"It's always a means to an end":Queering the Caribbean Literary Space in Valmiki's Daughter

The legacy of a colonial past marked by violence and oppression still influences sexual politics on the Caribbean Islands. The absence of laws to protect LGBT citizens together with firmly rooted heteronormative structures make the islands an inhospitable place for those who do not comply with the rules, reinforcing the idea of Caribbean LGBTs as virtually inexistent. In Valmiki's Daughter Shani Mootoo uses literary representation to break "the silence about sexuality and nonnormalizing desire". The novel underscores the sexual diversity of individuals situated inside a region that has been pe...