Performance in the novels of Earl Lovelace
Rehearsing and Improvising the Self: Performance in the Novels of Earl Lovelace is the first full-fledged study of Earl Lovelace. In this study, Pérez Montijo develops his examination of the author’s work, mainly the novels, by applying performance theory. He analyzes the extent to which the characters in the novels perform their identities, both verbally and bodily, as a means of resisting the destructive postcolonial ways they confront day by day. In its examination of The Dragon Can’t Dance, the best known of the novels, there is an insightful analysis of the narrative voice that undermines the characters’ voices and choices. It closes with a look at Salt and the performance of Carnival. All in all, Lovelace comes through as a writer who never stops trying to understand the people of the Caribbean, and who sees their problems as a result of the colonial legacy that continues to invade and influence their Iives. This study of Lovelace offers readers an opportunity to explore the main works of this important Trinidadian author and, through the lens of performance, encourages further exploration of the ongoing Caribbean preoccupation with identity, language and economic reparations for the colonial fiasco.