Nation states revision

 25–39 Fail Represents an overall failure to  70–79 Excellent Represents the overall
achieve the appropriate learning outcomes. achievement of the appropriate learning
A limited understanding of a social and outcomes to an excellent
cultural studies knowledge base. Limited
argumentation; little evaluation.
 level. Full understanding of a social and
cultural studies knowledge base. Complex
argumentation and evaluation.
 40–49 Pass Represents the overall Understanding of methodological issues.
Comparative. Self reflective.
achievement of the majority of the
appropriate learning outcomes to a pass
level. A limited understanding of a social
and cultural studies knowledge base. Some
 80–89 Outstanding Represents the overall
argumentation; limited evaluation. achievement of the appropriate learning
outcomes to an outstanding level. Deep
understanding of a social and cultural
 50–59 Good Represents the overall studies knowledge base. Complex
argumentation and evaluation. Deep
achievement of the appropriate learning understanding of methodological issues.
outcomes to a good level. Understanding of Comparative. Self reflective.
a social and cultural studies knowledge
base. Clear argumentation and
evaluation.Understanding of methodological
issues.  90–100 Exceptional Represents the overall
achievement of the appropriate learning
outcomes to an exceptionally accomplished
level.
 60–69 Very good Represents the overall
outcomes to a very good
 level. Full understanding of a social and
 cultural studies knowledge base. Complex
argumentation and
evaluation.Understanding of
 methodological issues.

 SECTION A: Caribbean Literature  SECTION C: Irish Literature in English
 Why has the idea of a national language  7. Why has ‘revivalism’ been so
been problematic for Caribbean writing? important to Irish writers?
 2. Discuss the significance of ‘place’ in  In what ways has Irish writing of the
Caribbean writing? period been ‘political’?
 3. Examine the treatment of ONE of the 
following in Caribbean writing: Empire;  Consider the treatment of ONE of the
The USA; The idea of rebellion; Race following in Irish writing:
 (a) the land
 SECTION B: English Literature  (b) the ‘Troubles’
 Discuss the Victorian sense of Englishness  (c) Irish mythology
as it is conveyed in the writing of the
period.  (d) the English
 5. Why has ‘aristocracy’ been an
important idea in the writing of the
period?
 Consider the treatment of ONE of the
following in English writing:
 History
 Trade and empire
 Urbanisation
 The ‘Oriental’

 Michael Smith, usually referred to as Mikey Smith (14 September 1954 - 17 August
1983), was a Jamaican dub poet.[1] Along with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and
Mutabaruka, he was one of the most well-known dub poets. In 1978, Michael Smith
represented Jamaica at the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba. His
album Mi Cyaan Believe It includes his best known poem of the same name. He had
left-anarchist leanings and Rastafarian sympathies. Smith was allegedly murdered
by political opponents associated with the right-wing Jamaica Labour Party after
heckling the Jamaican Minister of Culture at a political rally on August 17, 1983.
 Smith was educated at Kingston College and the St George's College Extension
School. He also studied at the Jamaican School of Drama with Jean 'Binta' Breeze
and Oku Onuora. Linton Kwesi Johnson released some of Smith’s work on his LKJ
label. Smith appeared on the BBC television series Ebony and the BBC also broadcast
a documentary based on his association with Johnson. "Mi Cyaan Believe It" is most
remembered for Smith’s heartfelt phrase "Laaawwwd - mi cyaan believe it - mi seh -
mi cyaan believe it". In 1982, Smith released his debut album and performed
extensively in Europe supporting such acts as Gregory Isaacs. Smith recorded a
session for John Peel which was broadcast by the BBC on 4 May 1982. [2] He
continued to work as a social worker representing prisoners in Gun Court. His
outspoken commentary on the “isms and schisms of ‘politricks”’ in Jamaica led to
his life being cut short. Michael Smith was stoned to death following a clash at a
political rally, which sadly occurred on Marcus Garvey's birthday.

