Mapping the Anomalous in Caryl Phillips’s “Heartland”

• Published in: Sic Vol. 11; no. 2.11
• Main Author: Murat Öner, I.
• Format: Journal Article Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Sveučilište u Zadru 01-06-2021; University of Zadar
• Subjects: geocriticism, dehumanization, “Heartland,” Caryl Phillips, slavery, anomalous, multifocalization, social deterritorialization
• ISSN: 1847-7755; 1847-7755
• DOI: 10.15291/sic/2.11.lc.6

All narratives of Caryl Phillips present prolific ground for research in spatial literary studies. Phillips’s “Heartland,” the focus of this paper, deals with the mechanics of Britain’s enslaving past. The narrator is an anomalous character who stands at the borderline between two multiplicities and takes part in the social deterritorialization process of the absolute anomalous or, to say, a perpetual outsider, the slave, who loiters without a safe anchorage. The process of social deterritorialization necessitates the eradication of all beacons of geographical, familial, tribal, linguistic, and cultural belonging. The process of social deterritorialization necessitates the eradication of all beacons of geographical, familial, tribal, linguistic, and cultural belonging. This then requires a more stratified understanding and evaluation of the slave-making process as well as a critical reading of narratives of slavery such as “Heartland.” This paper, therefore, aims to construct a multifocal mapping of some of the micro spaces used in the process of social deterritorialization and the anomalous bodies as narrated in Caryl Phillips’s “Heartland.” The paper also aims to use the method of geocritical multifocalization, which highlights the need for a diversification of perspectives in the analysis of any given space, real or fictional.