CREOLE IDENTITY IN SAMUEL SELVON’S FICTION: A POSTCOLONIAL STUDY
THE THESIS
SUBMITTED TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE FOR OF THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
ENGLISH
BY
GURUPRASAD S Y
Under the Supervision of
Dr. K.T. SUNITHA
Professor of English
DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE
MANASAGANGOTRI
MYSORE-570006
JUNE 2015
DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE
MANASAGANGOTHRI, MYSORE-570 006
DECLARATION
I, GURUPRASAD S Y, declare that this thesis entitled Creole Identity in Samuel
Selvon’s Fiction: A Postcolonial Study is the result of research work done by me in the
Department of Studies in English, University of Mysore, Mysore, under the supervision of Dr. K.T. SUNITHA, Professor of English.
Factors such as ‘trans-cultural/cross-cultural contact,’ ‘psychological aspect,’
‘globalization,’ ‘hybridization’ and ‘acculturation’ are entailed in the process of creolization. Selvon’s peasant novels– A Brighter Sun, Turn Again Tiger and Those
Who Eat the Cascadura– are stories of the East Indian experience in the Caribbean which has been one of an acculturation process, where the indentured labourers who came to work on the West Indian sugar plantations, and Africans, who came as slaves, have become one ‘creole melting pot.’ However, the process of creolization has become familiar in the works of Naipaul and Selvon, the most significant Caribbean
East Indian Writers. Selvon’s immigrant novels– The Lonely Londoners, Moses
Ascending and Moses Migrating– provide a glimpse of the immigrant society’s social identity in London. These novels depict a strong sense of social and cultural identity.
Moreover, the characters became aware of themselves as ‘West Indian’ or
‘black/creole.’
Samuel Selvon’s fiction unfolds the diversity of cultures and he does not compel people to assimilate blindly, but at the same time, he considers all the follow citizens as equal. Selvon portrays all the characters in a humanistic way. Migration
(Caribbean Literature in English, 1)
Many of the Caribbean nations gained independence from Europe in the 1960s although some of the territories of the Francophone Caribbean, such as Guadeloupe,
Martinique and Guyana (French Guyana), still remain colonies of France. In the
Anglophone Caribbean especially, independence was followed by a wave of migration to the British motherland in the hope of partaking in an economic prosperity that was lacking at home. The first generation of the Caribbean emigrants, which came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, is known as ‘Windrush Generation’ after the name of the first boat, the SS Empire Windrush that took the Jamaicans to
London in 1948. Today there are also large diaspora communities in the UK, the USA and Canada.
CHAPTER I: Introduction: Caribbean History and Postcolonial Phenomena
9
The region has been partly defined by historic accident, and has gone under various names in its history. ‘West Indies’ was a notorious mistake, made in 1492, when Columbus reached San Salvador. He believed that he had found the Indies off
Cathay, and called the folk he met ‘Indians’. The term ‘West Indies’ was used
were losing their rights, and were forced to do other work that was similar to slavery. African
During the era of 1789-1850, the South was an agricultural society. This is where tobacco, rice, sugar, cotton, and wheat were grown for economic resources. Because of labor shortage and the upkeeps of the farm to maintain the sale of merchandise property-owners purchased black people as slaves to work their agricultural estate, also low- key sharecroppers often used slave work as their resources as well. As the South developed, profits and businesses grew too, especially those expected to build up the local crops or remove natural resources. Conversely, these trades regularly hire non-landowning whites as well as slaves either claimed or chartered. With that being said, the African culture played a significant role as slaves in the south
Thesis: In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening the characters of the Creole men are diverse and different as the character Edna. Most of Kate Chopin’s stories center around a Woman unsatisfied with her position in life, while living in a man dominated society. The three main characters are typical men of that era. Chopin shows the diversity in each of those three characters. Roberts awakening, and the struggle to do what is the right thing. Alcee and how he is carefree and not concerned with society’s expectations of him, and so has a reputation. Mr. Pontiller, a business man first and foremost, with little left for wife and family. Robert did the right and noble thing by leaving to go to Mexico so as to not have to see the object of his forbidden love. Alcee see’s Edna as another one of his conquest, and does not give up, pursuing her at all cost. Alcee has not concern of what society thinks of him so he is able to do as he pleases. Mr. Pontieller, while he believes himself to be a kind husband, is a typical businessman of the era. He wants his wife to obey him. He wants the perfect Creole wife, one who can help him excel in the business world he loves so much. In exploring these three men in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, there are certain aspects of each, while different, the same. All live in the 1800’s were morale reputation was considered to be the utmost importance to the Sommerer ii businessman, yet, Alcee seems unconcerned with any morale or business responsibility. In exploring the character of Robert who seems to be at a crossroad in his life. Search for his fortune, find a wife, prosper and be respectable, or, do the unthinkable and follow his heart. Sommerer iii Creole Men In The Awakening: Mr. Pontellier is the typical Creole husband and businessman. “Leonce is convinced that fulfilling monetary needs excuses the paucity of time he spends with the children, never presuming that some needs cannot be monetarily satisfied: {“He has his hands full with his brokerage business …making a living for his family on the street”(885)} Even to himself, Leonce’s thought smack of the self-pity of the empowered. Perhaps because he is aware of his own neglect, Leonce projects his guilt onto Edna, expecting flawless mammal performance on her part to remedy his domestic absence.
