Performative Dimensions Of Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe

This thesis examines The Polished Hoe by Austin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke who was born in Barbados and migrated to Canada. Since both of the two countries belong to British Commonwealth of Nations, the author has clear consciousness of what a marginal world is like. The story takes place in the 1950s Caribbean, it contemplates the past of slavery and its aftermath on the island of Bimshire, which links contemporary forms of exploitation to past forms of exploitation proper to slavery and colonization. Taking writing as a way of thinking, Clarke probes into the history, destiny and the spiritual world of those marginal individuals.With the application of speech act theories, especially inclining to that of J. Hillis Miller’s, this essay intends to analyze this work from the perspective of post-colonial studies. Comprised of five chapters, this thesis takes the hoe as a medium to explore Caribbean historical implication and criticize patriarchic ideology, and provides the novel with a brand new interpretation of colonial issues.The first part introduces the writer’s background, achievements, and critical reviews on his book, The Polished Hoe. Meanwhile, the threads of J. H. Miller’s speech act theory are also traced broadly. The significance of this research and the organization of the structure are explicated in the end of this chapter.Chapter 1 proves demonstratively that the "text", as a "whole", is used as a polished hoe by Clarke. The author’s re-writing practice is naturally attached with force which is presented to readers and even to authorities. Besides, both the narrator chosen and the arrangement of narrative time render their narrative force toward readers.Chapter 2 discusses the performative objects, which principally puts emphasis on the hoe in the novel. The object hoe can be read in several ways though they are logically incompatible. It is used as a metaphor object, which can be read as a symbol of the male, as a family heirloom, as a symbol of slavery and colonial history respectively. But. such an object of interpretation is undecidable. and there is no solid ground to be based on for one reading over the others.Chapter 3 analyzes two performative acts:hoe-polishing and confessing. Since the hoe has different interpretations in Mary’s reminiscence, her polishing hoe act is. of course, given several symbolic meanings. Furthermore, in revealing what she has done, Mary asks the police to confess her sin. The confession, which can be seen as a speech act, possesses its illocutionary and perlocutionary meaning at the same time.After analyzing the book in different performative dimensions, it comes to a conclusion. Austin Clarke’s post-colonial rewriting practice questions the twist representation of the third world identity narrated by the Europe centered discourses. Men are deprived of the violence and might, and women’s domestic image is also deconstructed. Clarke’s special narrative strategy of re-constructing Mary’s racial identity destructs patriarchy at the same time.