Between Borders and Bodies: The Immigrant Experience in Queenie

This study aims to examine Candice Carty-Williams’ 2019 novel Queenie through the lens of intersectionality, focusing on the representation of immigrant female bodies and their porous nature. The novel depicts the immigrant body as a site of cultural intersection, where the boundaries between identity, race, and gender blur. Queenie, as a Jamaican-British woman, embodies the tensions between diasporic heritage and contemporary British society, displaying how immigrant culture exists as both a lived and material experience. This study explores how immigrant bodies negotiate these dualities, serving as bridges between cultural traditions and new environments. Through an intersectional framework, it is argued that Queenie’s body becomes a metaphor for cultural permeability, capturing the ways in which external forces like racism, sexism, and societal expectations interact with internalized identity struggles. Moreover, the novel demonstrates how the immigrant experience reshapes not only the lives of individuals but also the perceptions of the native population, fostering cultural transformation. By presenting the immigrant body as both vulnerable and resilient, the novel sheds light on the physical and emotional tolls of cultural negotiation. Ultimately, Queenie illustrates how immigrant culture is not only a narrative but a social and embodied phenomenon, reflecting the complex dynamics of multicultural societies and diasporic identity.