derek walcott and the epic tradition in omeros roxanne orpin dan hong
TRANSCRIPT
DEREK WALCOTT AND THE EPIC TRADITION IN OMEROSRoxanne OrpinDan Hong
Biography
Native of Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies
Mother was a teacher
Father died when he was an infant
Involved in local theater
Born January 23, 1930 Early Life
Biography
Published his first poetry collection in 1948, Twenty-Five Poems
Attended St. Mary’s College, and University of the West Indies
B.A. 1953 in English, French, Latin Taught at Columbia, Howard,
Boston University, Harvard, Yale Nobel Laureate 1992 in Literature
Omeros: Metaphors, and Allusions to Homer “Omeros” is the
name “Homer”in modern Greek
Characters such as Philoctete, Helen, Achille, Hector
Greek Gods The narrative
journeys all over the world
So What?
There are four schools of thought regarding Omeros.
Epic structure is a major strength Links to oral or folk traditions Denies the poem’s epic qualities Remakes the classical epic into
something specifically Caribbean and Postcolonial
Why Use Classical Roots in a Caribbean Tale? Conflict of self-
identity Binary relationship
between Plunkett and the narrator, “Walcott”
Creates a new epic through appropriating Greek/European traditions
Bibliography Fumagalli, Maria Cristina. "Derek Walcott's Omeros and Dante's
Commedia: Epics of the Self and Journeys into Language." Cambridge Quarterly 29 (2000): 17-36. Oxford University Press Journals. 6 July 2009<http://camqtly.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.umw.edu:2048/cgi/reprint/XXIX/1/17.pdf>.
Jay, Paul. "Fated to Unoriginality The Politics of Mimicry in Derek Walcott’s Omeros." Callaloo 29 (Spring 2006): 545-59. Project
Muse. 6 July 2009 <http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.umw.edu:2048/journals/callaloo/v029/29.2jay.pdf>.
Williams, Ted. "Truth and Representation: The Confrontation of History and Mythology in Omeros" Callaloo 24 (Winter 2001): 276-86.
JSTOR. 6 July 2009 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3300500>.
Zoppi, Isabella Maria. "Omeros, Derek Walcott and the Contemporary Epic Poem." Callaloo 22 (Spring 1999): 509-28. JSTOR. 6 July 2009 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3299499>.