Transplantations

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to disclose the nexus of dislocation and ecology in the work of two Caribbean poets, Derek Walcott and Lorna Goodison. It shows how they deal with the founding experiences of the wider Caribbean community, such as diaspora and the process of creolisation, by drawing on the vegetation imagery. The concept of transplantation is central to this reading, as it refers to the history of forced removal, while also celebrating the biological and cultural hybridity of the region. Arguably, the shared preoccupation with island vegetation can be associated with the importance of naming for the Caribbean writers – hence the constant references to language in their representations of local plants. If geographic dislocation caused linguistic dislocation, it is only through the repossession of language that the poet is able to enact a return to her/his homeland. In Walcott and Goodison, however, this aim is pursued through further dislocation.