The Caribbean (Un) Tragic Mulatto: Derek Walcott and the 'Residual Nam' of the White/Black Man

Abstract

This paper addresses a critical lapse in the critical writings on Derek Walcott; that is, the issue of Walcott's projection/perception of his identity as a mulatto which his critics have so far skirted around without seriously addressing it. Two famous works by Walcott are discussed in this paper as instances of this issue, the play Dream on Monkey Mountain and the frequently cited poem “A Far Cry From Africa". The well-known debate between Walcott and Kamau Brathwaite is also taken as a theoretical framework that underpins my reading of the poem. At the centre of this debate is the concern of mapping a culturally viable and politically workable concept of the Caribbean identity, characterized as it is for centuries now of its hybridity and multiraciality. In the context of this debate, Walcott's "A Far Cry From Africa" comes to be a glaring instance that validates most of the accusations Brathwaite has leveled against Walcott. As the paper demonstrates, Brathwaite's concept of the 'residual nam' provides a mean for an understanding of how the mulatto Walcott has always aligned himself with the white side of his hybrid identity, enthusiastically defending the European ‘nam' of his cultural heritage while unapologetically distanced himself from his African origin.