DEREK WALCOTT'S OMEROS AS A HYBRID OF TRADITION AND THE INDIVIDUAL TALENT
Derek Walcott's long narrative poem, Omeros, is divided into seven “chapters''. This thesis argues that Omeros makes use of the epic tradition in a personal manner. Walcott has contextualized this tradition for himself and for his island community. In accessing the epic tradition, he is both altering and contributing to it. The Introduction outlines Walcott's notion of tradition which embodies both the past and the present. T. S. Eliot is invoked to show the affinities between the two poets and primarily as an attempt to explore the various definitions of epic and tradition. Chapter One identifies the formal features and the allusions found in the text which are associated with the European epic tradition. The chapter also examines the manner in which the text departs from the tradition thematically, demonstrating how Walcott is drawing upon this tradition for his society and people. Chapter Two interprets the overall structure of the poem. The design of the text reflects the poet's undertaking to re-present the epic tradition. The organization of the seven books is read as Walcott's vision for a work of art that can be said to be reflective of his island community where the text becomes a symbolic version of the island history. Chapter Three discusses the treatment of four literary devices, namely the use of the invocatory "O'', the structuring of narratives, the structuring of motifs and the imagery of the sea. While these are linked to the epic tradition, the way Walcott has made use of them illustrates his attempt to reinterpret tradition in his personal and visionary way.
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