 Linton Kwesi Johnson, during a presentation on Smith’s life and work at the second
Caribbean Conference on Culture at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus,
had the following to say about him: “The late Jamaican poet, Michael Smith, was to
my mind one of the most interesting and original poetic voices to emerge from the
English-speaking Caribbean during the last quarter of the 20th century". [3]
 Linton Kwesi Johnson, who produced Smith's first and only album in London, also
wrote the following in an article for the Jamaica Observer: "In 1978, Michael Smith
represented Jamaica at the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba. That
year, saw the release of his first recording, a single titled, "Word", followed by
perhaps his most famous piece "Mi Cyaan Believe It" and "Roots".
 In 1981, he performed in Barbados during CARIFESTA and was filmed by BBC
Television performing "Mi Cyaan Believe It" for the documentary From Brixton To
Barbados.
 In 1982, Smith took London by storm with performances at the Campden Centre for
"International Book Fair of Radical Blacks and Third World books". And also at
Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton for "Creation for Liberation".
 While in Britain, together with Oku Onoura, Michael Smith also did a successful
poetry tour and recorded the Mi Cyaan Believe It album for Island Records.
 Linton Kwesi Johnson recalled how the circumstances of Smith's death was shrouded
in controversy…
 As far as I understand the facts, Mikey had attended a political meeting in Stony Hill
where the ruling JLP Minister of Education was speaking and [he] had heckled her.
The following day, he was confronted by three [persons believed to be] party
activists, an argument ensued, stones were thrown and Mikey died from a blow to
his head."

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RFv7WqpcQQ&feat

 Me seh me cyaan believe it
me seh me cyaan believe it
 Room dem a rent
me apply widdin
but as me go een
cockroch rat an scorpion
also come een
 Waan good
nose haffi run
but me naw go siddung pon high wal
like Humpty Dumpty
me a face me reality
 One little bwoy come blow im horn
an me look pon im wid scorn
an me realize how me five bwoy-picni
was a victim of de trick
dem call partisan politricks
 an me ban me belly
an me bawl
an me ban me belly
an me bawl
Lawd
me cyaan believe it

 Me daughter bwoy-frien name Sailor
an im pass through de port like a ship
more gran-picni fi feed
an de whole a we in need
what a night what a plight
an we cyaan get a bite
me life is a stiff fight
an me cyaan believe it
 Sittin on de corner wid me frien
talkin bout tings an time
me hear one voice seh
'Who dat?'
Me seh 'A who dat?'
'A who a seh who dat
when me a seh who dat?'

 When yuh teck a stock
dem lick we dung flat
teet start fly
an big man start cry
an seh me cyaan believe it
 De odder day
me a pass one yard pon de hill
When me teck a stock me hear
'Hey, bwoy!'
'Yes, mam?'
'Hey, bwoy!'
'Yes, mam!'
'Yuh clean up de dawg shit?'
'Yes, mam.'
 An me cyaan believe it
 Doris a modder of four
get a wuk as a domestic
Boss man move een
an bap si kaisico she pregnant again
bap si caisico she pregnant again

 Deh a yard de odder night
when me hear 'Fire! Fire!'
'Fire, to plate claat!'
Who dead? You dead!
Who dead? Me dead!
Who dead? Harry dead!
Who dead? Eleven dead!
Woeeeeeeee
Orange Street fire
deh pon me head
 Lawd
me see some blackbud
livin inna one buildin
but no rent no pay
so dem cyaan stay
Lawd
de oppress an de dispossess
cyaan get no res

 What nex?
 Teck a trip from Kingston
to Jamaica
Teck twelve from a dozen
an me see me mumma in heaven
Madhouse! Madhouse!
 Me seh me cyaan believe it
 Yuh believe it?
How yuh fi believe it
when yuh laugh
an yuh blind yuh eye to it?
 But me know yuh believe it
Lawwwwwwwwd
me know yuh believe it
 from It A Come, 1986 (13-14)

 What is effective about this poem?
 Why do you think it’s had a big impact?
 What does it tell us about post-colonial
identity?

 3][4] He
worked for the
Commonwealth Institute and the BBC in
London. His awards include the
Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry in 1997 and
the Cholmondeley Award in 2004. Agard was
Poet-in-Residence at the
National Maritime Museum in 2008. His poem
Half Caste has been featured in the AQA
English GCSE anthology since 2002, meaning
that many students (aged 14 – 16) have
studied his work for their GCSE English
qualification. Agard now lives in Lewes, in
East Sussex.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywy-Tthdg7w&featu

 What do you think of his performance?

