The sea has no memorThe memory’: memories of the body, the sea and the land in Fred D'Aguiar's Feeding the Ghosts (1997) - DOI: 10.4025/actascihumansoc.v29i1.113

Abstract

This article explores the significance of memory, of processes of remembering and forgetting, and of various types and functions of memories in Fred D'Aguiar's novel Feeding the Ghosts (1997). The British-born Guyanese writer descends into the depths of historical memory to excavate individual voices, individual and collective memories, individual and cultural traumas that revolve around a "limit event" (LaCapra, 1999: 698) in history: slavery. By giving voice to his heroine Mintah, a Fetu slave girl, D'Aguiar creates a counter-memory to Britain's official memory, and most importantly, persuades us to build an ethical attachment to memories of the past. The first part of the paper deals with theoretical and methodological issues in memory studies, investigates the complex relation between memory and literature, specifically focussing on the role and function of acts of memory in postcolonial literatures. The second part, devoted to the analysis and interpretation of the novel, will yield fascinating insights into D'Aguiar's multilayered deployment of memory.