Social Issues In Book Derek Walcott

Derek Alton Walcott was born in Castries, Saint Lucia on January 1930 and was conceived by Warwick and Alix Walcott. He was well known in Saint Lucia for his contribution in literature, as he was a poet and playwright who centred his works on Caribbean culture. He was a trained painter however; he decided to commit to poetry and started to write poems. It was said that those attributes of Derek were gained from his father who loved painting and poetry. At the age of fourteen (14) with the help of his mother, he published his first set of poems.

Derek Walcott’s biography, which was written by Edward Baugh, highlighted his contributions in the development of literature in the Caribbean with the use of his poetry and plays discovering the different aspects of the Caribbean culture. It also highlighted the different persons that assisted with his career. The book ‘Derek Walcott’ consists of six chapters with a total of one hundred and five (105) pages. Edward Baugh the author of this book is a well-known literary critic of the West Indian culture in literature especially that of Anglophone Caribbean poetry. He is a retired professor of English at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Edward is a scholar; he won the Jamaican Government Exhibition to the University College of the West Indies and later attained a Ph.D. for his study in the poetry of Arthur Symons. He is known for editing and publishing some of Derek’s works. From the book, it was seen that Edward had the opportunity to meet Derek Walcott on his evening of reading for his seventy-fifth birthday, as stated in chapter 4 (page 53). In this book report, the researcher will analyse the context of the book with respect to themes and topics which is centred within the Caribbean Civilisation course; the analysis will be mostly on the historical and social context in terms of post colonialism. The main recurrent themes portrayed in this book are diaspora double consciousness, Identity, Eurocentrism and Miscegenation.

Diaspora double consciousness is a very important theme expressed in this book because it is linked with the other themes. Diaspora can be classified as the movement of an individual from one place to another to settle permanently or temporarily. This was a recurrent situation in Derek’s life because he was continuously migrating due to job opportunities and for further studies. For example, he moved to Boston and was teaching and later returned to Jamaica to study. John Pittman (2016), defined double consciousness as, ‘a concept of social philosophy referring, originally, to a source of inward “twoness” putatively experienced by African –American because of their radicalised oppression and devaluation in a white dominated society’ W.E.B Du Bois as the first to explore double consciousness in (1093) in “The Souls of Black”. It can be seen that identity is linked with double consciousness hence individual identity was a major issue affecting Derek’s life, as there was a constant repetition of him trying to find his true self. It is seen that Derek is in a state of uncertainty or confusion of what he truly is examples of his confusion is his poem ‘Here and Elsewhere’ and ‘The light of the World’ (page 61), in which highlights his quest for identity. The confusion is due to his constant movement from place to place and having to adapt or cope with their different culture. Additionally, “It is to recognize these factors as determining issues in the construction of the self that runs through Walcott’s poetry and in his exploration of the “divided” self” (page 2) gives evidence of his battle of self-investigation. In ‘Sea Grapes’, Walcott expressed a feeling of terror when he visited the United States of America where there is an overcrowding of different cultures which led to his craving to be home in Saint Lucia (page 23). Derek Walcott’s poem, ‘The Prodigal’ alluded to Walcott’s travels from one place to another in search of his identity. Thus, he felt guilty for leaving his homeland and adapting to European culture. Therefore it can evidently be seen in chapters (3 and 4) that he always went back to his homeland for his birthday celebration maybe to momentarily relieves himself of such guilt as a sense of repatriation. “Prodigal, what were your wanderings about?” refers to his travel of new environments (page 65). He was torn between European and St Lucian culture.

Additionally, Caribbean Identity is a major theme portrayed throughout this biography on Derek Walcott. However, researches have stated that there are different types of identity such as racial, cultural, social and personal. Therefore, the main focus will be on cultural, social and personal identity. Due to difficulty in the classification of what Caribbean identity is because of the different criterion, it entails such as religion, government system, and culture there is no defined structure of what Caribbean identity is. However, it can be seen that Derek introduced a sense of unity and Caribbean identity throughout his literature. “I have Dutch, nigger and English in me, /and either I’m nobody or I’m a nation” (page 2). This alluded to Derek‘s confusion of who he really is, a battle between identities, however; a sense of togetherness or unity was established when he stated that “I’m a nobody or a nation”. From the book it was seen that he found a sense of identity and I quote “by way of his extra-curricular activities, the Mona campus also gave Walcott some pleasurable and profitable years that strengthened his sense of West Indianess” end quote (page 14). This sense of him finding his identity helped him in understanding and coping with the Caribbean culture. It is known that being at a university different persons from different backgrounds are encountered, therefore in Derek’s case on the Mona campus he got to meet persons from across the Caribbean which he could interact and understand the infusion of cultural identity. Derek’s time at Mona introduced him to many opportunities such as journalism, theatre, painting, and writing which is seen as his passion. These activities that he participated in assisting him in nourishing the Caribbean culture “Caribbean identity” through West Indian literature and drama as seen on (page 37).

