Awakening a Nation: A Rhetorical Analysis of Derek Walcott’s “The Sea Is History”

Abstract

This paper analyses Derek Walcott’s (1930 – 2017) poem “The Sea Is History” (1979) from a rhetorical perspective. The rhetorical analysis of the poem enables us to uncover the implicit cultural values of Caribbean people and the oppressive discourses of colonialism. Based on the rhetorical reading of the poem, this study questions the traditional notion of history in the postcolonial framework. “The Sea Is History” is from Walcott’s collection The Star-Apple Kingdom, originally published in 1979. In the poem, the author communicates with the reader by triggering an inner reaction through rhetorical questions. “The Sea Is History” is also notable for the use of metaphor and imagery. Walcott’s preoccupation with his nation’s notions of the past, culture, and language is expressed in the poet’s use of metaphors to call on the Caribbean to awaken from a deep sleep and hold history to account. The author’s inclusion of elements of the narrative is underpinned by a strong postcolonial feeling, transforming this narrative poem into the biography of an oppressed nation kept as slaves for centuries. By using allusions to the Bible, Walcott juxtaposes biblical stories with the past and the memory of his nation, hence his rhetorical question: “Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs? Where is your tribal memory?”. Moreover, by placing biblical markers on certain passages of the voyage to the Caribbean – Genesis, Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Song of Solomon – the poet highlights it as a significant event that amounts to a religious text, at the same time pointing out that the events in the Bible are not universally accepted as actual events, whereas the past of his people is a true experience that reflects the colonial history of the Caribbean.