THE CARTOGRAPHY OF DIASPORIC IDENTITIES IN BERNARDINE EVARISTO’S LARA

This article examines the experimental narrative strategies employed in Bernardine Evaristo’s debut novel Lara (2019 [1997]), with a particular focus on their engagement with contemporary developments in Black British literary studies. While the novel addresses overtly political themes and questions of representation, it simultaneously foregrounds poetic and aesthetic dimensions that are central to its narrative construction. Through the creation of a hybrid fictional space, Evaristo navigates and negotiates the intersection between Black cultural criticism and literary theory. This analysis draws on Mark Stein’s (2004) conceptual framework regarding the performative functions of the Black British novel of transformation, particularly his notions of perpetuation and refraction, which prove instrumental in articulating the novel’s formal and thematic innovations.