1. A C o s m o p o l i t a n V i s i o n o f

Home and Subjectivity in

Caryl Phillips

C

aryl Phillips’s novels have largely been approached from
postcolonial theoretical perspectives, a trend that appears
appropriate, given the author’s Caribbean origins and his
work’s recurrent themes of immigration, ethnic discrimination, and
the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. However, in recent years,
there has been an increasing interest in the ways in which Phillips’s
work complements cosmopolitan thought. Of course, it is broadly
accepted that cosmopolitanism and postcolonial theory share some
significant ideas and values: both have been used to explore the
themes of deracination and migration and the ways in which they
impact upon the construction of identity. While every instance of
such complementarity cannot be listed here, some salient examples
can be seen in the work of a number of scholars commonly associ-
ated with postcolonial theory. Bill Ashcroft, for instance, illustrates
the degree to which the subjects of migration and “dislocation”
preoccupy postcolonial thought. More specifically, Homi Bhabha
advocates the need to focus on the processes of cultural hybridity,
by which the individual in a postcolonial or transnational setting
negotiates a composite form of identity that has multiple influences.
Then there is Edward Said, who did not explicitly identify himself
as a “postcolonial” scholar, but whose work has been embraced by
postcolonialists, and whose efforts to overturn essentialist ideas of
identity chime with the key priorities of the cosmopolitan project.
In spite of significant areas of convergence between the two
theoretical orientations, there are also points at which they differ.