 Agard on poetry archive:
 http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoe

 Me not no Oxford don
 me a simple immigrant
 from Clapham Common
 I didn’t graduate
 I immigrate

 But listen Mr Oxford don
 I’m a man on de run
 and a man on de run
 is a dangerous one


 I ent have no gun
 I ent have no knife
 but mugging de Queen’s English
 is the story of my life

 I dont need no axe
 to split/ up yu syntax
 I dont need no hammer
 to mash/ up yu grammar


 I warning you Mr Oxford don
 I’m a wanted man
 and a wanted man
 is a dangerous one

 Dem accuse me of assault
 on de Oxford dictionary/
 imagine a concise peaceful man like me/
 dem want me serve time
 for inciting rhyme to riot
 but I rekking it quiet
 down here in Clapham Common


 I’m not a violent man Mr Oxford don
 I only armed wit mih human breath
 but human breath
 is a dangerous weapon

 So mek dem send one big word after me
 I ent serving no jail sentence
 I slashing suffix in self defence
 I bashing future wit present tense
 and if necessary

 I making de Queen’s English accessory/ to my offence


 JOHN AGARD
 from Mangoes and Bullets, Serpent’s Tail, 1985

 What is “threatening” about the poem?
 What is humorous?
 Who is “the Other” in the poem? How does
the poem explore ideas of “the Other”?
 Has Agard given voice to the “subaltern”?
Does the subaltern speak here?
 What are the ironies and contradictions
involved?

 Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) (born 24
August 1952, Chapelton, Jamaica) is a UK-
based dub poet. He became the second living
poet, and the only black poet, to be
published in the Penguin Classics series.[1] His
poetry involves the recitation of his own
verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae,
usually written in collaboration with
renowned British reggae producer/artist
Dennis Bovell. His middle name 'Kwesi' is
Ghanaian.

 Johnson studied for a degree in sociology at
Goldsmiths College in New Cross, London
(graduating in 1973),[2] which currently holds his
personal papers in its archives; in 2004 he
became an Honorary Visiting Professor of
Middlesex University in London. In 2005 he was
awarded a silver Musgrave medal from the
Institute of Jamaica for distinguished eminence
in the field of poetry.[3]
 While still at school he joined the British
Black Panther Movement,[3] helped to organise a
poetry workshop within the movement, and
developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of
poets and drummers.


 Di Great Insohreckshan:

 Johnson is the most political perhaps of all
post-colonial poets?
 What is his message?
 What does his work say about identity?

 What do these poets share in their:
 Attitudes
 Use of poetic form
 Identities?

 Lamming: the myth of English supremacy,
predicated upon certain cultural assumptions that
have subjugated colonial subjects…

 Spivak – the impossibility of the subaltern
“speaking”, making their views known from a
position of equality; always the “Other”, the
invisible one…

 Said– the discourses of colonialism have filtered
into every sphere: science, anthropology, art

 The myth of supremacy: of a hierarchy of knowledge;
a right way to do things;
 Codification
 Literary canon; great works of art
 The supremacy of Western approaches to subjects,
eg scientific, materialistic, religious

 The colonial subject is largely “silenced”, invisible,
the “Other”,
 The colonial subject is often turned into the
“exotic”; eg Caribbean tourism
 Or demonised, eg terrorists
 Or pitied, eg charity, Live Aid etc…

 Theeffects of colonialism is far deeper than the
seizure of land, of political power; colonialism has
infected the very fabric of people’s identities, both
the colonialiser and the colonialised.

 Highly problematic studying it;
 Lamming; the solution is to write fiction that
liberates the subject
 Spivak; there can be no solution, the subaltern can
never speak; we can only suggest solutions
 Said; we have to use the language of the colonial
oppressors in order to explore its effects; the
paradox of this…

 Predominantly about social class rather than
ethnicity
 Avoid “essentialism”; there is no innate human
nature
 Social identity is “constructed” by culture, language,
upbringing

 Lamming; the supremacy of fiction as a mode of
discourse
 Said; there is no “overt” nefarious plot to subjugate;
using Foucault
 Spivak; a feminist approach

 Make comparisons and contrasts between
texts; show off your wider reading…
 TASK: How could you do this?

