“A saint, a heroine, and a town”: The incarnation of “rose” and poetics of resistance in Edwidge Danticat's Claire of the Sea Light

Abstract

Edwidge Danticat in her novel Claire of the Sea Light (2013) delineates a group of determined women who actively challenge the patriarchal norms prevalent in Haiti. This article conducts a thorough textual analysis focusing on the imagery of the “rose” and its intricate connections with women in the narrative. Through the elaborate naming of Ville Rose, the incarnation of rose as female figures in the novel, as well as the resistance and resilience that rose represents in the female genealogy, Danticat places women at the center of the stage, reclaiming the often neglected, silenced, and marginalized roles of women in Haitian history. This article argues that by foregrounding the unique perspective and experience of Haitian women, Danticat questions the patriarchal hegemonic discourse, reformulates the female discursive system, and reshapes the male‐dominated Haitian literary tradition. This exploration of her poetics of resistance not only contributes to the understanding of Haitian (women's) literature and Caribbean diasporic studies but also provides a new perspective for plant studies within the realm of literature.