Postcolonial Identity in Poetry of Dionne Brand
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Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Postcolonial Identity in Poetry of Dionne Brand (Master Thesis) Lenka Lisková (Anglická Filológia) Supervisor: Mgr. Jiří Flajšar, Ph.D. Olomouc 2014 1 Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Palackého Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Postcolonial Identity in Poetry of Dionne Brand (Diplomová práca) Autor: Lenka Lisková Študijný odbor: Anglická filológia Vedúci práce: Mgr. Jiří Flajšar, Ph.D. Počet strán: 106 Počet slov: 38 460 Olomouc 2014 2 Prehlasujem, že som túto diplomovú prácu vypracovala samostatne a uviedla úplný zoznam citovanej a použitej literatúry. V Olomouci, dňa 2.12.2014 Lenka Lisková 3 Ďakujem vedúcemu svojej diplomovej práce Mgr. Jířímu Flajšarovi, Ph.D. za osožné rady a pripomienky. Ďalej ďakujem celej svojej rodine za trpezlivosť a priestor, ktorý mi bol poskytnutý počas písania práce. V Olomouci, dňa 2.12.2014 Lenka Lisková 4 ABSTRACT The main aim of this thesis is to analyze the postcolonial identity in poetry of the contemporary Canadian-Caribbean author Dionne Brand. The thesis tries to define what it means to be the black lesbian woman of immigrant origin in the world of Canadian modernity and masculinity. Through the analysis of the selected poetry collections, the thesis points out that the author is disappointed not only with the Canadian latent aversion to the alternative lifestyles and diversity, but above all the author is disappointed with the willingness of the black lesbian female to reject the own unique identity in order to become the acceptable citizen of the standardized society. The first chapter comprises of the theoretical background to this topic, providing the basic information about life, work, experience, language and radical policy of Dionne Brand. The second chapter further characterizes the concept of radical policy where the contemporary postcolonial era, under the influence of author’s nonlinear perception of time, experiences and continues in the colonial tradition of the unequal relationships and thus becomes the era of the new slavery and second colonization. The third chapter provides the analysis of three poetry collections: No Language Is Neutral, Land to Light On and Ossuaries. The goal of this particular analysis is to capture the author’s progress in perception of the black lesbian identity and its possibilities in the course of three decades from nineteen eighties up to the new millennium on Canadian land. Key words: Dionne Brand, postcolonial world, lesbian identity, the black heritage, the own language, female body. 5 ANOTÁCIA Táto práca sa zaoberá analýzou postkoloniálnej identity v poézii Karibsko- Kanadskej autorky Dionne Brandtovej. Snaží sa definovať čo znamená byť lesbičkou čiernej pleti a imigrantským pôvodom vo svete ovládanom modernou a maskulinitou. Analýzou vybraných zbierok sa konštatuje, že autorka je sklamaná nielen Kanadskou skrytou averziou voči rôznorodosti životných štýlov a odlišnosti, ale predovšetkým je sklamaná ochotou čiernej lesbickej ženy odmietnuť vlastnú jedinečnosť len aby splynula so štandardami spoločnosti. Prvá kapitola práce tvorí stručný úvod do danej problematiky, mapuje život, tvorbu, skúsenosti, jazyk a vyhradené názory Dionne Brandtovej. Druhá kapitola hlbšie charakterizuje obsah autorkiných vyhradených názorov, kde súčasná postkoloniálna doba je vnímaná, pod vplyvom autorkinej predstavy ne-lineárnosti času, ako doba moderného otroctva a druhej kolonizácie. Tretia kapitola sa venuje analýze troch zbierok poézie: No Language Is Neutral, Land to Light On a Ossuaries. Hlavnou úlohou tejto analýzy je zachytiť vývoj v autorkinom chápaní lesbickej identity a jej možností v priebehu troch desaťročí, od osemdesiatych rokov dvadsiateho storočia až po obdobie nového milénia na území Kanady. Kľúčové slová: Dionne Brandtová, postkolonializmus, lesbická identita, černošské dedičstvo, vlastný jazyk, ženské telo. 6 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 8 1 LIFE AND WORK OF DIONNE BRAND .......................................................... 10 1.1. DIONNE BRAND IN THE COURSE OF TIME ..................................................... 11 1.2 PRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 14 1.3 FEMALE AND LESBIAN EXPERIENCE ............................................................... 16 1.4 LITERARY INSPIRATIONS ................................................................................... 19 1.5 LITERARY SEGREGATION ................................................................................... 