Resisting Hegemony: Cultural Heritage and Identity in Contemporary Jamaica in Kei Miller’s Augustown

Novaira Shoaib Khan

doi:10.5281/zenodo.17995689

Authors

Novaira Shoaib Khan Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Pakistan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17995689

Abstract

This study offers a sustained qualitative reading of Kei Miller’s Augustown to interrogate how post-colonial power structures persist in contemporary Jamaica from the lens of Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. Through thematic and textual analysis, the study maps the novel’s depiction of three intertwined sites of domination including cultural heritage, language, and gender reflecting how Eurocentric education, Standard-English prestige, and patriarchal institutions naturalize colonial common sense in everyday life. Findings reveal that hegemony in Augustown is reproduced not through overt coercion but through the symbolic power of institutions that police hair, accent, and domestic roles. By foregrounding language and narrative as dual battlegrounds of oppression and resistance, the thesis contributes to Caribbean literary criticism, post-colonial studies, and feminist theory. It argues that preserving cultural heritage in neo-colonial contexts requires both the recovery of marginalized traditions and the active contestation of current hegemonies, offering a model for scholars, educators, and policymakers seeking to promote linguistic plurality, gender equity, and communal agency in the Global South.

Keywords:

Cultural heritage, Global south, Hegemony, Kei miller, Literary criticism

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