Jahan Ramazani's "The Hybrid Muse:Postcolonial Poetry in English" (Book Note)

 

Jahan Ramazani presents a compelling argument in favor of addressing the notable gap in postcolonial studies, particularly the lack of critical examination of poetry within the field. In "The Hybrid Muse," he navigates the poetry of postcolonial poets such as W.B. Yeats, A.K. Ramanujan, Derek Walcott, Louise Bennett, and Bitek, demonstrating that poetry offers a nuanced rendering of history and the hybrid self. Ramazani acknowledges the perceived subtlety, nuance, and obliqueness of poetry, suggesting that this may be why it has been relatively overlooked in postcolonial scholarship when compared to fiction or essays.

 

Ramazani seamlessly moves between poetry and theory as well as across different cultures. He addresses the question of why Yeats is considered a postcolonial poet, exploring the complexities of Irish history under British imperialism. Ramazani highlights Yeats' use of Irish place names, remaking English forms, and leveraging global mythologies to create a mythic syncretism that challenges imperialism.

 

Ramazani contends that poetry possesses a unique ability to capture the complexity of colonized cultures. Examining poets like Walcott, he reveals how Western poetry becomes both the subject and catalyst for innovative techniques in postcolonial poetry. Walcott's "Omeros" serves as an example of how postcolonial poets indigenize canonical Western characters, use metaphor to bridge linguistic and cultural divides, and employ irony to expose both Western and local hypocrisies. Ramazani's discussion of Walcott's use of the wound motif illustrates the slippery and polyvalent nature of poetic discourse that circulates between races, classes, and communities.

 

In challenging mainstream American poetry's ignorance of postcolonial poetry and poetics, and pointing out the oversight of postcolonial literary studies in fully exploring the richness of poetry, Ramazani provocatively asserts that poetry has ironically become a minor field in postcolonial literary studies. His work encourages a broader recognition and exploration of the depth and significance of postcolonial poetry.

Ramazani's exploration of Philoctete's wound serves as the foundation for his subsequent analysis in the following chapters. Examining the wounds of individuals such as the West Indian, Louise Bennett, A.K. Ramanujan, and Bitek, Ramazani unveils the intersection of Afro-Caribbean negritude and European vegetation figures. The local trope of Anancy becomes a vehicle for Bennett to convey the playful and polymorphous folk wit of Jamaican creole, providing a cure through the use of irony and metaphor. The transcultural nature of Philoctete's wound and cure, marked by cultural borrowings, enriches local literary production in the postcolonial context.

 

Irony and metaphor, sharing the concepts of sameness and difference, double vision, and perception with postcoloniality, are key elements explored by Ramazani. A.K. Ramanujan's stereoscopic vision through metaphor brings readers closer to a precolonial past while mocking notions of revivalist nostalgia. The experience of linguistic and cultural displacement is evident in Ramanujan's work, emphasizing the weave of alterities within the human family.

 

Both Bitek and Louise Bennett demonstrate how local language enhances irony and metaphor, pivotal aspects of postcoloniality. Ramazani's discussion showcases the innovative poetics spurred by the postcolonial context and the juxtaposition with Standard English. Bennett's tongue-in-cheek critique of imperial power and welfare dependence, facilitated by irony and the folk figure Anancy, creates performance poetry that satirizes society.

 

In examining Okot's Song of Lawino, Ramazani highlights the poet's ability to surpass anthropology, revealing worlds beyond categorization. The dialectic between the Western and the indigenous is explored, culminating in the irony of postcolonials realizing they can never return to a pure, original culture. Ramazani emphasizes the hybrid nature of culture and language, asserting that the postcolonial experience enriches poetry, coloring the works of local American or English poets.

 

Ramazani provocatively questions the canon of anglophone poetry, proposing the inclusion of Third World poets alongside confessional, Movement, neoformalist, and experimentalist poets. By shaking up the canonical landscape and drawing attention to the prolific output of the hybrid muse across diverse geographies, Ramazani contributes significantly to expanding perspectives on postcolonial poetry.