The Other Princess: A reinterpretation of the scarifications left by colonisation and African enslavement

Abstract

This article critically examines literature’s role in reinterpreting the trajectories of marginalised historical figures, with a particular  focus on the life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta. Drawing on Denny S. Bryce’s The Other Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter (2023), the discussion interrogates how historical fiction simultaneously preserves personal and collective memories and challenges  entrenched colonial narratives concerning race, gender, and power. The study situates the transatlantic slave trade within broader  contexts of African-European political interactions, highlighting the complex dynamics between African leaders and European  powers. Grounded in the memory theories of Halbwachs and Nora, as well as Hutcheon’s and White’s concept of historiographic metafiction, this research critically reflects on the boundaries between history and fiction. By engaging with the scholarship of Gilroy, Hall, and Bhabha, the analysis demonstrates how postcolonial literature recovers previously silenced voices and interrogates the construction of identity within the African diaspora.