The Pleasures of ExileIn The Pleasures of Exile, as in his other works, George Lamming embraces the intricate issues of colonization and decolonization with a canny combination of playfulness and seriousness, irony and commitment. " It] is a reciprocal process," Lamming observes, "to be a colonial is to be a man in a certain relation; and this relation is an example of exile." Through a series of interrelated essays, The Pleasures of Exile explores the cultural politics and relationships created in the crucible of colonization. Drawing on Shakespeare's The Tempest and C. L. R. James's The Black Jacobins, as well as his own fiction and poetry, Lamming deftly locates the reader in a specific intellectual and cultural domain while conjuring a rich and varied spectrum of physical, intellectual, psychological, and cultural responses to colonialism. "My subject," he writes, "is the migration of the West Indian writer, as colonial and exile, from his native kingdom, once inhabited by Caliban, to the tempestuous island of Prospero's and his language. This book is a report on one man's way of seeing." |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 9 |
The Occasion for Speaking | 23 |
Evidence and Example | 51 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Accra African alive American Negro Ariel arrived asked atmosphere Barbadian Barbados Biassou Black Jacobins British C. L. R. James Caliban Caribbean civilisation colonial colour cultural Dessalines discourse England English example experience face fact feel felt France freedom French future Ghana going hands happened human important island kind King knew Kumasi Lamming Lamming's language living look magic matter meaning Miranda Moïse Mulattos native nature never Nigerian night novel novelist Papa peasant Pleasures of Exile poet political Port-of-Spain privilege Prospero question realised relation reply Sam Selvon San Domingo seemed seen Selvon sense simply Singh situation slaves speak spirit Stranger-Man Sycorax talking tell Tempest thee thing Thomasos thou tion Toussaint Toussaint Louverture Tribe Boys Trinidad turn village voice waiting walking West Indian writers West Indies whole wife word