Twinship Trope and the Creation of a Hybrid Space in Beyonce Knowles’ Maternity Photo Album

Abstract

This article seeks to unveil the figurative expression of the feelings of the mixed-race artist towards a hybrid identity. It examines Beyonce Giselle Knowles's Maternity Photo Album with the paratext of Warsan Shire’s poem, “I Have Three Hearts,” to reveal the quest for identity negotiation for mixed-race artists with African ancestry. From a postcolonial lens, particularly based on Homi Bhabha’s theory of “the third space,” this examination reveals how Knowles’ maternity photo album serves as an allegorical interpretation of Shire’s “I Have Three Hearts.” Through this examination, it emerges that Shire’s poem exposes the shared experiences of the African descendants in the diaspora. As the two rise from the shadows of their parents, mixed-race artists occupy an ambivalent space bearing dual identities: those of their parents and their own, whether  African-Americans or Black Britons, as it appears in this case.  Therefore, their living abroad creates a sense of longing for their missing African part to the extent that they seek to affiliate themselves with this lost part through their work. Hence, by doing so, they recreate a space that is integral and complete on its own. This article, therefore, treats Knowles’ pregnancy with twins as a telling metaphor for biracial identity. The examination unfolds Knowles’ allegorical interpretation of Shires’ poem whereby Twinship serves as a trope for negotiating a space for hybrid identity. Keywords: Twinship trope, allegory, and hybridity https://dx.doi.org/10.56279/ummaj.v11i2.9