American Literature

A. Outline and discuss the various social and political problems with which modern Caribbean poets are concerned in their poetry.

I. Selfishness in Politics
In McDonald and Brown (1992), the author depicts the denunciation of poltical oppression and contemporary exploitation as the Caribbean people as they continuously fight for  clean and honest political environment centered on just public service.  Caribbean poets focus their attention on how much inconsistencies and political dilemmas have imposed a tremendous impact on the Caribbean pursuit for equality and justice. According to Carribean poets, the global politics is composed of  liberal politicians, selfish selfseekers-all who are good doing nothing at all  (as cited in McDonald and Brown, 1992, p. 133).

As such is said because up to the present, Caribbean people are still strugglling to find politicians who would heed their call for legislations and policies that recognize them as citizens capable of taking part in the industrialized set up of the world. Poetry in the Caribbean world talks about duty and obligation of politicians to proteect every citizen from harshness and to render each one a place wherein he can fully explore his full potentia (McDonald and Brown 1992). Those politicians fail render public service unselfishly and with impure intentions can be called as  morons, fanatics, priests and popes, organizing secretaries and party managers...  (as cited in McDonald and Brown, 1992, p. 133).

Racial Discrimination
Poetry has also been one of the platforms in which Caribbeans can express their aim to eliminate the stigma that comes with being black. Carribean authors also depicts the social abandonment of the black people as reflected upon the mentioning of the  broken shadow  that figuratively speaks of the broken spirit of a black person (as cited in McDonald and Brown, 1992, p. 135).  Carribean authors used themes of nature , animals and persona to convey emotions, particularly the sentiments of the Caribbean people concerning racial discrimination. At the very heart of Carribean poetry lies the emotional struggle of the Carribeans which is embedded finitely within their hearts, mind and soul. The authors such as  Gloria Escoffery speaks the sentiments of the Carribean people against discrimination using animals to figuratively speak of antagonism. In the poem, Mother Jackson Murders the Moon, the author describes that if a black person tries to cry for help,  the dog would skin his teeth at her, the cat wouild hoist his tail and pin the moonlit sky to the gutter the neighbours would maybe douse her in  chickens blood and hang her skin to dry on the packy tree  (as cited in McDonald and Brown, 1992, p. 74).

The Cultural Impact of Colonization
Carribean authors explore the impact of colonization to their culture by giving descriptions to mans simple gestures such as eating and through the adventures with nature reminiscent of the rasta background of the Carribean people. In the poem, English Girl Eats Her First Mango by John Agard, the manner in which the English girl eats her first mango signifies how culture has been westernized to the extent that even the most basic and natural way of eating mangoes can be redefined.

In the poem, the author says,   I had to tell she what hanky you talking bout you dont know when you eat mango you hanky is your tongue, man just lick you finger, you call that culture, lick you finger, you call that finger   (as cited in Mcdonald and Brown, 1992, p. 4).  This poem tells the readers how much colonization has caused social destruction in the ancestry of the Carribean people by penetrating deeply into their culture. A Caribbean author also talks how the Rasta man and his culture have ceased long time ago. In the poem, The Leaf in His Ear by Mahadai Das,  the author tells how much the  Rastaman, with knotty India hair, has long ago ceased  (as cited in McDonald and Brown, 1992, p. 73).

B.  Compare and contrast the poetry of the Afrocentric poet, Edward Kamau Brathwaite with the poetry of the Eurocentric poet, Derek Walcott.
The poetry of Edward Kamau Brathwaite provides historical linkages and happenings that have contributed to the establishment of black population in the Carribean region. His poems are identified as having experimental  linguistic and multilingual descriptions of African race in the West Indies. Both Derek Walcott and Brathwaite have endeavored on the development of a language that is able to connect with the readers confidently. As a Eurocentric poet, Walcott also uses that kind of language in its most intensifying, rich, nuanced and detailed forms that seem to outgrow the sophisticated expressions of the colonizers.
 
In the comparison of the two poets, clich reaction  within the literary realm has always uphold Brathwaite as the poet of people who embed historical and social themes that describe the problems of West Indians whereas Walcott is considered as the artist, a man who seeks to presennt reality through the exploration of art. Brathwaite can be deemed as the public poet who speak the cries of the community through poetry that intends to recreate the historical experience of the Africans in the contemporary world. Brathwaites poetry is more of an expression of a collective identity and his failure to express his personal emotions and reactions, an area which Eurocentric poet Walcott  is aware of.

Both of their poetry contain the strange use of the English language. It is evident in the works of Walcott that he uses the strangeness of the language in order to express his hesistance to be outside the realm of the English literature. Walcotts poems,, particularly The Spoilers Return and North and South are suggestive of American infection. It is in these poems that his angst shows up as he tries to express  his sentiments concerning colonial and middle-passage experience.

The very essence of Walcotts personal venture can be seen in the variety of scenes and instances that are the driving force of his poems. The Eurocentric author deals with the domestic and provincial scenarios in the Caribbean island and the peculiar description of the of the tragic events in the lives of the Caribbean people. This notion is seen in Tales of the Islands wherein he talks about various experiences and sstruggles of the people in the island. In the poem, The Swamp, Walcott he ventures into the world of the private symbols to critically assess the psychic disturbances in the harsh condition being faced by the Caribbean people. The poem Metamorphoses lets readers reconnect with the agony of the old fiddlers at Parang.  The poetry of Walcott conveys his feelings of personal isolation brought about by being caught up between his European cultural inclinations and his balck cultural orientation with the native Carribean.

The individualist approach of Walcott is often compared with the collective approach of Brathwaite who is being honored for his descriptions of a search  for identity of the people of the Caribbean. In contrast with Walcott, the Brathwaites poetry is a mode of apprehension in which the continuities between African and the Caribbean. Such continuities and great aim to preserve Caribbean culture is put into words b y Brathwaite using the so-called nation language which is strongly associated with the African experience in the island. In contrast with Walcotts usage of colonized words, Brathwaite is more oriented  with the use of the dialect considered  as the language of slaves and laborers.  It is evident in his poetry that he used to play with words and linguistic variations which are not self-absorbed individualism or  contemporary aesthetic expressions.