Annie refuses to be Annie: the development of women’s rights in the Caribbean from Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John

Xinzhe Li; Qian Xue

doi:10.1515/ijld-2025-2010

Article

Annie refuses to be Annie: the development of women’s rights in the Caribbean from Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John

Xinzhe Li
Xinzhe Li earned her master’s degree in Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include ethnic literature, English and American literature and film studies.
and Qian Xue
Qian Xue is Deputy Director of Office of Planning and Advancement. Her research interests include contemporary American literature, ethnic literature, postmodernism and cultural studies. Ms. Xue earned her PhD degree from Zhejiang University, and she was a visiting fellow at Harvard University for the 2017–2018 academic year.

Published/Copyright: May 26, 2025

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From the journal International Journal of Legal Discourse Volume 10 Issue 1

Abstract

African American author Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Annie John, published in 1985 after being serialized in The New Yorker, is widely regarded by literary critics as a classic Bildungsroman. The novel Annie John provides readers with a snapshot of the social situation of women in colonial Antigua, demonstrating intergenerational conflicts and shifts in women’s traditional identities through the portrayal of distinctive female characters, thus hinting at the development of laws concerning women’s rights and protection in Antigua. This paper attempts to analyze the novel from the perspective of the rights and interests of Annie’s mother as a married woman, that of Annie as a child in the family and society, and that of Annie as a teenager in the schoolyard, combining relevant laws before and after the independence of Antigua and Barbuda to explore the gradual awakening of women and the gradual improvement of women’s rights in a traditional colonial society. It also offers a more equal and inclusive way to reflects on the development of women in contemporary society.

Keywords: women’s rights; Caribbean legal studies; family law; identity; gender equality

Corresponding author: Qian Xue, International Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, E-mail: qianxue@intl.zju.edu.cn

About the authors

Xinzhe Li

Xinzhe Li earned her master’s degree in Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include ethnic literature, English and American literature and film studies.

Qian Xue

Qian Xue is Deputy Director of Office of Planning and Advancement. Her research interests include contemporary American literature, ethnic literature, postmodernism and cultural studies. Ms. Xue earned her PhD degree from Zhejiang University, and she was a visiting fellow at Harvard University for the 2017–2018 academic year.

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Received: 2024-09-15

Accepted: 2025-03-10

Published Online: 2025-05-26

Published in Print: 2025-06-26

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijld-2025-2010

Keywords for this article

women’s rights; Caribbean legal studies; family law; identity; gender equality