 Spivak: “Some of the most radical criticism
coming out of the West today is the result of
an interested desire to conserve the subject
of the West, or the West as Subject.”
 The concept of the individual is problematic
Spivak; we do not have “essential selves”;
we do not speak; discourses speak through
us…

 A subject-effect can be briefly plotted as follows:
that which seems to operate as a subject may be part
of an immense discontinuous network … of strands
that may be termed politics, ideology, economics,
history, sexuality, language, and so on. … Different
knottings and configurations of these strands,
determined by heterogeneous determinations which
are themselves dependent upon myriad
circumstances, produce the effect of an operating
subject. Yet the continuist and homogenist
deliberative consciousness symptomatically requires a
continuous and homogeneous cause for this effect
and thus posits a sovereign and determining subject.
 (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “In Other Worlds”)

 The theory of pluralized ‘subject-effects’
gives an illusion of undermining subjective
sovereignty while often providing a covered
this subject of knowledge. Although the
history of Europe as Subject is narrativized
by the law, political economy, and the
ideology of the West, this concealed Subject
pretends it has ‘no geo-political
determinations’. The much publicized
critique of the sovereign subject thus
inaugurates a Subject…”

 Accordingto Foucault and Deleuze…the
oppressed, if given the chance…can speak
and know their conditions…

 Madness and Civilization
 Main article: Madness and Civilization
 The English edition of Madness and Civilization is
an abridged version of Folie et déraison: Histoire
de la folie à l'âge classique, originally published
in 1961. A full English translation titled The
History of Madness has since been published by
Routledge in 2006.[27] "Folie et deraison"
originated as Foucault's doctoral dissertation;[28]
this was Foucault's first major book, mostly
written while he was the Director of the Maison
de France in Sweden. It examines ideas,
practices, institutions, art and literature relating
to madness in Western history.[29]

 Foucault begins his history in the Middle Ages,
noting the social and physical exclusion of lepers
.[29] He argues that with the gradual
disappearance of leprosy, madness came to
occupy this excluded position. The ship of fools
in the 15th century is a literary version of one
such exclusionary practice, namely that of
sending mad people away in ships. In 17th
century Europe, in a movement Foucault
famously calls the "Great Confinement,"
"unreasonable" members of the population were
institutionalised.[30] In the 18th century, madness
came to be seen as the reverse of Reason, and,
finally, in the 19th century as mental illness.

 Foucault also argues that madness was silenced by
Reason, losing its power to signify the limits of social
order and to point to the truth. He examines the rise
of scientific and "humanitarian" treatments of the
insane, notably at the hands of Philippe Pinel and
Samuel Tuke who he suggests started the
conceptualization of madness as 'mental illness'. He
claims that these new treatments were in fact no less
controlling than previous methods. Pinel's treatment
of the mad amounted to an extended
aversion therapy, including such treatments as
freezing showers and use of a straitjacket. In
Foucault's view, this treatment amounted to
repeated brutality until the pattern of judgment and
punishment was internalized by the patient.

 Elite: 1. Dominant foreign groups
 Elite: 2. Dominant indigenous groups on all-
India level.
 3. Dominant indigenous groups at the
regional and local levels
 4. The terms ‘people’ and ‘subaltern’ classes
(are) used synonymous throughout. The
social groups and elements included in this
category represent the demographic
difference between the total Indian
population and all those whome we have
described as ‘elite’.

 “Forthe ‘true’ subaltern group, whose
identity is its difference, there is no
unrepresentable subaltern subject that can
know and speak itself; the intellectual’s
solution is no to abstain from representation.
The problem is that the subject’s itinerary
has not been traced so as to offern an object
of seduction to the representing intellectual.

 How can we trouch the consciousness of the
people, even as we investigate their politics?
With what voice-consciousness can the
subaltern speak?

