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This paper analyzes the novel entitled The Autobiography of my mother by Caribbean writer Jamaica Kincaid. An analysis of some of the characteristics of the genre known as "Bildungsroman" concludes that this novel does not belong to that genre. It specifically suggests that the Bildungsroman novel deals with the history of a young male and white character that undergoes a development process accompanied by a mentor until he is able to settle into his rightful social role. On the contrary, Xuela, the protagonist of the novel, is a Caribbean girl growing in a post-colonial world where she rebels against the racial and gender categories imposed on her. Based on José Santiago Fernández' reflections on comparisons between Bildungsroman and colonialism, and Gayle Rubin's and Luce Irigaray's theory of gender and psychoanalysis, this paper analyzes the social models present in the novel and the resources used by Xuela to reject them. This is what precludes the incorporation of this novel into the Bildungsroman genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]