Presentation Schedule
Haunted Lineages and African Historical Continuum in the New World: Memory, Diaspora, and Postcolonial Resistance/Identity in Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’ (98129)
Session Chair: Paweł Maciąg
This presentation will be live-streamed via Zoom (Online Access)
Monday, 20 April 2026 22:30
Session: Session 3
Room: Live-Stream Room 1
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
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This paper examines Alex Haley’s 'Roots: The Saga of an American Family' through the interdisciplinary frameworks of memory studies, diasporic studies, and postcolonial theory. It argues that 'Roots' functions as both a personal and collective archive of African American memory that challenges hegemonic historical narratives and reclaims Black diasporic identity. The novel’s reconstruction of ancestral memory across centuries of displacement, enslavement, and resistance foregrounds the politics of remembering and forgetting in postcolonial contexts. Through postmemory and genealogical recovery, 'Roots' engages in a transgenerational act of cultural remembrance, where memory is not merely retrospective but also instrumental in forging diasporic continuity. This paper explores how Haley’s narrative acts as a counter-historical project that resists the erasure of African origins and affirms the agency of the enslaved through remembered lineage. By situating 'Roots' within postcolonial and diasporic discourses, this study demonstrates how memory becomes a powerful tool for reconfiguring identity and pursuing historical justice.
Authors:
Alvin Joseph, Mahatma Gandhi University, India
About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Alvin Joseph is an Assistant Professor of English at St. George's College, Aruvithura, which is affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, INDIA.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule
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