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Post Colonial Literature
Post Colonial Literature
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Introduction
Throughout the ages different conceptions have been forwarded on poetry as a form of
artistic expression. It has been both praised as an exhibition of the highest form of human
intellect and ridiculed for its emotivism and its inability to express any kind of
philosophical truth. Within these different conceptions of poetry are the ideas forwarded
by philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle as well as critics and poets. i However, though
the notions postulated by these individuals represent divergent perspectives on the value
of poetry all is in agreement with some aspect of the definition of poetry explicated by
Clarence L Barnhart in The New Century Handbook of English Literature which states
that poetry is one of the fine arts which addresses itself to the feelings and imagination
by the instrumentality of musical and moving words; the art which has for its object the
inspiring language usually though not necessarily arranged in the form of measured verse
intellectual expression which can influence the actions of men. It has thus helped to shape
and mould the minds of individuals be it to advocate a particular position or to oppose it.
Poetry can therefore be viewed as both a public and private art; private in its sphere of
expressing the emotions of the speaker or the poet and public in its existence as a
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Consequently, it is ultimately society which decides the value of poetry; and within this
valuation the sonnet form is placed at the pinnacle of poetic achievement. Constructed
within the walls of European elitismii the sonnet form was seen as an achievement of the
highest intellect where being able to master this art form almost becomes a point of entry
within the realms of social elitism. As Phillis Levin posits in The Penguin Book of the
Sonnet the sonnet is a monument of praise, a field of play, a chamber of sudden change.
In its limited space it has logged from the start the awakening of a rational to an
overwhelming force in the self or the world (xxxvii). It is subsequently this high
estimation within which the sonnet is held in the English language and its acceptance by
a wide cross-section of people which has fostered its use to express and cement different
Within the Victorian age of Empire the sonnet was employed as a means of transferring
the dominant socio-cultural and political ideologies within the society. These ideologies
often entailed the depiction of the European and European civilization and modes of
behavior and enlightenment as the basic norm. Within this transference native lands and
peoples were pivoted as the antithesis of Europe and European civilization; the backward
and uncivilized other.iii Consequently with the expansion of the Victorian Empire to
Within this system the sonnets importance as an indication of intellectual superiority was
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again reiterated. The sonnets of Empire such as those written by Hardy and Tennyson
thus became the foundation on which colonial literary traditions were based.
Consequently, with the sonnet now being seen as the vehicle of empire it became a site
of both adoration and repulsion and also a site on mimicry, appropriation and assimilation
throughout the empire. Through the appropriation of the sonnet form alternative
ideologies to those forwarded within empires discourse have been infused within its
walls by the post-colonialist writers who must write within and paradoxically against
these ideologies. Through the examination of the sonnets of Lord Alfred Tennyson,
Thomas Hardy, Derek Walcott and Claude McKay it will be highlighted how the sonnet
served the dual purpose of both constructing and deconstructing empires ideologies.
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The works of Tennyson and Hardy represent two divergent approaches to the depiction
of the dominant ideology within the Victorian age of empire. Tennysons imperialism is
advocated in the poets expression of loyalty to the empire which includes the
Additionally, the poets advocacy of the white mans burden white racial superiority
and the civilizing mission expresses the most dominant ideologies of empire to be
witnessed throughout that empire. However, Hardy far from following the radicalist
approaches of Tennyson utilizes social realism to selectively portray the Victorian moral
and cultural consciousness and in so doing fosters and spreads empires cultural and
socio-political practices.
In the sonnets Bonaparte and Poland Tennyson clearly embeds the aforementioned
imperialist ideologies within the strictures of the sonnet. Bonaparte is a sonnet dedicated
to the fall of Napoleon at the hands of British military supremacy. Using a variation of
the petrarchian sonnet form, Tennyson constructs the idea of the might and right of the
British Empire who must subdue all under its power. This is most aptly seen in the poets
use of diction and imagery where words such as with thunders and with lightenings are
used to construct British supremacy and power. Both words act to connote power, glory
and magnificence as well as place the British forces on a level parallel with forces of
God. This in turn acts as an extension of another Victorian patriotic ideology which has
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as its main tenet the notion of Victorian Englands superiority as a God-given right. This
Through the use of the image of Gideon the poet once again invokes God-given right or
ordination suggesting too that they are the mighty Gideons and Gods champion.
