The recovery of ancestry in the poetry of Edward Kamau Brathwaite and Derek Walcott.
Item
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Title
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The recovery of ancestry in the poetry of Edward Kamau Brathwaite and Derek Walcott.
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Identifier
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AAI9218223
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identifier
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9218223
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Creator
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Bobb, June D.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Melvin Dixon
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Date
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1992
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Modern | Literature, Caribbean
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Abstract
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This study explores the different ways Kamau Brathwaite and Derek Walcott engage in rewriting history and recreating a visionary world in which it becomes possible to reconnect the fragments of a past destroyed or denied by the Caribbean's confrontation with the institutions of slavery and colonization. The works of these poets emerge as powerful examples of the development of Caribbean poetics.;This study is language-based and establishes the interconnectedness between the historical reality and the creation of a new Caribbean poetics which fills the void created by the experiences of slavery and colonization. It also explores ways in which these experiences transform notions of language, self and community. Both poets reorder the Caribbean world. At the center of this reordering is the memory of the African ancestors, their religion and culture. Western notions of history are questioned, and there is a redefinition of self and world.;The study focuses on the early stages of Caribbean literature and its forms. It shows how early writers see themselves as Englishmen of the Caribbean and mirror in their art, not only the language of the colonizer, but also his negative perception of the region's indigenous people and people of color. In addition, the subtle rebellion against this stance and its roots in a vernacular poetic tradition are examined.;At the center of this study is each poet's creation of parallel Caribbean aesthetics. Both poets have recourse to the authentic voice and imagination of the region, and make a distinct choice to return to the African continent in search of the language and rituals of salvation. This movement back to ancestral origins is examined. In addition, there is an exploration of the different ways these poets struggle to integrate the fragments of divided selves and alienated communities as they attempt to recreate, in their poetic worlds, a people and a region inspirited by African presences and made whole by the recovery of their African ancestry.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
