A Far Cry from Africa: Divided Loyalties
Kameelah Watley
ENG 2250-101
Bradley Joseph
3/16/2013
A Far Cry From Africa: Divided Loyalties Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa” is a representation of ethnic strife and divided loyalties that are communicated through the referencing of the Mau Mau Uprising, which is essentially an amplification of the speaker's internal conflict in regards to his mixed heritage. "A Far Cry from Africa" cannot fully be understood without examining it through a Marxism perspective, which illuminates the issue of conflict in regards to ethnic strife and divided loyalties: "Marxists generally view literature not as works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products' of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era. Literature reflects an author's own class or analysis of class relations, however piercing or shallow that analysis may be" (Abrams 149). The cultures being examined in this piece are African and European and the author presents an analysis of each class in both "piercing" and "shallow" ways. The poem is the "product" of the British ideologies in the 1950s regarding the Mau Mau: "The contemporary, colonial view saw Mau Mau as a savage, violent, and depraved tribal cult, an expression of unrestrained emotion rather than reason. Mau Mau was "perverted tribalism" that sought to take the Kikuyu people back to "the bad old days" before British rule" (Berman 181). Thus, the author's poem is a result of the then British ideology which in turn fosters the author's concept of the two classes. The mentioned Mau Mau Uprising in the poem is symbolic for a war involving Africans against Europeans, which further addresses another level of conflict involving the speaker's half-African, half-European heritage. The speaker uses the conflict in the Mau Mau Uprising to characterize his inner battle regarding the dichotomy between his two ethnicities: "I who am poisoned by the blood of both" (Walcott 26). Although we can't be sure
ENG 2250-101
Bradley Joseph
3/16/2013
A Far Cry From Africa: Divided Loyalties Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa” is a representation of ethnic strife and divided loyalties that are communicated through the referencing of the Mau Mau Uprising, which is essentially an amplification of the speaker's internal conflict in regards to his mixed heritage. "A Far Cry from Africa" cannot fully be understood without examining it through a Marxism perspective, which illuminates the issue of conflict in regards to ethnic strife and divided loyalties: "Marxists generally view literature not as works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products' of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era. Literature reflects an author's own class or analysis of class relations, however piercing or shallow that analysis may be" (Abrams 149). The cultures being examined in this piece are African and European and the author presents an analysis of each class in both "piercing" and "shallow" ways. The poem is the "product" of the British ideologies in the 1950s regarding the Mau Mau: "The contemporary, colonial view saw Mau Mau as a savage, violent, and depraved tribal cult, an expression of unrestrained emotion rather than reason. Mau Mau was "perverted tribalism" that sought to take the Kikuyu people back to "the bad old days" before British rule" (Berman 181). Thus, the author's poem is a result of the then British ideology which in turn fosters the author's concept of the two classes. The mentioned Mau Mau Uprising in the poem is symbolic for a war involving Africans against Europeans, which further addresses another level of conflict involving the speaker's half-African, half-European heritage. The speaker uses the conflict in the Mau Mau Uprising to characterize his inner battle regarding the dichotomy between his two ethnicities: "I who am poisoned by the blood of both" (Walcott 26). Although we can't be sure
Cited: Abrams, M.H. "Marxist Criticism." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. 149-150. Berman, Bruce J. "Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Modernity: The Paradox of Mau Mau." Canadian Journal of African Studies. 13 Jan. 1991: 181-182. Print. Geoffe, Keith. " 'A Far Cry ' Turns Fifty-Five." Caribbean Quarterly. Mar. 2011: 58-59. Print. Greenblatt, Stephen. "Derek Walcott." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Ed. Julia Reidhead. New York: Norton, 2012. 2800-2801. Print. Mwangi, Evan. "The Incomplete Rebellion: Mau Mau Movement In Twenty-First-Century Kenyan Popular Culture." Africa Today 2 (2010): 86. JSTOR Arts & Sciences VI. 17 Mar. 2013. Njoki, Felistas. "Interpreting Participation in Resistance: Memoirs of the Mau Mau War." The Journal of Pan African Studies. University of Virginia, 2011: 280. Print. Walcott, Derek. "A Far Cry from Africa." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Ed. Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 942-943. Print.