construct the image of a glorious battle and the British soldier is consequently
constructed as the epitome of bravery and strength with a stubborn heart of oak while
those who dare to challenge this power is regarded as a Mad man! who must be taught
humility. Thus Tennysons use of diction and imagery enables a precise portrayal of
imperialist loyalty through the glorification of military prowess. This can further be seen
in the poets use of form where the 14 lines of the sonnet are used to present an extended
image of British patriotism. The first eight lines of the sonnet in keeping with the
petrarchian tradition contains an AB rhyming pattern and present a romanticized and far
removed concept of war where the exists no real indication of the devastation that this
war brings. In lines two and three which carry a successive B rhyme which notes to
chain with chains, and bind with bands, that island queen who sways the floods and
lands the lyricism implicit within these lines forwards this romanticized ideal of war
where the victor of the battle will eventually be the ultimate ruler of the land.
Additionally, in line seven which notes Peal after peal, the British battle broke, is again
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the use of alliteration by the poet in British battle broke expresses the might and
military glorification. Within this petrarchian sonnet the image of European dominance is
reversed to one of subjugation where the oppressor has now become the oppressed.
However, where the role of conqueror and subjugator was previously glorified this role is
now being depicted as cruel and barbaric. In lines one to three where the speaker asks
the oppressive nature of imperial dominance is highlighted. Additionally these lines also
serve as a further indication of the racist ideologies of white supremacy existent within
the Victorian age of empire. Poland which was overridden by the Moores of the Ottoman
empire has been removed from the seat of dominance and is now in the role of the
subjugated. However this idea does not rest well with the Victorian demarcations of racial
superiority and the rule of empire and imperial dominance is now depicted in a less
In this sonnet as in Bonaparte diction and image is again used to construct imperial
ideologies. The use of the words the last and least of men is again a clear indication of
imperialist racism in which the poets diction constructs a distinction between the races;
one in which anyone outside their race, society and culture is the last and least of men.
Diction and imagery is further used by the poet to set up a parallel between European
civilization and that of the other. Lines three to four which state the heart of Poland hath
not ceased, To quiver, tho her sacred blood doth drown, is a clear contrast to the image
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of the other in lines seven and ten which notes that Oergrown Barbarian in the East
icy-hearted Muscovite. Within this contrast the notion of the other being the antithesis of
European civilization is depicted where the Europeans are portrayed as gods chosen her
The poets use of imagery and diction also further depicts two systems of authority which
represents the construction of empire, namely that of gender and religion. Religious
discourse is used as the site of authority upon which the notion of European racial
supremacy is built, hence, her sacred blood. Additionally the speakers invocation of
God in the first line and subsequent reference to him throughout the poem speaks to the
use of divine or religious authority as justification for their oppression of other races;
hence when their position is reversed they seek to call on him. However it is within this
lament that the poems implicit irony is revealed as they can be seen as just as barbaric as
The issue of gender is also revealed within the sonnet through Tennysons use of imagery
and diction. The image of the defeated Poland is represented as a frail, weak and failing
female. Thus the words her and she are used to refer to the city that is being
plundered by that oergrown barbarian in the East, the conqueror which is represented
as a male figure. Within this discourse of the conquest and subjugation of nations the
objectification and subjugation of the female body within Victorian discourse is also
revealed. The female body is depicted as a sight of conquest on which male dominance is
to be exercised which the female must passively and piously accept. Additionally it
further speaks to the Victorian sexual politics of race. Poland again stands for Victorian
femininity, virtue and chastity; the virtuous white European female, while the barbarian
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nation refers to the native male who though lesser than his European counterpart is also
In the sonnet A Church Romance and Over the Coffin Hardy employs social realism
as a means of representing the prevailing culture and social attitudes which direct the
individuals behaviour. Through the use of narrative and setting and the privileging of
used by Hardy to depict Victorian notions of religious propriety and class divisions. In
Positioning the female subject in the churches highest pew not only gives her a clear view
of her surroundings but also indicates the implicit class divisions within Victorian
society. The positioning of the female subject in the churches highest pew not only gives
her a clear view of her surroundings but also indicates that she was a member of high
use of setting and narrative by Hardy highlights , how different societal conditions affect
the personas attitude and behaviour within society. Hardy utilizes the setting to highlight
Victorian religious piety where every aspect of Victorian religion is influenced by God.
