
Negotiating Identity and Belonging in the Western Indian Ocean: Fluid Enabling Spaces in M.G. Vassanji’s Uhuru Street
Author(s) -
Dolors Ortega Arévalo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
revista canaria de estudios ingleses
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2530-8335
pISSN - 0211-5913
DOI - 10.25145/j.recaesin.2021.82.03
Subject(s) - diaspora , negotiation , gender studies , ethnic group , identity (music) , identity negotiation , sociology , context (archaeology) , tanzania , identity formation , geography , genealogy , ethnology , anthropology , history , social science , aesthetics , archaeology , art
This article analyses the short story cycle Uhuru Street, which describes the life of the members of the minority Ismaili community, whom Vassanji fictionalises as Shamsis, in the context of crucial changes in the history of Tanzania. Diaspora, fragmentation and ethnic multiplicity in a really hierarchical tripartite society will be studied within the framework of cross-cultural networking in the Western Indian Ocean, where complex identity relations are established. Our discussion stems from a brief historical genealogy of the Indian community in Tanzania, it analyses the complex identity relations and affiliations among Tanzanian citizens of Indian descent, and moves on to the analysis of Vassanji’s short stories in order to explore those fluid and enabling spaces where identity and belonging are to be negotiated.