Theses and Dissertations

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Finding the oppressor out: constructions of colonial classrooms in Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John and Patrick Chamoiseau's School Days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Kayton, Jennifer Lynn, author; Sorensen, Leif, advisor; Thompson, Deborah, committee member; Hirchi, Mohammed, committee member
Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John and Patrick Chamoiseau's School Days critique the colonial education system as well as construct many ways in which the protagonists interact with that system at the psychological level. The colonial school acts as a physical and cultural manifestation of Empire, a catalyst for the protagonist's development, and a site for mediating relationships with peers and family members. The texts simultaneously construct the colonial education system and challenge its imperial foundation. The first two chapters of this thesis aim to study how the emerging narrative voices of Annie John and the little boy develop in relation to, and in resistance of, the colonial school system. The final chapter discusses the different approaches Kincaid and Chamoiseau utilize to appropriate the language and literature of the colonizers.