Towards A Utopia Of Hybridity

Derek Walcott has dedicated his writings to the exploration of postcolonial predicaments.His early poems are suffused with his confusion about divided identity.Long time preoccupation with postcolonial identity gradually helped him overcome schizophrenic identity crisis and accept his hybrid identity.He takes hybridity as the basic feature of postcolonial identity and an ideal status quo that can enhance the solidarity between different cultural groups of postcolonial society.Omeros,a.long poem published in 1990,is constructed upon Walcott’s poetics of decolonization.In its narrative center lie several characters of different ethnic origins who live in the Caribbean island St.Lucia.After a great progress in curing colonial wounds and finding cultural identity,the residents come to terms with each other and live together in harmony.This paper shall analyze from the perspectives of both the black and the white through close reading and application of postcolonial theories,trying to elaborate on the strategy of decolonization in Omeros.The first part is devoted to the subversion of colonial discourse in Omeros,and revealing the pervasive colonial residue in modern society as one of the poet’s critical focuses.The second part focuses on Walcott’s discriminating appropriation of Negritude,and how Negritude is a transitory but indispensible step in his decolonization blueprint.The third part centers on hybridity,which not only can effectively subvert colonial discourse,but constitutes the theoretical and practical basis for building a harmonious postcolonial society.All in all,Walcott’s poetics of decolonization transcends the subversion of colonial discourse and cure of colonial wound.It anchors itself to the present and future by emphasizing the solidarity,mutual influence and mutual understanding between different ethnicities.It delineates an integrated blueprint for removing the postcolonial predicaments.