Historical Context
Literary Heritage
Derek Walcott identifies as a Caribbean writer, yet he is also regarded as a cosmopolitan and cultured poet who extensively draws from European, particularly British, influences. Even though English was his second language, he is recognized as one of the most exceptional poets writing in English today. Additionally, he was deeply influenced by African-Caribbean folktales and slave narratives, which inspire many of his plays. Walcott's diverse ethnic background includes African, English, and Dutch ancestry, a richness that is reflected in his literary works.
Historical Context
In 1888, most of what is now Kenya became a suzerain under the Imperial British East African Company. The British government assumed control of the region in 1895, designating it a "protectorate." White settlers began to arrive, clearing forests and establishing large estates, some exceeding 100,000 acres. The influx of both white and Indian settlers continued steadily. These settlers constructed roads and a railroad, gradually dispossessing many Kenyans, primarily Kikuyus, of their land. Once displaced, Kikuyus were compelled into employment, mainly as servants on white estates, through taxes, work schemes, identity-paper requirements, and outright force. Seeking to regain self-governance and their land, the Kikuyu Central Association sent Jomo Kenyatta as a representative to England in 1929. Over the next sixteen years, Kenyatta's efforts to persuade England to change its governance in Kenya were unsuccessful, and he returned home in September 1946.
In 1947, Kenyatta became president of the Kenya African Union (KAU), a nationalist party that demanded an end to the numerous injustices of white rule. These demands were met with resistance or excuses from the British. As the Kikuyu population grew increasingly frustrated with white rule, a militant faction emerged, known as The Kenya Land Freedom Army, which later evolved into the organization Mau Mau. The origins of the term "Mau Mau" are unclear, but it is widely believed to have started as a derogatory label used by settlers. On August 4, 1950, Mau Mau was declared illegal, despite the government knowing little about it except that militant Kikuyus were persuading or forcing others to take an oath against foreign rule. Following the Mau Mau killings of European cattle and the execution of a Kikuyu chief loyal to the British, a state of emergency was declared on October 20, 1952, and orders were issued for the arrest of 183 individuals. Kenyatta was among those arrested and, after a trial, was imprisoned for allegedly masterminding Mau Mau. Although this charge was never proven, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.
As anxious white settlers amassed firearms to safeguard their lives and properties, the first killing of a white settler by the Kikuyu occurred a week after the emergency declaration. The settler was brutally murdered with a machete-like weapon known as a panga. The Mau Mau anticolonial struggle resulted in the deaths of approximately thirteen thousand people and countless animals, the majority of whom were Kikuyus. By 1953, the Mau Mau guerilla forces had largely been defeated, and by 1956, the fighting had mostly ceased. However, the unequal political, economic, and social conditions that had fueled the rise of the Mau Mau remained unchanged. During the ongoing state of emergency, the government implemented reforms between 1953 and 1960 to mitigate further threats from the Mau Mau. The state of emergency finally concluded in 1960, likely after Walcott had finished writing "A Far Cry from Africa." Kenyatta was released from prison in 1961, Kenya achieved independence in 1963, and Kenyatta became president in 1964, the same year Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Walcott was probably in the English-speaking Caribbean...
(This entire section contains 786 words.)
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when he penned "A Far Cry from Africa," an area also under British rule, similar to Kenya. It wasn't until the 1930s, during a period of social unrest in the Caribbean, that political parties were permitted and universal suffrage was introduced. The rise of nationalism and the impact of World War II increased pressure from West Indians for Britain to relax its control. Consequently, in 1958, a federation comprising most of the English-speaking Caribbean islands was established to pave the way for eventual independence. Escalating tensions between the archipelago and Britain led Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Jamaica, to withdraw from the federation and gain independence in 1962. Walcott's native island, St. Lucia, did not achieve independence until 1979, sixteen years after Kenya. During the peak of Mau Mau activities, Walcott was studying at university in Jamaica. Until 1960, he spent much of his time teaching in West Indian schools and collaborating in theater with his brother. It is plausible that Walcott's West Indian heritage, linked to his family’s ancestral roots in Africa, and the British domination of both his homeland and Kenya, prompted him to pay close attention to the events in Kenya—events that might have foreshadowed a similar future for Britain’s Caribbean colonies.
Literary Style
‘‘A Far Cry from Africa’’ consists of four stanzas, primarily written in iambic tetrameter. Interestingly, the poem begins in iambic pentameter, the most common form of English poetry, but soon diverges metrically. This shift mirrors the evolving scenes and perspectives within the poem, resulting in lines of varying lengths and stresses. Despite these variations, Walcott consistently employs masculine endings (lines ending with stressed syllables) and masculine rhymes (one-syllable rhymes). The rhyme is as irregular as the meter. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza can be interpreted as either ababbcdecd or ababbaccad. However, both interpretations overlook the related sounds in "Jews," "flies," "seize," and "policy," which provide two fundamental end sounds with varying degrees of repetition. The second stanza features rhymes in its fourth and seventh lines, as well as in its fifth, tenth, and eleventh lines. The third stanza follows an abba rhyme scheme, while the fourth stanza only rhymes in its sixth and eighth lines. In summary, there is a loose rhyme scheme in two of the stanzas, but not in the other two. The fluctuation between rhyme and non-rhyme, near-rhyme, iambic tetrameter, and iambic pentameter reflects the poet's internal conflict between Africa and Britain.
