Reader: Dale Taylor
Responder: Andrea Winters
Recorder: Slyvia Krzmarzick
3 July 2001

Dialogue between Post Colonial Studies Reader and Lucy

Theme: "The Afrocentric feminist worldview of Jamaica Kincaid: Difference, Resistance, Independence"

The presenter began by summarizing some major aspects of the texts. She focused her discussion on the resistance that Lucy demonstrated against the colonizer. She suggested that Kincaid’s piece represents a voicing of difference, resistance and independence. She resists the former colonial influence in her life by resisting the authority figures in her life in the U.S. Dale quoted Edyta Oczkowiz who explained the significance of three dreams that Lucy has. The dreams suggest "violent dissolution and fragmentation of her person into meaningless pieces." Lucy resists the colonizer by rejecting the values of those who most resemble the colonizer. That this novel is set in the turbulent 60s of U.S. History is a significant detail, the reader said.

Several quotes were mentioned as part of the discussion. The reader drew on Jenny Sharpe’s comment about the civilizing mission and tied that to Lucy’s moment of defiance at school: "My school mistress wondered if all their efforts to civilize me over the years would come to nothing in the end" (135). Patricia Hill Collins comment that Black people share a common experience of oppression was tied to Lucy’s observation that all of the waiters on the train looked like her, but Mariah did not seem to notice. Mitchell’s assertion that America is an imperialist power was tied to Lucy’s trip with Paul to visit the ruins of a sugar baron. Collins’ mention of white male and white female privilege was tied to Lucy’s observation that she was glad she did not have to plow a field that Mariah thinks is beautiful.

A lively discussion was interspersed between comments provided by the reader who asked what members of the class might draw from the text as a lesson about imperialism. Dr. White commented that there seems to be little indication of an Afrocentric consciousness on the surface of Lucy. Dale and Linton observed that Lucy must identify with the African Americans on the train since the civil rights movement was prevalent at the time. April commented that Kincaid sees no classification. Dale remarked that this is partly due to how other whites see her, as different, exotic, adding that many people in Antiqua and Jamaica are people of color, of African descent. She suggested that Kincaid through Lucy is trying to understand a culture that is very race conscious; however, she comes from the islands where there is much less of that. Sandra commented that what we must learn from the texts is the comment that Mrs. Moore made in A Passage to India: We must love mankind. Andrea remarked that Americans help those only who want to be helped. Dr. White closed the discussion by saying that these themes have resurfaced all semester. "We are gathering the knowledge to start," he said.

Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics

of Empowerment. New York: Routledge, 1991.

Kincaid, Jamaica. Lucy. NY: Penguin, 1990.

Mitchell, The Post Colonial Studies Reader. Eds. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995.

Oczkowicz, Edyta. "Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy: Cultural ‘Translation’ As a Case

of Creative." Electronic data base, University of Houston Clear Lake Library.