“The West Indian writer is organically drawn to his history” (Derek Walcott 1963). Discussing the representation of and attitudes towards history in the work of two Caribbean poets.
This article seeks to demonstrate that cultural nationalism has been a significant ideological force in African literary writings in general and poetry in particular. It endorses a distinctive communitarian vision of the nation and has repeatedly been espoused by many a literary academic as a remarkable effort towards the re-establishment of coherence and integrity in African traditional life and institutions. While recognising the beauty of traditional life, this approach turns a blind eye to the endemic challenges that these nations are grappling with. Taking Okot’s Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol as the literary points of reference, I have delineated the character of cultural nationalism, the leadership role of the colonised intellectual, and its recurring emergence in alternation with escapist idealism. Using Fanonian theory, I have argued that rather than idolise the past in what may be largely interpreted as idealist escapism, Okot’s intent in the two poems selected for this study is to offer a truthful, accurate and objective representation of the real African world. He divorces his poems, Sengorian and Negritudist as they may seem, from rigid cultural historicism and espouses the marginalised perspective that Africa’s culture is a product of shared heritage and the desire for liberation should not blind us to the dynamism of our culture and the reality that neocolonialism has ushered in a new political culture that should worry us more than the coloniser’s. It is not enough for us to look only backwards in our quest for cultural revolution.
** Disclaimer:
All of the pictures and pieces of information on this site are the property of the respective owners. I do not hold any copyright in regards to these pictures and information. These pictures have been collected from different public sources including various websites, considered to be in the public domain. If anyone has any objection to display of any picture, image or information, it may be brought to my notice by sending an email (contact me) & the disputed media will be removed immediately, after verification of the claim.
focuses on the portrayal of Caribbean culture in social studies books for young people that are widely used in North America and Britain in response to the demand for multicultureal materials to support the curriculum.
This article seeks to demonstrate that cultural nationalism has been a significant ideological force in African literary writings in general and poetry in particular. It endorses a distinctive communitarian vision of the nation and has repeatedly been espoused by many a literary academic as a remarkable effort towards the re-establishment of coherence and integrity in African traditional life and institutions. While recognising the beauty of traditional life, this approach turns a blind eye to the endemic challenges that these nations are grappling with. Taking Okot’s Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol as the literary points of reference, I have delineated the character of cultural nationalism, the leadership role of the colonised intellectual, and its recurring emergence in alternation with escapist idealism. Using Fanonian theory, I have argued that rather than idolise the past in what may be largely interpreted as idealist escapism, Okot’s intent in the two poems selected for this study is to offer a truthful, accurate and objective representation of the real African world. He divorces his poems, Sengorian and Negritudist as they may seem, from rigid cultural historicism and espouses the marginalised perspective that Africa’s culture is a product of shared heritage and the desire for liberation should not blind us to the dynamism of our culture and the reality that neocolonialism has ushered in a new political culture that should worry us more than the coloniser’s. It is not enough for us to look only backwards in our quest for cultural revolution.
** Disclaimer:
All of the pictures and pieces of information on this site are the property of the respective owners. I do not hold any copyright in regards to these pictures and information. These pictures have been collected from different public sources including various websites, considered to be in the public domain. If anyone has any objection to display of any picture, image or information, it may be brought to my notice by sending an email (contact me) & the disputed media will be removed immediately, after verification of the claim.
focuses on the portrayal of Caribbean culture in social studies books for young people that are widely used in North America and Britain in response to the demand for multicultureal materials to support the curriculum.
Patrons could use this superhero scavenger hunt sheet to search the youth area for these six superheroes. After completing the scavenger hunt, they could return to the youth desk for their Superhero ID Card.
Patrons could use this superhero scavenger hunt sheet to search the youth area for these six superheroes. After completing the scavenger hunt, they could return to the youth desk for their Superhero ID Card.
Gabriel Okara's Postcolonial Vision: 'You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed' a...Jheel Barad
This presentation was presented in class presentation on M.A. English in the Department of English, MKBU. It deals with a paper titled African Literature, Gabriel Okara's Postcolonial Vision: 'You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed' and 'The Piano and The Drums'. This presentation inspects the postcolonial aspects in Gabriel Okara's poem 'You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed' and 'The Piano and The Drums'.