The Yoruba and Lukim people were enslaved, shipped to the New World and forced by Spanish
Slaves were brought to the colonies by ships from Africa. They were traded for goods such as tobacco, coffee, cotton, sugar, and rice.
For various southern African Americans, their journey westward usually began as slaves. In 1825, when the Mexican government enticed Americans westward through land grants, various slave owners moved in the hopes of becoming wealthy. These American immigrants into Mexico brought with them their wives, children, and property, including slaves. In the vast North American west, African Americans found new opportunities to put their skills to work. Many of these skills, which included herding cattle in Ghana and Gambia, had been passed down generation to generation through oral histories. Plantation owners, now ranchers in the West, employed their slaves’ skills in managing their plan...
As the Europeans set up colonies in America, they brought the plantation ideas with them, which led to the need for labor hence they tried to enslave the Native Americans to work in their mines and fields. The Native Americans were prone to diseases hence most of them died as a result of diseases and overworking. Apart from the ones who died, a number rebelled and formed alliances forcing the Europeans to look for other sources of labor. They settled on acquiring African slaves due to a number of reasons; The African slaves were more stronger and immune to a number of diseases in Europe and America, the Africans had no friends and family in America hence it was not easy for them to form alliances or to escape, they provided a permanent and a cheap source of labor, and most of them had worked on farms before in their native lands. In addition, there were also white slaves for cheap labor.
Indentured servants. Becoming a servant was an easy way for people to get to the New
Although my first and second years guarding I didn’t listen to very much music, conversation is what influenced me. I broke barriers and I was able to overcome my shyness through conversations. My third and fourth year working as a lifeguard was heavily influenced by music, through Soca and Rap the music helped me appreciate culture and figure out more about my own identity being half Haitian. Soca is a Caribbean style of music defined as the “Soul Of Calypso” The music became something that brought a lot of us, us being me other guards and some patrons together. It was something I noticed that words couldn’t do. Whenever Soca or Rap would play during the day, no matter the time or weather patrons and even the guards’ mood would change. Some
and be cattle ranchers. Like many Europeans of the time, they came to Africa to
that were seeking work found jobs in farming, mining, and railroad construction work this help
Immigration has been a hot topic recently in the media with the Syrian refugees. Especially with Donald Trump’s candid, yet outrageous views on Muslim immigration to the United States. Immigration is the movement of persons from their native country to another for any particular reason. Why do you think immigration is such a controversial topic in society? Is it because we do not like to accept different cultures and their way of life? Alternatively, is it because we would rather help our own country deal with our own domestic issues without factoring in others’ as well? Is it because some of us do not want to deal with the extra competition for jobs, resources, education, etc. Whatever the reason may be immigration is still a sensitive subject and issue today as it was when countries were just beginning to form. But from the immigrant’s point of view, how does one deal with their
... in fields while their wives worked indoors. Some slave owners were interested in male slaves only while others bought child slaves.
The nation advanced in exporting the dark slaves and incorporating others. Employees from China and Japan were additionally transported in the early 189th century to the west coast and Hawaii. The settlers who felt insufficiency and discernment enlarged the population combination. The United States still continued welcoming people after the Second World War from all around the world. A diverse community was therefore created by those integration and immigration waves of people still living there, that were different Part of the Hispanics and
He calls for people to have confidence in themselves and to cease living by the world’s universal ideas. He places great importance on the fact that a person should always be true to himself or herself. He believes that if people begin living according to everyone else’s wishes, they will ...