“Awakening to the Singing”: Bernardine Evaristo’s Lara

Abstract

In Bernardine Evaristo’s Lara (1997 [2009]), the practice of “utter[ing] the mysteries of the spirit” recalls the form of memory which has been identified as “African” in African American writing, but which in this context instead exemplifies the sheer diversity of cultural influences which contribute to the creation of a Black British identity. Evaristo expresses here a crucial aspect of the uneven dialog which emerges between African American and Black British positions throughout this study. In this novel, the experience of “possession” by ancestral spirits is placed as the key component in forming a clear sense of belonging in Britain—yet, crucially, this practice of possession is not only linked to African tradition, but also likened to broader concepts of remembrance/hybrid identities.