A Comparative Approach to Identities in Toni Morrison’s and Léonora Miano’s Novels

Abstract

Women writers from the African Diaspora are committed to the question of identity. They construct extraordinary imaginary worlds, sometimes closely linked to their host societies or those of their ancestors. This in-between-cultures characteristic explains the plurality of identities that unfold. The desire to assert their rights and acquire financial mobility forces the fictional subjects evolving in these spaces to embark on a frantic quest for material goods. But to preserve their cultural heritage, influenced by that of elsewhere, they undertake a process of identity construction. Through these narrative strategies, a transgressive practice emerges whose aesthetic aim is to advocate justice. The novels surveyed depict several female figures whose convergent and divergent aspects merit in-depth critical analysis. To this end, the comparative approach will elucidate two major axes, namely "emerging identity forms" and "socialization strategies".