Multi-Culturalism and Language: A Postcolonial Reading of Derek Walcott’s Poetry

Abstract

Multi-Culturalism and Language: A Postcolonial Reading of Derek Walcott’s Poetry Lesley Lem Acho Abstract This paper entitled “Multi-Culturalism and Dialogue: A Postcolonial Reading of Derek Walcott‟s Poetry” examines the development of language in the West Indies, a multicultural society. Weanalysehow the incorporation of cultures introduced dialogue between the different cultures, examining the various manifestations of multilingualism in Walcott‟s poems as well as tensions that arise because of the multicultural nature of the society. From Walcott‟s approach to language, we establish that language is power and language is a strong cultural element that determines identity in a given society. When people share a common provenance or understand the same language, there is that possibility of natural bonding. That is why the West Indians had to merge their multiple languages to come up with creole. Some bilingual and multilingual cultures may end up creating division in a society if they do not find a point of convergence because there will always exist a minority which will be suppressed or assimilated. Walcott re-creates a society where everybody is equal and can communicate in a common language which the literate and illiterate, poor and rich can understand. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v8n1a2