Derek Walcott’s Omeros: Challenging European Perceptions of the Caribbean

Growing up in St Lucia Derek Walcott was exposed to a hybridity of cultures: African, French and British roots make up the rich diversity of the island’s heritage. Europeans often perceived St Lucia as a region where people had "no […] character and purpose of their own." 1 Walcott fiercely challenges this in his poetry, adopting the classics of his Western education to depict the cultural distinctiveness of his native land. A significant example of this is his masterpiece, the epic poem Omeros , a re-telling of Homer’s Iliad in a contemporary Caribbean setting. Described as "the perfect marriage of Walcott’s classicism and nativism", Omeros adopts the conventions of the epic narrative to celebrate the history and identity of Caribbean people. 2 Exploring the history of colonialism through the eyes of simple island fishermen, Omeros spans across time and space as Walcott’s characters undergo an epic journey of self-discovery, transporting them back to their African roots. They travel through the past to the present, across the Caribbean, Africa, North America and Europe, ending up in St Lucia, where they began, in true epic circular tradition. By the end, the characters have come to understand their mixed ancestry - a fusion of African, Caribbean and European influences. They are proud of their diverse origins, which have created a distinctive "Creole" culture characterized by resilience in the face of change and upheaval. Omeros , therefore, challenges European perceptions of the Caribbean as a place of no character by highlighting the unique "Creoleness" that forms Caribbean identity.

404

500