Narrativity and the Problematics of 'Authenticity' in Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

Postcolonial historical fictions, set in turbulent times, grapple with the question of 'authenticity' in their fictional representations of events and individuals of the past. Trinidadian novelist Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts (2023), set in the estate barracks and surrounding mi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent writing Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 82 - 93
Main Authors Ramesh, Gopika L, J, Sharon
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.01.2024
Subjects
authenticity
historical fiction
Hungry Ghosts
Kevin Jared Hosein
narration
postcolonial literature
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Summary:Postcolonial historical fictions, set in turbulent times, grapple with the question of 'authenticity' in their fictional representations of events and individuals of the past. Trinidadian novelist Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts (2023), set in the estate barracks and surrounding milieu of 1940s Trinidad, is no exception. The paper argues for a nuanced understanding of the term 'authenticity' in our reading of historical fictions, and explores Hosein's use of the formal, imaginative and affective dimensions of narration in negotiating representational adequacy and strengthening the significant thematic concerns in the text. Through textual analysis, the paper explores how Hosein situates his text firmly within the spatio-temporal reality of the period and captures the struggles of 'becoming' confronting a population whose lives are coloured by historical trauma and continuing spatial hierarchy.
ISSN:1013-929X
2159-9130
DOI:10.1080/1013929X.2024.2325776