21 1.6 HISTORICAL POETRY ........................................................................................... 24 1.7 POWER OF LANGUAGE ........................................................................................ 25 1.8 WORDS AND THEIR AESTHETIC AND POLITICAL DIMENSION ................. 29 1.9 THE FEMALE BODY .............................................................................................. 31 2 TRUE FACE OF THE POSTCOLONIAL WORLD ........................................... 34 2.1 CARIBBEAN CONSCIOUSNESS ........................................................................... 38 2.2 CANADIAN MIGRATIONS .................................................................................... 41 3 POSTCOLONIAL IDENTITY IN BRANDʼS POETRY ..................................... 43 3.1 NO LANGUAGE IS NEUTRAL, THE BOOK OF YOUTH ................................... 43 3.1.1 WAKE UP GIRL THOUGH IT IS “HARD AGAINST THE SOUL” ............... 48 3.1.2 BREAKING THE MYTHS ................................................................................ 50 3.1.2.1 MYTH OF WESTERN DOMINANCE....................................................... 51 3.1.2.2 MYTH OF WEAK WOMAN ...................................................................... 53 3.1.2.3 MYTH OF AMERICAN DREAM .............................................................. 56 3.1.3 POWER OF LANGUAGE ................................................................................. 58 3.1.4 HOPE .................................................................................................................. 62 3.2 LAND TO LIGHT ON, THE BOOK OF REGRET .................................................. 64 3.2.1 LOOSING ROADS ............................................................................................ 67 3.2.2 ARANI AND THE BOY IN BETWEEN ........................................................... 72 3.2.3 REGRET ............................................................................................................. 76 3.3 OSSUARIES, THE BOOK OF ATONEMENT ........................................................ 80 3.3.1 TOXICITY OF THE MATERIALISTIC WORLD ............................................ 83 3.3.2 PERPETUAL ANTIQUITY ............................................................................... 87 3.3.3 CANADIAN NORMALIZATION ..................................................................... 91 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 95 RESUME .................................................................................................................. 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 101 7 INTRODUCTION The era of rapid postcolonial world, the recent social phobias, sense of disillusion, sexism, discrimination, racism and injustice, the present armed conflicts, invasions and freedom fights are the conditions that lead the Caribbean-Canadian author Dionne Brand to the conclusion that the human being without the true identity easily becomes the rag puppet in the hands of the huge machinery known as the modern world, the world that is politically and economically dominated by white man, the world that is ruled by rude managers and the world that forgets what it means to be the human. Dionne Brand as the black, lesbian immigrant believes that her possibilities in such world are considerably limited. However, her Caribbean experience together with her Canadian passport allows her to see what tries and wants to be hidden. This author sees that time is nonlinear and the modern society forgetful and therefore pervasive forces that once created the system of slavery are returning back in the form of industrial exploitation that changes the human being into the standardized identities of the capitalistic requirements. To prove that this outlook is not the mere political populism, Dionne Brand openly incorporates her innermost experience of being black lesbian immigrant on Canadian land to her whole literary, social, film as well as documentary production. The aim of this thesis is to concentrate on Brandʼs poetry production, more accurately on three poetry collections: No Language Is Neutral, Land to Light On and Ossuaries. The centre of my attention becomes the identity search when the author tries to break the silence and to give the voice to those who are often and intentionally left voiceless. The first chapter outlines the life, production and the whole thinking of Dionne Brand. It provides the essential information of her personal life, of her poetic and political developments in the course of three decades from nineteen eighties up to new millennium. This chapter shows Dionne Brand as the ambassador of the minority voice and the opponent of