This Motherless Land

Language note: This section of the guide quotes ableist language from Jane Eyre to critique the power dynamics in the text. 

Decolonial literature, in the broadest sense, is writing which examines a nation or people after formal colonialism has ended. It explores the lasting effects and ongoing forms of colonialist control and influence, including how liberated nations seek to establish their own identity and culture. Decolonial authors often critically examine the idea of an identity that is heavily influenced by both their own culture and history and that of the colonizer, while seeking to interrogate the more insidious ways in which colonialist practices and mindsets continue in various guises.

In decolonial literature, authors sometimes take classic literature from a colonizing nation and then rewrite it in some way from a different perspective. One such example is Aimé Césaire’s play A Tempest (1969), a retelling of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611). The Tempest tells the story of Prospero, who rules over a magical island in the Caribbean, plotting his revenge to restore himself as the rightful Duke of Milan. To do so, he enslaves and uses the natives on the island, Ariel and Caliban, forcing them to do his bidding. Césaire’s A Tempest retells the play’s story from the perspective of Ariel and Caliban, examining the island natives’ relationship with their white enslaver. 

Another example is Jean Rhys’s 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). In Jane Eyre, Antoinette “Bertha” Cosway is a minor character who is declared “mad” by her husband, Mr. Rochester, and locked away. Rhys retells Antoinette’s story, exploring her life in Jamaica before she is forced into marriage with Mr. Rochester, taken from the Caribbean, and isolated from British society. Both retellings—A Tempest and Wide Sargasso Sea—examine the events of these novels from a new, decolonial perspective and as such touch on themes that the originals do not. They explore racism, sexism, and identity from the perspective of the colonized and the controlled, calling attention to the prejudices of society.

Nikki May’s This Motherless Land is one such retelling, as it rewrites Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814). In Austen’s novel, Fanny Price lives with her working-class family in Portsmouth until the age of 10, when she is sent to live with her wealthy cousins, the Bertrams, at the Mansfield Park estate. She is mistreated and neglected by her mother’s sister, Mrs. Norris, as well as three of her cousins, and is largely raised and educated by her youngest cousin, Edmund. 

Many aspects of This Motherless Land are similar to Mansfield Park. The protagonist goes at the age of 10 to live with her mother’s sister and cousins at a large estate, this time called The Ring. Like Fanny, Funke is mistreated by her new family, but finds support and guidance from her youngest cousin. Funke, like Fanny, is also sent back home at the age of 18 due to bitterness and anger from her family in London. However, one key difference is Funke’s nationality and race, as she moves from Nigeria to England and back, facing further exclusion from her family due to her Black and Nigerian identities.

By retelling Mansfield Park with the added element of race, May provides a decolonial perspective of the ideas of home and belonging. In This Motherless Land, Funke’s journey conveys the impact that race and nationality have on her experiences. On top of all the things that Austen’s Fanny struggles with, Funke also battles racism and ignorance—both at The Ring and when she returns to Nigeria.