Towards the Decolonization of the Caribbean Subjectivity: 'Tradition' and 'Cultural Memory' in Derek Walcott's Ti-Jean and His Brothers and Dream on Monkey Mountain

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

This study argues that the Caribbean dramatist and poet, Derek Walcott, employs in his dramas the tools of 'traditions' and 'Cultural Memory' in order to create a counter discourse at the hegemony of the colonial culture, and to construct a sense of the Caribbean identity. 'Tradition' in this context refers to Walcott's inscription of the indigenous Caribbean traditions - folktales, indigenous characters, Creole language, and local settings - into the texture of his works. 'Cultural Memory'  is a reference to Walcott's dramatization of the long history of the deformed racial stereotyping which the hegemonic imperial discourse has been promoting about the racial minorities in the Caribbean islands. Frantz Fanon's views in his books, "Black Skin, White Masks"(1952) and "The Wretched of the Earth" (1961), will be used as a reference point informing much of the analysis of the selected plays. Walcott's Ti-Jean and his Brothers (1957) and Dream on Monkey Mountain (1967) are found to be representative of the argument under scrutiny. The study reaches the conclusion that through the tools of traditions and cultural memory, Walcott drives his people into a state of awakening to reassess their present reality in view of the constant need for an autonomous Caribbean identity.

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History

  • Receive Date: 09 January 2014
  • Revise Date: 06 February 2014
  • Accept Date: 16 March 2014

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