A ‘national beverage’: the ‘sugary’ tea-ritual in Nancy Cato’s Brown Sugar
Keywords:
Nancy Cato, Kanakas, Tea-ritual, Brown Sugar, HybridityAbstract
In this paper I will deal with the re-interpretation of the tea-ritual and the sugar metaphors in Nancy Cato’s Brown Sugar from a symbol of exclusion and purity to one of hybridity. In the same way the vehicle speaks of the tenor, so the past in the novel enlightens the present. Moreover, I will start by focusing on Cato’s literary works underlying two of the many important themes unfolded in them; then, I will analyse these themes in Brown Sugar and focus on the situation of South Pacific Islanders and women to unveil the cracks in the myth of the nation or, in other words, what was believed to be a pluralistic and egalitarian society at the time of her writing Brown Sugar.
Keywords: Nancy Cato, Kanakas, Tea-ritual, Brown Sugar, Hybridity
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