Religion within the Victorian society is therefore depicted as that which influences and
sets the standard for all and as such is used as the justification and starting point for all
actions.
The positioning of the female as inferior or lesser level than her male counterpart can be
seen through Hardys use of narrative. In lines six to eight which notes
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also highlights the position of women as objects within the society who must be claimed
through the investment of dialogue , setting and character within the sonnet. The sonnet
form is therefore used in this poem to encompass through memory the Victorian
sensibility and imagination, as through the investment of dialogue within the sonnet
form and the movement of scene the poet is able to exploit the fourteen lines of the
encapsulation Hardy further suggests that the memory of the individual can save you
from the ordinary and can be defined by something which is simply radical.
In the sonnet Over the coffin Hardy again utilizes narrative and setting and the lives
of the common folk to highlight to highlight Victorian moral and cultural practices. In
this poem dialogue is utilized by the poet to highlight how societal notions of
propriety restrict and direct individual behaviour. When the speaker notes ,
she directly expresses how the individual is of little significance when set against the
broader norms of society which dictates how one should behave. The use of narrative
and setting therefore turns the sonnet into a social dialogue. In the poems octave
setting is used to highlight the established patterns of behaviour which society dictates
and the male female divide, where the figure of the male is constructed in a superior
position .Hence in lines three and four where the speaker notes
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the males position of dominance and superiority within the society is clearly seen and
with use of this line the poet not only concretizes this phenomenon within the society but
it is also used to define the female in relation to her male counterpart. Thus the
presence of the dead husband becomes the presence of self definition where the female
identity is defined not only by the society but by the male figure, who represents her in a
position of inferiority. This subjugation of the female body and identity to male
dominance is further seen in the last two lines of the sonnet where the women
acknowledge that they had lived under the rigid codes of behaviour which patriarchy
experience in relation to society in general. Thus through social realism Hardy situates
the sonnet within the discourse of Victorian morality and as such helps to portray and
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With the end of the colonial era and an increase in native consciousness ideologies of
Empire have and still is been refuted in postcolonial discourse. This rewriting is largely
alternative ways of looking at or depicting the other. As such via postcolonial writings
the native is allowed to access and to find a voice which had previously been silenced.
As post colonial critic Elleke Boehmer postulates, in the book The Empire Writes Back
forms adopted from Europe , they effectively sidestepped the position of silent object
Europe , those who had no culture took the initiative in interpretation(173). Thus
through the appropriation and assimilation of European art forms such as the sonnet,
writers such as Derek Walcotts and Claude McKay effectively spoke back to western
texts. In speaking to the Western texts and the historic moment of Empire which
they represent , these poets have sought to deconstruct Empires discourse by using
the specificity of a narrative , to not to only deconstruct but name a discourse beyond
In the sonnets Enslaved and Outcast by Claude McKay the sonnet becomes a way of
defining and portraying how the poets imagination understands the inheritance of
Empires culture. This is seen in the use of the sonnet from to challenge colonial
assumptions of race and class and to redefine the colonial self, history and creativity. In
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the sonnet Enslaved McKay highlights the politics of race and racial inferiority that
exists as apart of our colonial inheritance. In lines one and six of the sonnet which notes
the violent racism that defines the black colonial existence is clearly detailed. The poet
further suggests that the church and religious complicity played a major role in the
further reveals how brutality , dispossession ,oppression and theft is the legacy of Empire
where the Africans racial identity is revoked . Empire is thus seen as a place for the
Empire , McKay also deconstructs colonial racist assumptions which portrays the
black racial identity within the constructs of barbarism and brutality. The poet
deconstructs this colonialist assumption through role reversal where the colonizer is
Marcellus Blount notes in the article Caged Birds: Race and Gender in The Sonnet that
for black poets the sonnet has served as a zone of liberation, mediation and self-
possession. These poets have turned to the sonnet as an alternative space for
performance , one that demonstrates the poets craft while calling into question the
McKays use of the sonnet form in Enslaved this is most aptly depicted as the poet is
able to reclaim his self through artistic creation. Working within and against the European
prescriptions McKay is able to subvert the legacy of voiceless-ness and history -less
-ness that European discourse has established as his inheritance. Hence in line five
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where the speaker notes And in the Black Land disinherited, the poet is able to claim a
history, voice and place for himself and the members of his race in the Black Land.
