Memory, Migration and the Politics of Return: A Postcolonial Reading of Michael Donkor’s Hold

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the diasporic legacies of African migration and its impact on the construction of identity in Black British literature. With special reference to Michael Donkor’s novel Hold (2018), the paper examines the impact of colonial legacies in the construction of identity. The narrative focuses on Belinda, a Ghanaian housemaid living in Britain, whose life of servitude echoes the exploitative labour systems of colonial exchange. Amma, whose queer preferences are pathologized and labelled un-African, Nana, the traditional mother, whose adherence to tradition belies her own past experiences, and Mary, whose rootedness serves as a foil to diasporic anxieties, are other significant characters in the novel. This study seeks to analyse the characters’ experiences of return, retreat and rootedness in order to historically situate the themes of belonging and cultural assimilation in the lives of the African diaspora. Drawing on postcolonial theory, this paper examines how Hold interrogates themes of race, class and gender and the inherent inequalities that shape diasporic life. By linking the characters’ personal struggles to the weight of history, the study highlights how colonial legacies shape modern diasporic identity. The paper also looks at how diasporic women resist gender norms and patriarchal policing, and reclaim collective memory, thereby exerting agency.