N. Scott Momaday. In the Presence of the Sun. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2009; and N. Scott Momaday. The Journey of Tai-me. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010
ARTICLESAcknowledging Things of DarknessPostcolonial Cr.docxdavezstarr61655
ARTICLES
Acknowledging Things of Darkness:
Postcolonial Criticism of The Tempest
Duke Pesta
Published online: 31 July 2014
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Over the last forty years, postcolonial criticism has become a dominant
mode of critical discourse for the profession of literature and Renaissance
studies in particular, with The Tempest serving as terminus a quo for many
such discussions across historical periods and academic disciplines.1 During
this time—not counting courses in Shakespeare, Renaissance drama, or early
modern literature—The Tempest has been taught in English departments at
the undergraduate or graduate level in freshman seminars; surveys of Great
Books; capstone courses; writing and composition courses; seminars on
literary theory, Marxism, postcolonialism, and race, gender, queer theory;
early American literature and transatlantic literature courses; surveys of
American literature; and courses on Romanticism, modernism, modern drama,
Third World literatures, postmodernism, Chicano/a literatures, Afro-Caribbean
literatures, and diaspora literatures. Outside English departments, the play has
been taught in such varied disciplines as African American studies, American
studies, anthropology, comparative literature, cultural studies, education,
environmental studies, film studies, history, linguistics, modern languages,
Native American studies, oppression studies, peace studies, philosophy,
Acad. Quest. (2014) 27:273–285
DOI 10.1007/s12129-014-9433-4
1The tradition viewing The Tempest through colonialist lenses has a long history outside the West, dating to the
nineteenth century. Writers from the Caribbean, Africa, and Central and South America have associated the play with the
gamut of evils linked to colonialism. For a sampling of this criticism, see Emir Rodríguez Monegal, “The
Metamorphoses of Caliban,” Diacritics 7, no. 3 (Fall 1977): 78–83; Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory: The
Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography (Boston: David R. Godine, 1982); Roberto Fernández Retamar,
Caliban and Other Essays, trans. Edward Baker (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989); Roberta Fernández,
“(Re)vision of an American Journey,” in In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States, ed. Roberta
Fernández (Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1994), 282–98; and Antonio C. Márquez, “Voices of Caliban: From Curse
to Discourse,” Confluencia: Revista Hispánica de Cultura y Literatura 13, no. 1 (1997): 158–69.
Duke Pesta is associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI
54901; [email protected] He is associate editor of Milton Quarterly.
political science, psychology, religious studies, sociology, theater, and
women’s studies.
Surely no other work of literature has been as assigned, deconstructed,
interdisciplinized, revisioned, trivialized, and ventriloquized as The Tempest.
Overwhelmingly, those who have included a reading of .
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
We all have good and bad thoughts from time to time and situation to situation. We are bombarded daily with spiraling thoughts(both negative and positive) creating all-consuming feel , making us difficult to manage with associated suffering. Good thoughts are like our Mob Signal (Positive thought) amidst noise(negative thought) in the atmosphere. Negative thoughts like noise outweigh positive thoughts. These thoughts often create unwanted confusion, trouble, stress and frustration in our mind as well as chaos in our physical world. Negative thoughts are also known as “distorted thinking”.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
How to Create Map Views in the Odoo 17 ERPCeline George
The map views are useful for providing a geographical representation of data. They allow users to visualize and analyze the data in a more intuitive manner.
This is a presentation by Dada Robert in a Your Skill Boost masterclass organised by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan (EFSS) on Saturday, the 25th and Sunday, the 26th of May 2024.
He discussed the concept of quality improvement, emphasizing its applicability to various aspects of life, including personal, project, and program improvements. He defined quality as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way to achieve the best possible results and discussed the concept of the "gap" between what we know and what we do, and how this gap represents the areas we need to improve. He explained the scientific approach to quality improvement, which involves systematic performance analysis, testing and learning, and implementing change ideas. He also highlighted the importance of client focus and a team approach to quality improvement.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
The Art Pastor's Guide to Sabbath | Steve ThomasonSteve Thomason
What is the purpose of the Sabbath Law in the Torah. It is interesting to compare how the context of the law shifts from Exodus to Deuteronomy. Who gets to rest, and why?
