Floral Diaspora in Jamaica Kincaid’s Travel Writing

Abstract

In the Introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2005 (2005), the editor, Jamaica Kincaid, writes: ‘And what of the essays here? Every one of them reminds me of two of the many sentiments attached to the travel narrative: curiosity and displacement’ (xviii). The two terms – ‘curiosity’ and ‘displacement’ – are indicative of much of Kincaid’s writing. In A Small Place (1988), for instance, a narrative condemning European imperialism and the neocolonial forces of tourism, Kincaid expresses her feelings of displacement in terms of anger, discontent and loss, as she candidly describes the negative impact of slavery and tourism on Antigua. Usually focusing on the issues of language, (post)colonialism and mother–daughter relationships, Kincaid’s writing takes a horticultural turn with the 1999 publication of My Garden (Book) and Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya (2005).