Caribbean angst purveyor of a conflicted dual self : projected in poetries of Walcott and Brathwaite

Abstract

The brutality, of the history of slavery, explains how the Caribbean people suffered a lot through the uprooting of their genealogy, culture, language and heritage. The African people felt alienated, displaced, marooned both for the cruelty of their journey and dehumanizing experience in plantations. This resulted into them having a psychic breakdown which caused the ―Caribbean angst‖. In this paper I attempt to explore this angst through the poems of Derek Walcott and Edward Kamau Brathwaite, who are both Creoles. Being of the same background, I explore especially these two poets and identify where they vary in expressing their view of the angst.