Dwaipayan Mitra | Vidyasagar University (original) (raw)
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Constructing identity for the black Caribbeans has been an anathema as they have been subjected t... more Constructing identity for the black Caribbeans has been an anathema as they have been subjected to various forms of colonisation. This long history of domination has jeopardised the mental equilibrium of the black Caribbeans. Derek Walcott in his Dream on Monkey Mountain attempts a psychopathology of colonialism. Makak, the chief character, suffers from, in Fanon's words, arsenal of complexes. However, Walcott also articulates the remedy from this kind of inferiority complex through the decolonisation of the mind. The dream vision is suggestive of the fact that the black Caribbeans can overcome this self-delusion if they take recourse to emancipatory violence. ©KY Publications The question of identity has plagued the characters in the postcolonial world. The colonial context inevitably gives birth to the notion of identity. The confrontation between the coloniser and the colonised ends up damaging the cultural and material heritage of the colonised. It also destroys the mental equilibrium of the colonized. The assertion of power is not always coercive and violent but at times interpellative too. As a result of different techniques of domination, the native finds himself enmeshed in an existential crisis and suffers from an identity complex. It has been the task of postcolonial writers to reveal the effect of various forms of domination. However, writers like Derek Walcott, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka not only explore the various facets of this crisis but also Endeavour to infuse the dominated people with courage so that they can overcome this colonial hangover. Constructing identity is an uphill task in the Caribbean world. Bill Ashcroft and others have written in The Empire Writes Back In the Caribbean, the European imperial enterprise ensured that the worst features of colonialism throughout the globe would all be combined in the region. (1989:144) Within a span of 25-30 years after Columbus's arrival the aboriginal population comprising Caribs and Arawaks was all but exterminated. Their legacy was zeroed in by the Spanish colonizers. With the introduction of sugar trade, a demand was created for a large number of labourers. As a corollary, black people from Africa were imported to be used as labourers. Even the situation did not improve after the abolition of slavery in the
Constructing identity for the black Caribbeans has been an anathema as they have been subjected t... more Constructing identity for the black Caribbeans has been an anathema as they have been subjected to various forms of colonisation. This long history of domination has jeopardised the mental equilibrium of the black Caribbeans. Derek Walcott in his Dream on Monkey Mountain attempts a psychopathology of colonialism. Makak, the chief character, suffers from, in Fanon's words, arsenal of complexes. However, Walcott also articulates the remedy from this kind of inferiority complex through the decolonisation of the mind. The dream vision is suggestive of the fact that the black Caribbeans can overcome this self-delusion if they take recourse to emancipatory violence. ©KY Publications The question of identity has plagued the characters in the postcolonial world. The colonial context inevitably gives birth to the notion of identity. The confrontation between the coloniser and the colonised ends up damaging the cultural and material heritage of the colonised. It also destroys the mental equilibrium of the colonized. The assertion of power is not always coercive and violent but at times interpellative too. As a result of different techniques of domination, the native finds himself enmeshed in an existential crisis and suffers from an identity complex. It has been the task of postcolonial writers to reveal the effect of various forms of domination. However, writers like Derek Walcott, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka not only explore the various facets of this crisis but also Endeavour to infuse the dominated people with courage so that they can overcome this colonial hangover. Constructing identity is an uphill task in the Caribbean world. Bill Ashcroft and others have written in The Empire Writes Back In the Caribbean, the European imperial enterprise ensured that the worst features of colonialism throughout the globe would all be combined in the region. (1989:144) Within a span of 25-30 years after Columbus's arrival the aboriginal population comprising Caribs and Arawaks was all but exterminated. Their legacy was zeroed in by the Spanish colonizers. With the introduction of sugar trade, a demand was created for a large number of labourers. As a corollary, black people from Africa were imported to be used as labourers. Even the situation did not improve after the abolition of slavery in the