Compare and Contrast
1958-64: A period of civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest country, concludes with the October 1964 revolution. The catalyst for the revolution is the fatal shooting of a student, which triggers a general strike and widespread protests, ultimately toppling the military junta.
1999: CBS News reports that slavery is still prevalent in Sudan. Islamic groups conduct raids, capturing women and children from the Dinka tribe to use as sexual servants, housekeepers, and farmhands. Dinka slaves are sold for approximately $50, the equivalent price of a goat.
1962: The Ethiopian-Eritrean War, a long and costly conflict, begins after Ethiopia revokes Eritrea's autonomy within the Ethiopian-Eritrean federation, which had been in place since 1952. This war lasts until 1991.
1999: In January, Eritrean news reports that 243 Eritreans are rounded up, imprisoned, and deported from Ethiopia. So far, a total of 49,500 Eritreans have been deported from Ethiopia.
1962: Civil war erupts in Rwanda (1962-63) as Tutsi military forces attempt to seize control of the newly independent country after the majority Hutus gain power through free elections.
1998: Throughout the year in Rwanda, 864 individuals are tried for their roles in the 1994 genocide, where between 500,000 and 1 million people are killed in the Hutu government's attempt to exterminate the Tutsi minority. Following the genocide, civil war ensues, and the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front defeats the Rwandan military. An estimated two million Hutus flee Rwanda to neighboring countries.
Media Adaptations
Bill Moyers conducted an interview with Walcott, focusing mainly on the theme of empire, for his series A World of Ideas, which was released by PBS videos in 1987.
A cassette called Derek Walcott Reads (1994) is available from Harper Collins.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Brown, Stewart, ed., The Art of Derek Walcott, Seren Books, 1991.
D'Aguiar, Fred, "Ambiguity Without a Crisis? Twin Traditions, The Individual and Community in Derek Walcott's Essays," in The Art of Derek Walcott, edited by Stewart Brown, Seren Books, 1991, pp. 157-70.
Delf, George, Jomo Kenyatta: Towards the Light of Truth, Doubleday, 1961.
Hamner, Robert D., Derek Walcott, Twayne, 1993.
Hamner, Robert D., ed., Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott, Three Continents, 1993.
King, Bruce, "West Indies II: Walcott, Brathwaite, and Authenticity," in The New English Literatures: Cultural Nationalism in a Changing World, St. Martin's, 1980, pp. 118-39.
Terada, Rei, Derek Walcott's Poetry, Northeastern University Press, 1992.
Further Reading
Baer, William, ed., Conversations with Derek Walcott, University
Press of Mississippi, 1996.
This book features eighteen interviews conducted between 1966 and 1993, and
includes a comprehensive bio-chronology of Walcott's life.
Balakian, Peter, "The Poetry of Derek Walcott," in Poetry, June 1986,
pp. 169-77.
Balakian discusses Walcott's Collected Poems, 1948-1984.
Breslin, Paul, "I Met History Once, But He Ain't Recognize Me: The Poetry of
Derek Walcott," in Tri Quarterly, Winter 1987, pp. 168-83.
Breslin reflects on Walcott's literary career and body of work.
Dickey, James, "The Worlds of Cosmic Castaway," in New York Times Book
Review, February 2, 1986, p. 8.
Dickey reviews Walcott's Collected Poems, 1948-1984.
Grant, Nellie, Nellie's Story, William Morrow, 1981.
This book offers a firsthand account of life as a white farmer in Kenya from
1933 to 1977.
Hamner, Robert D., ed., Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott, Three
Continents Press, 1993.
This collection contains 52 essays, including eight by Walcott himself,
providing an extensive commentary on his life and works.
Hirsch, Edward, "An Interview," in Paris Review, Winter 1986, pp.
197-230.
Hirsch's interview with Walcott offers intriguing insights into his background,
childhood, and writing process.
Hirsch, Edward, "An Interview with Derek Walcott," in Conversations with
Derek Walcott, edited by William Baer, University Press of Mississippi,
1996, pp. 50-63.
Hirsch and Walcott discuss the author's poetry, prose, plays, and his West
Indian heritage.
Huxley, Elspeth, compiler, Nine Faces of Kenya, Viking, 1991.
This book provides firsthand accounts from both blacks and whites who lived in
Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising, organized into themes such as Exploration,
Travel, Settlers, and more.
McWatt, Mark A., "Derek Walcott: An Island Poet and His Sea," in Third
World Quarterly, October 1988, pp. 1607-15.
McWatt explores Walcott's significance in Caribbean literature and his theme of
artistic isolation.
Walcott, Derek, Collected Poems: 1948-1984, Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1986.
This anthology includes "A Far Cry from Africa" and 135 other poems from
Walcott's early major works, In a Green Night to Midsummer.