Students, digital devices and success - Andreas Schleicher - 27 May 2024..pptxEduSkills OECD
Andreas Schleicher presents at the OECD webinar ‘Digital devices in schools: detrimental distraction or secret to success?’ on 27 May 2024. The presentation was based on findings from PISA 2022 results and the webinar helped launch the PISA in Focus ‘Managing screen time: How to protect and equip students against distraction’ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/managing-screen-time_7c225af4-en and the OECD Education Policy Perspective ‘Students, digital devices and success’ can be found here - https://oe.cd/il/5yV
ESC Beyond Borders _From EU to You_ InfoPack general.pdf
“The West Indian writer is organically drawn to his history” (Derek Walcott 1963)
1. “The West Indian writer is organically drawn to his history”. (Derek Walcott 1963).
Discussing the representation of and attitudes towards history in the work of two
Caribbean poets.
The history of the West Indies is characterized by the colonization experience and is
measured in relation to, before being colonized, during colonization and after colonization. Is it
any wonder that Caribbean writers are compleyed to write about the single most defining event
of their communal histories and that continues to influence Caribbean societies to this day. In
particular, Caribbean women writers are “concerned with dismantling the negative hermeneutic
metaphors with which history has branded the tropics”1
. The authors Grace Nichols and Olive
senior write about history as a means of talking control of self, forming new identity and not
perceiving self as victim and therefore offer more than enough information in their work for the
adequate examination of this issue. They also both use motifs such as; femininity; land; the
ancestral home of Africa, its gods, heroes, cultures, customs; and language to inform the
exploration of history that is found in the collection of poems I is a long memoried woman by
Nichols and Gardening in the Tropics by Senior.
As previously, stated, black West Indians have predominately been defined by the
colonizing experience. The advent of slavery is responsible for the loss of history, culture,
customs, and the very identity of black West Indians. In the poem “sunshine” by Nichols, she
asks the question, “where’re our shrines? / where’re our stools?”2
To say that most of these
people would be inclined to resentment about the years of degradation and oppression of slavery
1
Rahim, Jennifer. “From Archaeology to Iconology: representations of the tropics in Senior’s Garden in the tropics
and in Goodison’s To us, all flowers are roses.” Journal of West Indian Literature 8.2 (April 1999). 80
2
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983. 21
2. would be a major understatement. Is it then any wonder that Caribbean writers (the descendants
of slaves) would seek to tell the stories of their ancestors. Olive Senior states that, she is
“providing the means by which people who have been voiceless in the pages of history can now
engage in dialogue”3
. In Senior’s first poem of the collection Gardening in the tropics entitled
“Meditation on yellow” she tells the story of the colonizers first contact with the colonized and
had she known then what they wanted she would have “brewed … some yellow fever-grass/ and
arsenic”4
. It can be said, that Grace Nichols goes much further into the exploration of the slavery
era as she presents many different stories of slave men and women. Indeed her collection of
poems, I is a long memoried woman was inspired by her dream of a young African girl
swimming from Africa to the New World surrounded by a garland of flowers. Nichols
interpreted her dream to mean that the young woman was “trying to actually cleanse the ocean of
the pain and sufferings she knew her ancestors had gone through”5
. In the poem “Skin-teeth”6
Nichols writes of the pretense of acquiescence that slaves adopted as a survival mechanism
despite their rage at the injustice of their situation. Nichols conveys the shame, rage, powerless
and deprivation of colonization in much the same way that Kamau Brathwaite does in his
collection entitled The Arrivants with the biggest difference between them being that she
explores the female perspective in detail, as does Senior.
