miss me’ - Post-colonialism, Intertextuality, and Abandonment in Caryl Phillips’s The Lost Child

Details

Supervisors

Bragard, Véronique

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation germaniques, à finalité didactique

Abstract

Through a reading of Caryl Phillips’s The Lost Child (2015), the present dissertation discusses the different representations of abandonment of the lost boys: Heathcliff, Ben and Tommy. In line with his sharp social awareness, Phillips interweaves his narrative with Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to highlight the then and now poor treatment of abandoned children. In his portrayal of abandonment, he distinguishes different aspects of the desertion of parents. He explores the events leading to abandonment, redefines the concept of abandonment, focuses on the integration of the abandoned child in a new family, and highlights the feelings of vulnerability and the question of identity that are experienced by an abandoned child. Phillips also offers a strategy for healing from the trauma of abandonment. Through twoness and the emancipation via the arts, Ben escapes Phillips’s traditional determinism. Furthermore, Phillips sheds light on marginality and other post-colonial characteristics through his intertextual dialogue with Wuthering Heights.