 When we come to the concomitant question
of the consciousness of the subaltern, the
notion of what the work cannot say becomes
important. In the semioses of the social text,
elaborations of insurgency stand in the place
of ‘the utterance’.

 2. Discuss the significance of ‘place’ in Caribbean writing?
 Outstanding Represents the overall
outcomes to an outstanding level. Deep
understanding of a social and cultural
studies knowledge base. Complex
argumentation and evaluation. Deep
understanding of methodological issues.
Comparative. Self reflective.

Brainstorm; Order; Link
TASK: Have a go at a plan…

 Small Island  Dragon Can’t Dance
 Realist narrative  Experiments with
 Character-based; form and language
examines the  Character-based
journeys of the  Rebellion and national
characters identity are key
 England/Caribbean themes
 Feminist?  A number of climatic
 Relying on moments
“coincidence”  Patriarchal in tone?
 Builds to moments of
climax
 Race and ‘place’ are
the main themes

 SECTION B: English Literature
 Discuss the Victorian sense of Englishness as
it is conveyed in the writing of the period.
 Why has ‘aristocracy’ been an important idea
in the writing of the period?
 Consider the treatment of ONE of the
following in English writing:
 History
 Trade and empire
 Urbanisation
 The ‘Oriental’

 Fairytale quality:
 Unlikely co-incidences

 Queenie Bligh – what does she represent?
 Changing England?
 Her escape from her confining parents
 Her restrictive relationship with Bernard
 Her liberating sexual experience with a black man,
Michael Roberts

 Does this play up to stereotypes? Eg uptight, asexual
Englishman, sexually magnetic, wayward Jamaican
male.

 Mrs Ryder and Michael
 Page 46, “But every sound made them hug up closer.
Every gesture drew them together. Until the shadow
of their heads took the shape of a heart on the
wall…”
 Leads to the death of Mr Ryder
 The disgrace of Michael

 Illegitimate: indeterminate background
 Ambitious: wants to become a good teacher
 Constructs a new identity for herself based on
colonial texts
 False vision of England
 Pretentious
 Devious: uses her knowledge of her friend, Celia, to
stop her marrying Gilbert…
 Puritanical?
 Learns and develops as a character

 Hortense, page 86
 “If a body in its beauty is the work of God, then this
hideous predicament between his legs was without
doubt the work of the devil.”
 Gilbert: “There, that is a promise from a gentleman. I
will sleep on the floor. And tomorrow I will rise early,
go to the ship and sail to the Mother Country for us
both. Because, oh, boy, Miss Mucky Foot,’ he shook
his head slowly back and forth, ‘England will need to
be prepared for your arrival.’

 Page 118, “An English soldier, a Tommy called Tommy
Atkins. Skin as pale as sopa, hair slicked with oil and
shinier than his boots. See him sitting in a pub sipping
a glass of warming rum and rolling a cigarette from a
tin. Ask him, ‘Tommy, tell me nah, where is
Jamaica?’
 And hear him reply, ‘Well, dunno. Africa, ain’t it?’

 Page 131
 ‘You’re British, you say?’
 ‘British. Yes,’ I answered.
 ‘But not English?’
 ‘No. I am from Jamaica but England is my Mother
Country.’…
 ‘No Britain is Jamaica’s Mother Country. But we are
all part of the Empire.’
… ‘The British own the island of Jamaica…”

 Page 155, “Rows of black Gis at the back. Rows of
white Gis at the front.”
 Page 158, “Defence skulls cracked like nutshells as
panicked black men had nowhere to go but stagger
towards the furious boots, fists and elbows of the
white GIs.”

 Page 247, “I felt his leg gently touch his foot. ‘We
have a bird in Jamaica,’ he said, softly as a bedtime
story. “A humming-bird – our national bird… A
humming bird in London. I watched that bird like I see
an old friend. It looked dowdier in this grey British
light – no sun to sparkle it up…” And as his hand
fluttered downward, his fingers delicately caressed
my hair.”