There has been a general effort to reclaim the lost ancestral home of Africa if not literally
then its cultures, customs and spirituality. This endeavour is difficult to achieve because of the
systematic concerted attempt to irradiate all things African during colonization. Despite this,
3
Dawes, Kwame, ed. Talk yuh talk: interviews with Anglophone Caribbean poets. Charlottesville: The University
Press of Virginia, 2001. 74
4
Senior, Olive. Gardening in the tropics. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2005. 11
5
Dawes, Kwame, ed. Talk yuh talk: interviews with Anglophone Caribbean poets. Charlottesville: The University
Press of Virginia, 2001. 138
6
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983. 50
3. Nichols remarks on being “amazed at how much of Africa still remains in the Caribbean, when
you consider the disruption caused by slavery and the whole European colonizing experience”.7
This of course demonstrates the tenacity of the Caribbean people. The works of Caribbean
writers is then reflextive of the reclaiming of the past and is written to aid this process of
repossession of ancestral history. In this way Senior’s poetry “achieves empowerment by
reaching back to a cultural and religious heritage as rich as anything their new (en) forced
surroundings offer”.8
Myth making is then necessary to include the various tribes of Africa so as
to deal with the concept of the singleness of the African continent that symbolizes the ancestral
home of all black West Indians as the colonizing experience served to melt together individual
tribes. The concept of mythology and its effects on the consciousness of black West Indians is of
great concern to Nichols. This is mainly as a response to the inundation of the Caribbean society
with images of the “all-powerful male white God and the biblical associations of white with light
and goodness, black with darkness and evil”9
. Essentially, it became necessary to create new
representations of blackness. Both writers make deliberate exertions to create a history of
African West Indians before they were taken to the Caribbean. For that reason, “Senior
transports the reader into the realm of magical otherworldliness by weaving poems out of
fragments of gossip, myths, and folk beliefs”.10
A case in point is Senior’s poem titled “Amazon
women”, in it she compares the women she sees in her daily life to the legions of famous women
7
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain. London: Virago Press Ltd., 1988.
96
8
Williams, Emily Allen. Poetic negotiation of identity in the works of Brathwaite, Harris, Senior, and Dabydeen:
tropical paradise lost and regained. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999. 89
9
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain. London: Virago Press Ltd., 1988.
101
10
Rahim, Jennifer. “From Archaeology to Iconology: representations of the tropics in Senior’s Garden in the tropics
and in Goodison’s To us, all flowers are roses.” Journal of West Indian Literature 8.2 (April 1999). 72
4. who once lived in the West Indies. Nichols too uses several myths to inform her depiction of
African women as indication by the poem “Yemanji”.
Nichols and Senior also delve into the spirituality of Africa or the gods of the ancestors to
provide further proof of the rich heritage of Black West Indians. Senior even dedicates an entire
section of her collection to them and Nichols makes repeated reference to them and even titles a
few poems in acknowledgement of these gods. In addition, both authors indulge in praise songs
to the gods and the heroes of the past. Nichols sings the praises of Jamaica’s Nanny of the
Maroon and Toussaint Louverture of Haiti in her poems “Nanny” and “… And Toussaint”; while
Senior repesents the ancestral home in her tales of mighty African gods like Ogun, Ososi,
Shango and Yemoja. Thus, these stories provide West Indians with reasons to be proud and
facilitate black pride.
Despite the negative emotions associated with history, the Caribbean writer articulates an
amalgamation of the ancestral home with the New World. This means that a hybrid of the
European and the African culture is attained. Thereby, creating a new identity for the former
slaves, as not African, not European, but distinctly Caribbean. One of the most obvious ways in
which this is accomplished is in the use of Caribbean dialect in Caribbean literature. Herein, both
Nichols and Senior comply seeing that, “language is power … and attests to the empowerment of
people through the recognition of their language, their culture”11
. Nichols also speaks on
“reclaiming our language heritage … (as) an act of spiritual survival”12
. Language is both the
ultimate form of resistances and conformity, as African West Indians were forced to accept
English in order to facilitate communication and subsequent survival but still managed to change
11
Newson, Adele S., Strong-Leek, Linda ed. Winds of change: the transforming voices of Caribbean women writers
and scholars. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1998. 8
12
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain, London: Virago Press Ltd., 1988.
97
5. the language that was forced upon them and make it their own. The implementation into West
Indian literature of what Kamau Brathwaite calls “Nation Language” is symbolic of the
acceptance of a new identity in the new world and a combination of African and European
cultures. Summarily, language and identity are directly interrelated.
Another major motif expressed in the work of Senior and Nichols is the connection to the
land. This connection serves to provide a sense of rootedness for the new Caribbean identity.