In the sonnet The Outcast McKay asserts an identity and reclaims a voice outside the
history which has been denied and gives power to the voice that has been silenced.
The Outcast can therefore be seen as speaking to the collective black experience of
voiceless-ness and creative bondage. McKay therefore exploits the strictures of the
sonnet to express that which Empires culture seeks to curtail, thus when the speaker
postulates that
he speaks to the reclamation of the reclamation of the African voice, culture and creative
acts as a commentary on the bondage which empires culture has imposed on the African
of difference in the world view of the African and European , where time for the African
is natural and a-historical rather than mechanical and historical. Out of Time could
also be used to refer to the African historical heritage and its longevity where, it exists
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Beth Palatnik, notes in the article, Consumption: Devouring The Harlem Dancer, that
McKay takes the body of the sonnet a privilege-soaked, white- identified form and
Thus through the exploitation of the sonnet form the poet exposes his identity as a
colonial hybrid. This in turn entails a double consciousness in which the black identity
master culture, belonging in yet being an outcast of the master culture and the culture of
Africa. The poet is thus depicted as the colonial hybrid . It is this hybridity which
racialized voice within the sonnet. Hence the poet is able to both define himself
within and against the sonnet as a vehicle of empire as it provides the form which is
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In deconstructing the ideologies of Empire , postcolonial writers are often faced with a
challenge . This challenge ensues as these writers often find it problematic to write
within the language of the colonizer while claiming a space for their own. Thus as Renu
Juneja notes in Caribbean Transactions , West Indian Culture in Literature the colonized
subject Who identifies himself with Caliban but also acknowledges his descent from
Prospero must appropriate the English so that the same gift endowed with different
meanings may grow towards a future which is colonized by our acts in this moment , but
which must always remain open(Juneja 5). Within the works of writers such as Derek
Walcott this challenge has been met by using the Standard English and the creole
vernacular dialects to ground the sonnet within the diaspora. Additionally the sonnets
English form is adopted to celebrate the Caribbean space in which the landscape through
the artist becomes the detailer of history. This is most aptly detailed in the sonnets The
Harbour and ChapterVI of the sonnet sequence Tales of the Island. Walcott utilizes the
poem The Harbour as a metaphor for poetic expression. In The Harbour art becomes
Walcott asserts that we need to create something new and fresh by examining the
opportunities that exist within the Caribbean space; not looking back to a former world
but moving towards the new. Additionally in lines nine to eleven where the speaker notes
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the poet suggests that the written passage (the calm of my passage makes) or poetic
expression can be used to transcend the colonial legacy. However it also serves as a
cautionary note within the sonnet where as the sonnet further notes the colonial artist is
essentially braving new water in an antique hoax. Subsequently in writing within the
language and tradition of the masters culture the writers art must engage in more than
mere (mimickry) or exact replication but must also entail appropriation and
assimilated or abandoned.
For the poet art becomes the symbolic meaning by which a place is defined thus the rich
the poets vocation. The use of landscape by the poet thus symbolizes the interplay
between the imagination and the real; an intermingling of the figurative openness of
states that I just felt that you had to find not magnificence, but the reality of the duty of
your immediate surroundings (Baer, 52) Walcott therefore creates an interaction with the
elemental landscape and the artist to deepen and enrich meanings and suggest themes.
