Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i>
In this essay, I argue that Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, in short stories from her most recent collection, <i>Everything </i><i>Inside</i> (2019), challenges toxic forms of representation by attending to the imaginative potential of Haitian migrant experience wit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/139 |
| _version_ | 1797457419511529472 |
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| author | Jay Rajiva |
| author_facet | Jay Rajiva |
| author_sort | Jay Rajiva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this essay, I argue that Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, in short stories from her most recent collection, <i>Everything </i><i>Inside</i> (2019), challenges toxic forms of representation by attending to the imaginative potential of Haitian migrant experience within moments of collective trauma. This challenge, I suggest, is based on <i>bigidi</i>, a Creole expression denoting permanent imbalance that is once philosophy, dance practice, musical aesthetic, and cultural tradition. The principle of being off-balance without falling, central to how bigidi finds expression in Guadeloupean <i>swaré-lé-woz</i> and other forms of Caribbean dance, interweaves rhythm, music, and bodily movement with a community-oriented site of cultural expression. By saturating the narrative and readerly spaces of <i>Everything Inside</i> with uniquely Caribbean elements of improvisation, audience interaction, and performance, Danticat foregrounds moments of shared intimacy and vulnerability between Haitians, disrupting the representational trauma circuit of migrant death. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:20:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a3a157cd44e54f7ca88b7b69a6c6a90d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:20:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-a3a157cd44e54f7ca88b7b69a6c6a90d2023-11-24T15:16:58ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872022-11-0111613910.3390/h11060139Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i>Jay Rajiva0Department of English, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30307, USAIn this essay, I argue that Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, in short stories from her most recent collection, <i>Everything </i><i>Inside</i> (2019), challenges toxic forms of representation by attending to the imaginative potential of Haitian migrant experience within moments of collective trauma. This challenge, I suggest, is based on <i>bigidi</i>, a Creole expression denoting permanent imbalance that is once philosophy, dance practice, musical aesthetic, and cultural tradition. The principle of being off-balance without falling, central to how bigidi finds expression in Guadeloupean <i>swaré-lé-woz</i> and other forms of Caribbean dance, interweaves rhythm, music, and bodily movement with a community-oriented site of cultural expression. By saturating the narrative and readerly spaces of <i>Everything Inside</i> with uniquely Caribbean elements of improvisation, audience interaction, and performance, Danticat foregrounds moments of shared intimacy and vulnerability between Haitians, disrupting the representational trauma circuit of migrant death.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/139Caribbean literaturetraumaDanticatHaitidiasporadance |
| spellingShingle | Jay Rajiva Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> Humanities Caribbean literature trauma Danticat Haiti diaspora dance |
| title | Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> |
| title_full | Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> |
| title_fullStr | Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> |
| title_short | Caring for <i>Everything Inside</i>: Migrant Trauma and Danticat’s Narrative <i>Bigidi</i> |
| title_sort | caring for i everything inside i migrant trauma and danticat s narrative i bigidi i |
| topic | Caribbean literature trauma Danticat Haiti diaspora dance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/139 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jayrajiva caringforieverythinginsideimigranttraumaanddanticatsnarrativeibigidii |