Africans were dragged from their homeland and shackled to the land and while they suffered
days of hardship toiling in the cane fields, it was nevertheless, the land that first provided a sense
of belonging as it responded to their labourings. The poem “Sugarcane” by Nichols is an
example of the union of Caribbean people to the land of the Caribbean, so much so that
sugarcane becomes a persononification of the black man. The poem reports that the blackman
has become synonyous with the crop that he produces and is in essence a pathetic fallacy. It is
Senior however, who pays particular attention to the land. The very title of her collection is about
working with the land. Gardening in the tropics is demonstartive of living in the tropics where
nature is an integral part of the society. “Senior presents the land as a dual symbol, a panacea of
sorts, which keeps the family in touch with its hertiage, conversely, the land is a painful reminder
of their lost heritage”13
as such the people show respect and reverence to it.
It would not be possible to compare two female authors without appraising their
represenations of feminity, specificially black feminity. The black woman has been severly
neglected in the pages of history. Her enslavement was particularily painful, as she was subjected
to not only forced labour, but also forced breeding and rapes. Conversely, instead of dewHelling
on the degridatons of the past, Nichols and Senior make a purposeful attempt to focus on the
13
Williams, Emily Allen. Poetic negotiation of identity in the works of Brathwaite, Harris, Senior, and Dabydeen:
tropical paradise lost and regained. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999. 79
6. strengths and endurance of the black Caribbean woman. The authors do not “subscribe to the
‘victim-mentality’ … or reducing the black woman’s condition to that of ‘sufferer’”14
; this is not
to say that they do not accept the fact that African women underwent severe destitution. All the
same, the “ancestor to Nichols is represented by an African woman … who has been, in history,
negated and voiceless but has persisted and flowered regardless”15
, she further relays in the poem
“we the women”, upon
we the women
who praises go unsung
voices go unheard
who deaths they sweep
aside16
“In, I is a long memoried woman, the woman is something of a mythic figure, and she breaks the
slave stereotype of the dumb victim of circumstance”.17
Nichols tells us that “we the women
making/ something from this”18
but not only is she surviving her situation, she is also doing it
with great dignity and goes about her life “holding herself like/ royal cane”.19
The poem “sacred
flame” also tells the story of the versatile woman, as mother, wife, labrourer, nurturer, cook but
above all else and in spite of everything else – a woman. Senior’s representation of women is
also of the powerful matriach and the facilitator of black customs. In the same way, that the
black woman carefully tends her garden, so too does she tend her children and by extention her
14
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain. London: Virago Press Ltd., 1988.
98
15
Dawes, Kwame, ed. Talk yuh talk: interviews with Anglophone Caribbean poets. Charlottesville: The University
Press of Virginia, 2001. 138
16
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983. 13
17
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain. London: Virago Press Ltd., 1988.
102
18
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983. 13
19
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983. 14
7. entire community. Senior’s attitude to black women is clarified moreover in her poem titled
“Yemoja: Mother of waters”, as she writes of the awesome powers that a female entity has over
nature itself.
Without a doubt, Nichols and Senior have managed to create poetry that “resurrects the
past and allows us to see our uncelebrated history made present, myth made real”.20
Societies,
like the Caribbean, that was built on oppression must have mythmakers or storytellers who can
lift the moral of the people and educate them on aspects of the lost ancestral home.
20
Rahim, Jennifer. “From Archaeology to Iconology: representations of the tropics in Senior’s Garden in the tropics
and in Goodison’s To us, all flowers are roses.” Journal of West Indian Literature 8.2 (April 1999). 73
8. Bibliography
Dawes, Kwame, ed. Talk yuh talk: interviews with Anglophone Caribbean poets. Charlottesville:
The University Press of Virginia, 2001.
Newson, Adele S., Strong-Leek, Linda ed. Winds of change: the transforming voices of
Caribbean women writers and scholars. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1998.
Ngcobo, Lauretta, ed. Let it be told: essays by black women writers in Britain. London: Virago
Press Ltd., 1988.
Nichols, Grace. I is a long memoried woman. London: Karnak House, 1983.
Rahim, Jennifer. “From Archaeology to Iconology: representations of the tropics in Senior’s
Garden in the tropics and in Goodison’s To us, all flowers are roses.” Journal of West
Indian Literature 8.2 (April 1999).
Senior, Olive. Gardening in the tropics. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2005.
Williams, Emily Allen. Poetic negotiation of identity in the works of Brathwaite, Harris, Senior,
and Dabydeen: tropical paradise lost and regained. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999