In his recreation of the Caribbean space through art Walcott infuses his poem with the
tension which results from a consciousness of the conflict of life caught between love and
hatred, between the spiritual and the material, and between the terrible beauty of the
world and the callous indifference of nature. This tension further speaks to the tension
In The Harbour Walcott depicts his mastery of the masters language and craft while
portraying a single moment within the Caribbean experience. Through his personification
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of nature Walcott expresses the reality of the Caribbean landscape outside the European
tropes of romanticism and exoticism, which saw the islands being depicted as a perfect
ideal; rather, nature and the Caribbean landscape is portrayed realistically where the sea is
bitter and sly and is crueler than any word. Here this depiction of nature not only
speaks to its treachery and callous indifference but also symbolically refers to the seas
treachery as the tool of empire. The sea therefore acts as a metaphorical representation of
In Chapter VI of Tales of the Islands Walcott again asserts that the poet or the artist is
the recorder of history; looking on with deeper eyes his Caribbean existence is depicted
from a fresh perspective. Walcott begins the sonnet with the use of dialogue which at
once grounds the sonnet within the Islands. In lines and one and seven where the speaker
notes Poopa, da was a fete! I Mean it had and Each generation has its angst, but we
has none, he asserts that language carries with it a history . Here the transposed
European history and culture and its indigenization within the Caribbean is clearly
exposed through the use of narrative. The characters quotation of the English romantic
poet Shelly clearly highlights the West Indian mans position as a cultural hybrid who
must assimilate and adopt the different cultures within his historical background.
Language is furthered manipulated by the poet to celebrate the regional and cultural
norms of the society, through the use of the landscape to preserve the history of people
and place.
The space of the beach and the fete like the space of the sonnet is infused within different
aspects of the peoples culture. The Caribbean festive and creative spirit is revealed in
line three where the Pan from one of them band in Trinidad becomes a direct way in
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which the artistic genius existent within the Caribbean is highlighted by the poet . While
the penultimate line which speaks to two practioners of native art can seen as a
reference to the poets indigenization of the sonnet which is a decidedly English art.
Additionally this reference to native art by the poet can also refer to the African
retentions within the Caribbean. In line seven which notes while he drunk quoting
Shelley the image of drunkenness refers again to the Caribbean mans creativity where
drunkenness is a symbol for artistic intoxication in which the poet finds his voice and
breaks away from the traditions of Prospero which defines his existence.
In the book Abandoning Dead Metaphors , the Caribbean Phase of Derek Walcotts
Poetry Patricia Ismond notes that Walcotts effort in this collection is centered on two
traditional forms; and the concern to adopt and appropriate these forms in the service of
his landscape (Ismond 27). This is clearly highlighted through Walcotts use of the
sonnet form which is a variation on the Spensarian adoption of this form. The sonnets
lyricism is captured through the poets use of rhyme; with the alternate rhyming pattern
of lines one and three which rhymes AA with the words had and Trinidad anchoring
the sonnets lyricism. Additionally this lyricism is appropriated by the poet through the
use of sound where the aural quality of the line brings out a distinctive Caribbean
linguistic pattern is revealed in the lilt that this rhyming pattern establishes.
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End notes
For poets such as Shelly, poetry is an idealized art form and poets become the unacknowledged legislators of the world
while Plato in the Phaedrus criticizes for being removed from truth with no value except that of inciting the passions in
men.
ii
Though its origins can be traced back to as far as the songs of the Italian peasantry its position as an elitist art form has
been cemented due to its development from the original eight lines of the strambatto songs of the peasantry to the fourteen
lines for which it is now known within the court of Frederick II as ell as elevating the composition of the sonnet to
conception of the native as the other who was not on par with or akin to the European was another dominant feature of
this empires discourse in which notions of civility, patriotism, religion, racial superiority and morality played a dominant
role.
Works Cited
Baer William. Conversations With Derek Walcott. Mississippi . University of Mississippi
Press 1996.
Blount Caged Birds: Race and Gender in The Sonne In Engendering Men,
ed. Joseph Boene & Michael Cadden. New York: Routledge, 1990
Hynes Samuel. Thomas Hardy Selected Heritage. London Oxford University Press.
Ismond Patricia Abandoning Dead Metaphors , the Caribbean Phase of Derek Walcotts
Macmillan 1996
Sherman Joan. Selected Poems Claude McKay. New York Dover inc 1996
Walcott Derek. Collected Poems 1948-19884. London, Faber and Faber 1992