ABSTRACT
Early on in The Colour of Forgetting Carib, the seer and keeper of indigenous memory on the fictional island of Edmundo Paz Soldan, built during the robust imperialism of the late 19th century, and brings traffic to a halt; this irruption into capitalist modernity is an instance that connects the novel to decoloniality. Jodi A. Byrd has effectively advocated for the application of indigenous critical theory to social justice struggles within a White settler context, while Elizabeth Povinelli suggests that an indigenous standpoint “sharply confronts” colonial power. These scholarly interventions have dismantled claims to benevolence and multiculturalism often touted by contemporary settler colonies, particularly in North America. Literary culture is one realm that effectively shifts gazes and decentres dominant values, and raises difficult national and transnational questions about identity, society, and marginalization.
