A FAR CRY FROM AFRICA- ANALYSIS

Derek Walcott was an English playwright and poet, having a mixed racial ancestry. During the
British occupation in Kenya and rise of Mau Mau fighters, Walcott felt an equal pull towards
both the races that he was connected to by birth. This hybrid status of Walcott allowed him to
provide insights and perspectives from both sides of the conflict. He represents both the English
language and Africa.

The half-European and half-African poet describes the brutal history of both sides. However,
Walcott's use of ironical phrases such as "white-peace" and "upright man" in the poem establish
his stance firmly as anti-colonial. He has immense love for English language but an equal
intensity of hatred for imperialism.

In the poem, "A Far Cry from Africa", Derek Walcott provides an overview of the conflict
between the colonisers i.e the British and the colonised i.e the people of Kenya. Africa
according to Walcott was a "paradise" before the colonisation which later turned into a stream of
corpses. The British feel no sympathy for these corpses and call them "separate" dead. This line
speaks to the depth of white supremacy in Africa.

According to Edward Said's approach of Orientalism, the orientalists believe that the West
occupies a superior rank while the Orient is its 'other' , giving a sense of West superiority and
strength over Africans. (Beginning postcolonialism, pg 41)

The Africans were an unequal race to the British. Orientalism identifies Africa as the
contrasting image, idea, personality or experience of the West where the latter one is considered
the epitome of civilization. The Africans on the other hand were called savages as in the
Stereotypes of Orient given by Said, If the Occident was rational, sensible and familiar, the
Orient was irrational, extraordinary, abnormal. (pg 44)

Walcott calls attention to massive killing of the local people in Africa by British combatants,
alluding to the Holocaust. However, the western justification of the propriety of Western
Colonial rule of Eastern lands (pg 43) serves as icing on the cake.

The British see the world in terms of binary oppositions, that later establish a relation of
dominance". This binary construct is very crucial in imperial ideology. (Post Colonial Studies,
pg 19)
Walcott ironically calls the British as the upright men who inflict pain on the people of Africa
for the sake of introducing the so-called civilization in Africa. Walcott writes:

"but upright man

 Seeks his divinity by inflicting pain"

Jackie Assayag writes in his research that the British always believed that the indigenous people
will never be modern, unless they are civilized, disciplined, administered, kept watch over,
evangelized or guided – in our times, “democratized” manu militari.
In order to enjoy freedom, they must remodel their society in the image of that of their master.
(Jackie Assayag, 2007)

Use of the phrase“contracted by the dead,” draws attention to the concept of “white peace”
which the British were trying to develop in the African lands. This white peace was only
achievable through the slaughtering of the people of Africa and eradication of their traditional
cultures and colonisation of their homes and minds.
While the operation of Empire is ‘bathed in blood’ the concept of empire is
always dedicated to peace. (pg 71)

Walcott emphasizes on the idea that the meaningless death of innocent people is not restricted to
British-Kikuyu conflict alone rather the insignificance of human lives is evident throughout
human history. He talks about the Spanish civil war.

"Upon the napkin of a dirty cause, again

A waste of our compassion, as with Spain"

Orientalism appeared as a by-product of colonialism. The idea of dominance of one over the
other resulted in mass killing of innocent people.
REFERENCES

Bill Ashcroft, Post Colonial Studies (pg 19, 71)

Jackie Assayag, East and West: orientalism, war and the colonial present, 2007
John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism (pg 41,43,44)