Caribbean Definition: Its effect on vision and form in George Lamming's novels

Abstract

This thesis explores Caribbean definition and its effects on vision and form in each of George Lamming's novels. It attempts to delineate the various ways in which Lamming characterizes and defines the Caribbean through the experiences of its people. Chapter one, the introduction discusses Lamming's perspective on the problematic definition of the Caribbean from the point of view of his different perception and conception of the region's history and experience. It also critically examines the various theories that have informed the study. Chapter two explores the nature of definition in The Castle of My Skin as informed by Lamming's conception of history and experience, showing how this has influenced vision and form in the novel. Chapter three examines The Emigrants and explores the theme of exile as a means for Caribbean definition. Chapter four delineates personal freedom and political freedom as possibilities for definition. It examines the role of the ceremony of souls and the "backward glance" in the process of self-definition and in addition explores how this delineation affects the author's vision and form in Of Age and Innocence and Season of Adventure. Chapter five examines Water with Berries and Natives of my Person as Lamming's attempt to reconstruct the relationships between coloniser and colonised from his re-reading and re-working of Shakespeare's Classic play, The Tempest. The chapter also explores how this delineation affects the vision form in two novels. Chapter six is a summary of the thesis findings and a general conclusion of the argument.