The Voice From Caribbean Sea

Derek Walcott's book-length poem Omeros has been called"majestic Caribbean epos"by Swedish Academy. Walcott was not only honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work's"great luminosity", but was also regarded as a"Caribbean Homer"by the critics for his splendid combination of the Western canon, such as the Homeric epics and the Divine Comedy, with unique Caribbean cultural sources in Omeros. In this work, Walcott established a historical lyrical style that was to become the voice of a rootless culture which has been a defining characteristic of Caribbean societies. His work has been central to development of an independent and undeniable cultural identity. For most areas lacking cultural identity, his literary efforts are a very important demonstration that the roots of cultural identity lie in narrative structures. In this regard, Omeros has succeed in providing a narrative and discursive framework for a multicultural society. The intention and purpose of this thesis is to stress the importance of and inspiration behind Walcott's Omeros.The thesis consists of two main parts. Chapter 1 opens with a discussion of the power of discourse in Caribbean history, demonstrating how Caribbean history has been interwoven with Western power. It goes on to show how Caribbean history was reconstructed by Walcott in Omeros and how the author expresses the pain and wounds that Caribbean people have experienced throughout history. Chapter 2 mainly focuses on how Walcott subverted the Western canon and created uniquely Caribbean characters, words, metaphors and narrative strategies. In a word, the thesis shows how Walcott attempted to build a cultural identity for Caribbean people from contents and form respectively. Although the process was challenging and highly emotional, in the end, his work not only reflected the inner voice of Caribbean people but also gave a voice to the people of the Third World.