Another key theme expressed was Eurocentrism. According to Wiley Online Library Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that one's own ethnic group or society is superior to others’. Therefore, endocentrism can be expressed as the belief that European culture is more dominating compared to other cultures. Countries that were not European were seen as uncivilized due to their different practices and values. The Endocentric classification was superior in the colonial period. This was evident in the biography “…he knew he would not be welcomed, being too Eurocentric and not sufficiently black in his poetics” (page 33). Derek was invited to a conference of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies held at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. However, due to his Eurocentric point of view in his writing pieces and him being of Caribbean descent illustrated that he thought he would be judged if he went.

Miscegenation was also highlighted in the bibliography. Mixed Race Studies defined miscegenation “ is the mixing of different racial groups, that is, marrying, cohabiting, having sexual relations and having children with a partner from outside ones racially or ethnically defined group” (2009-2019). In simpler terms, it is the interaction between persons of different races. It was evidently seen in the slavery period when the masters and the plantation workers had a relationship. “A syndicate in which, far back, a negligible ancestor might have been a member, greeting me a product of his empire’s miscegenation in old St Martin” (page 4). From chapter 2 it was seen that Derek’s family experienced miscegenation as his grandfathers were white and grandmother coloured. This information illustrated in Baugh’s book showcased that Derek was of mixed race.

According to Merriam Webster culture can be classified as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group”. From this, it can be inferred that culture is the way of life of a people based on their historical, social and ethnic background. Social stratification (education), family and religion in terms of culture will be discussed. Social stratification was evidently identified in the book as seen on (page 2) “To consider Derek Walcott’s family background is to recognize that the author highlighted that of colour and class in West Indian was society and culture”. It is said that education is a fundamental component that can carry across the world, this can be attested in social mobility as having an education, wealth and family can move persons up in the society. The education system in both the Caribbean and Saint Lucia are similar due to the evidence of it been impacted by the British culture. “For most of my sentence here, I despised the place, its jaded, predictable curriculum, for not being the University of the West Indies, as I watched Englishmen guide the direction in which I should go. The format was too familiar.” From this, it can be stated that Derek received a British education. In regard, the daily devotions, and prayers at lunchtime and recess. Due to the establishment of most school by the church society religion is a key factor in the educational system. In the slavery period, a means of religion and education was introduced at Sunday school were the colonizers tried to instil a sense of education, righteous beliefs and moral standard for the slaves. After the period of slavery person that garnered these attributes such as education, and being a religious believer was seen as a high hierarchy on the social ladder. The family system was evidently expressed. It was stated that Walcott’s father died when he was very young which lead him to grow up in a single parent family household comprising for him, his mother and twin brother. The single parent setting is evidently seen in the Caribbean from the slavery period where the father figure was always on the plantation working and had little or no time in the child growing experience.

Walcott’s exceptional voice in literary works was shaped by his position at the crossroads between the Caribbean, British and American culture and by his interest in hybrid identities and diaspora. Thus, Baugh, the prolific literary critic adeptly exposed the various obstacles that Walcott had to overcome in a time when he advocated the issues faced ‘Caribbean migrants’ during the pre and post-colonial times. In conclusion, diaspora double consciousness, Identity, Eurocentrism and Miscegenation are just some social, historical and cultural issues highlighted in the book, ‘Derek Walcott’ written by Edward Baugh. Consequently, the late Derek Walcott’s (poet laureate), contribution to literary works will always be invaluable.

References

• Pittman, John P. Double Consciousness. “Stanford Encyclopaedia Philosophy.” The Metaphysics Research Lab https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/
• https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
• https://www.peepaltreepress.com/authors/edward-baugh
• http://kristindoestheory.umwblogs.org/understanding-w-e-b-du-bois-concept-of-double-consciousness/
• https://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/edward-baugh
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeose074.pub2
• http://www.mixedracestudies.org/wordpress/?p=450