Dr Philip Holden (email: ellhpj@nus.edu.sg)

Poetry (2)

Some Pointers

In this week we'll continue to examine Caribbean poetry, but add the lens of postcolonial theory. Louis Bennett's poems, which we'll read this week, are part of the "oral" tradition of Caribbean poetry, and they thus make use of Jamaican patwa, or "dialect" as Bennett herself calls it. While you may find it difficult to understand some of the vocabulary, the poems are much more comprehensible if you read them out loud or, if you're in a public space and worried about the looks you'll attract, sounded out mentally.

Reading

• Poems by Louise Bennett, (Hinterland 45-63)
  [If you find Bennett's language difficult, try this Dictionary of Jamaican Patois]
• Peter Barry, "Postcolonial Criticism," Beginning Theory 192-202.

Remember also to make a posting before this week's tutorial.

Last updated: 6 November, 2007