Concept of Hybridity in Derek Walcott's "e;A Far Cry from Africa"e;

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, TU Dortmund (American Studies), course: American Cultural Studies, language: English, abstract: One of the central concepts in the work of post-colonial writer Homi Bhabha is that of 'hybridity'. In the Introduction to The Location of Culture, Bhabha reflects on aspects of hybridity in the context of the 'in-between' of cultures. The essay will briefly discuss a passage taken out of this book in order to get a better idea about the significance of the term hybridity. Afterwards, the idea of hybridity will be transferred to Derek Walcott's poem "e;A Far Cry from Africa"e;. The stairwell as liminal space, in-between the designations of identity, becomes the process of symbolic interaction [ ]. This interstitial passage between fixed identifications opens up a possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy. (Bhabha 2004: 3)The term hybridity , which is a very frequently used construct in post-colonial studies, seeks to explain the melting of different cultural ideas into one entity.