In conversation with Dr. Tegan Zimmerman on her book 'Matria Redux: Caribbean Women Novelize the Past'

What is the book about?

Matria Redux: Caribbean Women Novelize the Past is a book about mothers and daughters as depicted in historical novels from across the Caribbean. Caribbean women novelists have taken on the burden of relaying the maternal past in remarkable ways, which is reflected in my concept of matria—an imagined motherland. Further reflecting the diversity of this writing, the book examines four timeframes: slavery, colonialism, revolution, and the recent past. Each chapter presents the unique lives and voices of mothers and daughters and draws on contemporary feminist theory, postcolonial theory, and psychoanalytic theory. Novelists featured include Dionne Brand, Andrea Levy, Jan Lowe Shinebourne, Judith Ortiz, Edwidge Danticat, Andrea Herrera O’Reilly, Paule Marshall and Marie Elena John.

How did you arrive at the idea for the book?

Throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies, I was fortunate enough to take several courses in historical fiction (I was lucky enough to study under the late great Dr. Herb Wyile) – it was, however, during my PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta and working with Dr. Albert Braz that I really began to delve deeper into the topic. I read Diana Wallace’s groundbreaking text about British women’s historical fiction and realized there was a major gap in the research when it came to theorizing women’s writing, despite the significant contribution of women’s writing to the genre. This inspired me to write my dissertation on contemporary women’s historical fiction from a transnational feminist perspective. After reading countless novels, it was the postcolonial writing that stuck with me the most, and so after doing some more research in the years after completing my PhD, I began to narrow my focus to the region that I thought not only was producing some incredible texts but also had not been recognized for doing so. Matria Redux: Caribbean Women Novelize the Past was written to help remedy this scholarly gap and to demonstrate that Caribbean women are indeed novelizing the past in ways that other authors, in other contexts, are not, especially when it comes to the theme of mothers and daughters defying both the patriarchy and coloniality.

What was your writing process?

Once I have the general idea of a project determined, and I’ve read widely enough to select a certain novel, I begin to write my chapter. I should also note that a lot of factors play into the decision about which novel to write about. One factor is my preference in terms of how appealing I find the setting, the characters, themes or ideas. I also consider what sets a particular novel from other novels.  I am trained in close-reading and so I use close reading  in my approach. I read a novel from start to finish first. Then I go back and start to think about what I want to say about this book; I ask questions like what intrigues me about the novel, is it a character depiction, or the expression of an idea, or a special kind of narrative style. Once I have my argument (which I can express in 1 to 2 sentences), I go back and start re-reading the novel to identify passages that reflect the thesis, and I type these quotations out into my chapter. I work chronologically too. I write my essay/chapter using only the novel to begin with and my own ideas (i.e., developing the thesis, examining key passages).

Once I am satisfied with my argument, I start researching other scholars who have written on this text, maybe other novels by the same writer, the genre in general, or suitable theory, e.g., Carol Boyce Davies and Elaine Savory Fido’s concept of voicelessness. I also try to think of how this novel and my argument fits in relation to the other works and authors I am studying and how it contributes to my central idea of the book, in this case matria as reflected in mother-daughter bonds. I then go back to my essay and integrate or layer these ideas into my work.

For me, this process ensures that my own ideas and voice stand, do not get lost, but are rather placed in conversation with other scholars in the field, such as Caroline Rody. . I also recognize that one cannot write on every aspect of every novel, author, or genre and that this is okay! You do have to let some ideas go, and it is important to ask what contribution your study brings to literary studies.  It’s also important that at the end of the project, you still have a topic that speaks to your interests and excites your imagination.

How do you complete writing projects to meet deadlines?

I am a very schedule-oriented writer. I keep a notebook, and I break down my tasks by month and then by day, even adding the time of day I will complete a task. I also look at the work I must do and divide it into categories. As mentioned above, I do my own close reading of a novel first, so I will usually give myself two to three weeks to complete this part. This period also includes formulating my thesis, analyzing passages, and identifying important references to the text. Then, when I am ready to layer in the secondary sources, I return to my schedule and start to categorize works into articles, chapters, or books. Then I divide these pieces into themes, e.g., scholarship on the specific novel I am writing about or feminist theory on the historical novel genre. I then go back to my schedule and work backwards from my deadline: I begin filling in my daily schedule by placing the texts I feel are most important to my argument at the beginning, and working my way down to the books that may  contribute to a lesser degree. I read and use secondary sources and write my essay simultaneously. I schedule in days towards the end of my timeline for entering full  references, editing, revising, and proofreading as well. I also try to build in two to three days for unexpected events, such as falling ill or spending longer on a task than I had anticipated. This takes pressure off, but also keeps me on track, and gives me a feeling of progress and accomplishment which is crucial when tackling any writing project.