Generationality Empire Windrush: Transcultural Memory in Two Short Stories by Andrea Levy and Yvvette Edwards

Abstract

This paper explores the construction of the memories of the so-called Windrush generation in a selection of short stories produced by contemporary British women authors. In particular, we analyse two short stories by Andrea Levy and Yvvette Edwards, both daughters of Caribbean immigrants, to discuss the content and narrative strategies used in the representation of this generation's experiences. We argue that the stories are figures of transcultural and transgenerational memory that contribute to the weaving of common histories of the Caribbean diaspora in Britain. With regard to the theoretical framework underpinning our work, our analysis is based on the concepts of cultural memory (Assmann 2008), transcultural memory (Creet 2011, Erll 2011, Bond 2014), transgenerational memory (Bond 2017) and the categories of generationality and fictions of generational memory (Erll 2017).