A PLACE TO RETURN: AN ANALYSIS OF “HOMEGOING” BY YAA GYASI BASED ON POSTCOLONIALIST THEORIES

Abstract

“Homegoing”, a novel written by the Ghanaian writer Yaa Gyasi, tells the story of two half-sisters who were born in distinct parts of Ghana by the middle of 18th century. The plot starts showing their different paths, with Effia marrying a slave trader, and Esi getting captured and sold into slavery. Taking these events into consideration, Gyasi’s narrative follows the parallel lives of Effia and Esi descendants and how slavery had impacted their lives and identities. In this paper we intend to provide an analysis based on postcolonial theories,  specifically on the concepts of diaspora and displacement, as well for a psychoanalytic perspective, focusing on transgenerational trauma and how it affected the characters' identities construction. As a way to explore the similarities among narratives that endure the process of colonization, The House on Mango Street (CISNEROS, 1983), The headstrong Historian (ADICHIE, 2010), and I'm Not Racist, But (HEISS, 2007) served as a support for literary comparison. Based on that, it was possible to draw a relation between literature, history, and human behavior, contemplating literature’s best offer: the ability to transport the reader to different times and minds.