FEMALE SELF-ACTUALIZATION AND IDENTITY LOSS IN EDWIDGE DANTICAT'S KRIK? KRAK! AND JAMAICA KINCAID'S AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER

Abstract

The pursuit of self-actualization is prevalent in Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak! and Jamaica Kincaid's At the Bottom of the River. Both female writers portrayed hopes, desires, conflicts, change and constructs in the lives and experiences of Caribbean women. In pursuit of self-actualization, characters go through journeys and experiences that connect them to their history and bring them to face worlds of different cultures and perspectives. This paper examined Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak! and Jamaica Kincaid's At the Bottom of the River pursue self-actualization and navigate between cultural and generational differences in ambitions and perspectives. The research applied the womanism and psychoanalytic concepts in examining the connection between Caribbean women’s pursuit of self-actualisation and experiences as migrants, exploring the themes of colonisation, history and cultural differences. The relationship between older women and younger women in Krik? Krak! and the relationship between mothers and daughters in At the Bottom of the River were also examined. The women experience different circumstances, but they remain committed to family and personal dreams. The paper concluded that Danticat and Kincaid portray the struggles of women with family pressures, socioeconomic challenges, migration experiences, colonization and domination, cultural and generational differences as essential to their self-discovery and psychological and ideological development that helped them in their pursuit of self-actualization.