Modernism, the Visual, and Caribbean Literature

by Mary Lou Emery

Vision is a recurring obsession in the work of twentieth-century Caribbean writers. This ambitious study offers a comprehensive analysis of the visual in authors from the Anglophone Caribbean as they intersect with mainstream Modernism. While sound cultures have received more attention in studies of the Caribbean, this is the first to analyse acts of seeing, inner vision, and reflections on visual art. Mary Lou Emery analyses the art, theatre, and literature of the early twentieth century, including works by Edna Manley and Una Marson, then turns to George Lamming, C. L. R. James, Derek Walcott, Wilson Harris, and a younger generation including Jamaica Kincaid and David Dabydeen. She argues that their preoccupation with vision directly addresses philosophies of sensory perception developed at the height of the slave trade and emerges in conditions of diaspora continuing into the present. This study is an original and important contribution to transatlantic and postcolonial studies.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, hell yes. A thoroughgoingly engaged, if sometimes repetitive, study that grounds itself in West Indian and Caribbean canons that has the adroit power to address traditional modernist study--without giving up its critical identity. Thoughtful and incredibly well-researched, I'd say it's an essential resource for readers of Caribbean literature.