Inherited Ties and Identity Construction: A Semiotic and Representational Analysis of Key Symbols in Cultural Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Abstract

This study examines the key symbolic structures employed in Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing through a bifocal theoretical framework, integrating semiotic analysis grounded in the work of Roland Barthes and representational analysis guided by Stuart Hall. Drawing on Barthes’ concept of myth as a second-order semiological system, the paper investigates how the key symbols in the text function beyond their literal meanings to represent culturally infused ideologies. Hall’s theory of representation reveals how these recurring symbols construct and communicate meaning within specific historical, social, and cultural contexts. The study focuses on selected key symbols in the narrative, demonstrating how they operate as signifiers that negotiate identity. The objective of the research is to unfold the power of language and culture as an agency of resistance and resilience, underscoring their impact on identity construction and cultural continuity of the African diaspora. The novel underscores genealogical trauma faced by the generations of two half-sisters, Effia’s Ghanaian descendants and Esi’s African American descendants, because of the transatlantic slave trade. Effia and Esi represent variant destinies within the African diaspora, as one’s destiny is cursed by fire and the other’s identity is mitigated by water (The Atlantic Ocean). Through semiotic mediation, these symbols operate as myths, encoding and enunciating histories of colonial trauma, displacement, and cultural memory. The study highlights the significance of the symbolic representation of collective diasporic memory imbued with cultural affinity to contest the transgenerational trauma of identity.

Keywords: Semiotics, Representation, Symbols, identity construction, trans   generational trauma, Homegoing