“Searching for home” : Diasporic displacement and Unstable Belonging in Crossing the River

Sammanfattning

This essay examines Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River, arguing that it exposes the enduring existence of colonial power structures beyond the abolition of slavery by diasporic displacement as an ongoing condition rather than a historical event. Drawing primarily on John McLeod’s explanation of the concept of diaspora, and supported by Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity, Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic framework, and Homi Bhabha’s notion of hybridity, the essay argues that the novel portrays Black identity as historically unsettled and shaped by transatlantic movement, rendering "home" unstable across time and geography. Through fragmented narratives, transatlantic movements, and recurring experiences of displacement, the analysis demonstrates how colonial violence continues to shape memory, belonging, and identity across generations. The essay concludes that Phillips presents the Black diaspora as a condition continually shaped by the enduring legacies of colonialism. Rather than depicting emancipation as the resolution of displacement, the novel shows that exclusion, unstable belonging, and colonial power relations persist across generations, revealing colonialism as an ongoing condition rather than a closed historical chapter. Keywords: postcolonial theory, diaspora, displacement, cultural identity, hybridity