HISTORICIZING SLAVERY IN WEST-INDIAN FEMINISMS

This paper traces the evolution of a coherent feminist genre in writte n historical texts during and after slavery, and in relation to contem porary feminist writing in the West Indies. The paper problematizes th e category 'woman' during slavery, arguing that femininity was itself deeply differentiated by class and race, thus leading to historical di sunity in the notion of feminine identity during slavery. This gender neutrality has not been sufficiently appreciated in contemporary femin ist thought leading to liberal feminist politics in the region. This h as proved counter productive in the attempts of Caribbean feminist the orizing to provide alternative understandings of the construction of t he nation-state as it emerged out of slavery and the role of women the mselves in the shaping of modern Caribbean society.