 Page 431, “Bernard. One day he’ll do something
naughty and you’ll look at him and think ‘The little
black bastard, because you’ll be angry. And he’ll see
it in your eyes. You’ll be angry with him not only for
that. But because the neighbours never invited you
around. Because they whispered about you as you
went by. Because they never though you were as good
as them. Because they though you and your family
were odd. And all because you had a coloured child.”
 Page 432, Queenie “I just want him to be with people
who’ll understand. Can’t you see? His own kind. But
I’ll do it any way you want to. Any way. But you have
to say you’ll take him,”

 What is Levy saying about British and Jamaican
identity in this novel?
 What characters are most profoundly affected by the
issue of race?
 What is this novel saying about social class and race?
 What does this novel tell us about the effects of
Empire and colonialism?
 What makes this a “post-colonial” novel?

 The first phase of the novel develops around
characters stylised as –
 Queen
 Princess
 Priest
 Warrior
 How does this first phase work?

 The first chapter follows a conversation
between Miss Olive and Miss Caroline and
their criticisms of Miss Cleothlida, a proud
mulatto widow who owns a parlor store but
runs it as “if she were doing a favour to the
Hill, rather than carrying on a business from
which she intend[s] to profit”

 Aldrickis very concerned that Sylvia, 17,
sexy and dangerous, has the ability to
“capture him in passion but to enslave him in
caring, to bring into his world those ideas of
love and home and children that he [has]
spent his whole life avoiding”

 Aldrick is in his small room working on his
dragon costume, which he recreates every
year for Carnival. While at work, thoughts of
Sylvia keep coming to his head, when all of a
sudden she appears at his doorstep.
 TEMPTATION…

 Fisheye becomes the center of the Calvary
Hill steelband, and as their leader, he
attempts to unite several bands so that
instead of fighting one another, they can
unite and “fight the people who are keeping
down black people…the government”

 Paraig – the Indian outcast
 In an effort to become noticed by others on
the Hill, Pariag buys a bicycle a week before
Carnival, a very exciting time for people on
the Hill. Pariag’s new acquisition gets him
the name “Crazy Indian” and makes people
in the neighborhood nervous about his
ambitions.

 “No,this ain’t no joke. This is warriors going
to battle. This is the guts of the people, their
blood” (123). Aldrick becomes the dragon of
Port of Spain for two full days. He feels joy
when he sees terror in people’s faces after
gazing at him: “he liked it when they saw
him coming and gathering up their children
and ran”

 Aldrickwakse and sees the “pathetic and
ridiculous looking shacks planted in this
brown dirt and stone, this was his home”.

 Paraig’suncle criticising his decision to live
in the city. “Is so you want to live, among
Creole people, like cat and dog, and forget
your family. You have family boy. Next thing
you know, you leave your wife – who you
didn’t bring to see me"

 MissCleothilda becomes giving and
inquisitive around the yard and shows off the
belief that “all o’ we is one” when Dolly
becomes pregnant and she leads her baby
shower

 Aldrick,Fisheye and a few other young
men have begun assembling at the corner
more and more, not in the same
company, but occupying the same space.
They are men that no longer partake in
carnival, especially since Johnson and
Fullers began sponsoring their steelband.
For them, the true renegade spirit of
masking as timeless warriors of
generations past has become overrun by
modern forces like business and tourism.

 They go to Woodford Square, the political
centre of Port of Spain, where speeches and
rallies are always held. Over the megaphone
they proclaimed “This is the People’s
Liberation Army” 40. At one point Aldrick
takes the microphone and says: “make no
peace with slavery…make no peace with
shanty towns, dog shit, piss. We have to rise
up as people. People”.

 Argumentation: explore different
viewpoints; argument and counter-
argument
 TASK: Write TWO or THREE arguments and
counter-arguments about Small
Island/Dragon Can’t Dance…
 Evaluation; make informed judgements,
based on evidence, about the
effectiveness of the books
 TASK: evaluate the effectiveness of
chosen text…

 Argument  Counter-argument
 Small Island  Queenie is not
reveals both prejudiced in the
England and the way many English
Caribbean to be people are
racist places  Women triumph
 Small Island over their
reveals women to environments??
be subjugated by
their environment

 Reflect
upon what you have learned, develop
a personal response…

 Please
give some feedback on this session
and anything else you want to say…

Nation states revision

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