Fictional literary forms are generally divided into three genres, namely poetry, prose and drama. All these stylistic ways of transforming thoughts into (written) language have their own distinctive hallmarks and can, thus, have very different effects on the reader/ the audience. Whereas prose narrations are usually read by a sole reader, drama is supposed to be performed on stage, and poetic texts live especially on their orality. There are, unquestionably, many more discrepancies between these three fictional archetypes; they take for instance advantage of dissimilar narrative voices.
This leads to the assumption that a literary writer must have certain reasons for choosing one of all possible forms of fiction; he, moreover, must aim at achieving a special effect on his audience employing a particular style with specific perspectives.
The diverse forms of literature often digest identical topics always dealing with them in a unique way, which gives literature an enormous variety. The same applies to one special kind of literature, which is in the centre stage of this essay: slave literature about the experience and history of the Black Diaspora.
Starting from these considerations, my intention is to analyse divergent works of two specific contemporary black diasporic writers, plus their special forms of employing narrative voices and perspectives in order to retrieve the history of slavery: Caryl Phillips postmodernist prose narrative Crossing the River and the Caribbean-diasporic poetry of Nobel Prize Winner Derek Walcott. How do the two of them use narrative devices in their disparate forms of art, prose and poetry? This is to be examined in the course of this essay.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. The Poetic Form
II.I Derek Walcott’s Caribbean-Diaspora Poetry
III. Prose Narration
III.I Caryl Phillips’ Voices and Perspectives in Crossing the River
IV. Conclusion
Objectives and Core Topics
This essay explores how two contemporary writers, Caryl Phillips and Derek Walcott, employ distinct narrative strategies to address the history and legacy of slavery within the Black Diaspora. The research aims to analyze how poetry and prose function as unique vessels for retrieving historical memory and reconstructing identity.
- The role of narrative voice and perspective in postcolonial literature.
- Comparative analysis of poetic vs. prose approaches to historical trauma.
- The construction of Caribbean identity and the "Black Diaspora" experience.
- Postmodern techniques in re-evaluating the history of the Middle Passage.
Excerpt from the Book
III.I Caryl Phillips’ Voices and Perspectives in Crossing the River
The narration consists of four stories, which are, moreover, framed and, thus, hold together by a pro- and an epilogue introducing into the diasporic subject. The first story deals with the relationship between the freed slave Nash Williams and his former master, Edward. Here, the reader aquires information primarily through letters, and there is very little narrative mediation between the main characters. Thus, “readers are forced to arbitrate between different perspectives and positions.”27
The narrative technique to make characters tell their story themselves with the device of revealing letters allows the reader a special insight into the psychological minds of the fictional writer. The permanent change of perspective and the character development add complexity to the story. Nash’s early letters, e.g. differ slightly from subsequent ones. Whereas in the beginning he purely presents the “colonial mind”28, later letters ironically comment on his “native style of living” (p. 31).29 Edward, on the other hand, wavers between self-knowledge and refusal of the image of himself.30
Martha’s story is principally concerned with reliving the past ties in slave community of the main character, which are full of painful break-ups and losses within the family. Martha’s present circumstances, close to dying, are narrated by an extradiegetic third-person narrator in past tense, while her past is presented in present tense by the voice of young Martha. “The effect is to render the presence of the past as strong and powerful as the present […] Memory becomes the space where linear narrative time is interrupted and dislocated.”31 Oscillating back and forth in time, the reader is emotionally integrated into the historical retrieval of the Black Diaspora.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: The introduction establishes the theoretical framework regarding the three major literary genres and defines the study’s focus on slave literature within the Black Diaspora.
II. The Poetic Form: This chapter examines the essential features of poetic language, focusing on rhythm, orality, and the role of the "lyrical I" in shaping perception.
II.I Derek Walcott’s Caribbean-Diaspora Poetry: This section analyzes Walcott’s background and how his poetry attempts to reconcile Caribbean and European history through complex, mosaic-like narrative structures.
III. Prose Narration: This chapter discusses the fundamental tools of prose, focusing on the construction of the narrator and the use of temporal and spatial discontinuities in postmodern narratives.
III.I Caryl Phillips’ Voices and Perspectives in Crossing the River: This section investigates how Phillips uses multiple, polyphonic narratives—such as letters and diaries—to create a multi-faceted view of the Black Diaspora experience.
IV. Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, noting that despite their generic differences, both authors successfully use their respective artistic forms to digest and reclaim the history of slavery.
Keywords
Black Diaspora, Caryl Phillips, Derek Walcott, Slavery, Crossing the River, Narrative Voice, Postmodernism, Caribbean Literature, Middle Passage, Historical Retrieval, Lyrical I, Polyphonic, Identity, Prose, Poetry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this essay?
The essay explores how Caryl Phillips and Derek Walcott use different literary forms, namely prose and poetry, to retrieve and articulate the complex history of slavery and the Black Diaspora.
What are the central themes of the work?
The central themes include the reconstruction of historical memory, the significance of narrative voice, the struggle for identity within a postcolonial context, and the impact of the Middle Passage.
What is the author's research question?
The research asks how these two specific writers utilize their disparate artistic devices to navigate the "nameless, anonymous" history of slavery and whether these methods effectively retrieve that past.
Which scientific methods are applied?
The paper utilizes a comparative literary analysis, examining specific textual strategies such as the "lyrical I" in Walcott’s poetry and the epistolary and diaristic frameworks in Phillips’ prose.
What does the main body cover?
The main body is divided into a discussion of poetic form regarding Derek Walcott and a discussion of prose narration regarding Caryl Phillips, providing detailed analyses of their respective collections and narratives.
Which keywords best characterize the research?
Key terms include Black Diaspora, postcolonial narrative, polyphonic voices, historical memory, and postmodernism.
How does Caryl Phillips structure his narrative in "Crossing the River"?
Phillips uses a framed structure comprising four distinct stories, connected by a prologue and an epilogue, which employ letters and diary entries to create a "chorus" of diverse individual voices.
How does Derek Walcott use landscape imagery in his poetry?
Walcott uses sea and landscape images to accumulate ideas of history and space, often linking these natural environments to the internal, psychological state of his "split" lyrical I.
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- Sabine Buchholz (Autor:in), 2005, Two forms of retrieving slave history, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/82619
