“A language of wet stones and mists”: The Caribbean Poet as a Traveller in Wales and England

This article examines Derek Walcott’s “travel poems” about Wales and England from the collections The Fortunate Traveller (1981) Midsummer (1984) through prism of Deleuze Guattari’s concept littérature mineure. As a Caribbean poet, Walcott is placed both outside centre “majority”, post-imperial civilisation within scope its literary linguistic heritage, which he has deterritorialised in his long endeavour to articulate specifically poetics. However, brings decentralisation, or “minorisation”, English not by means oppositional poetics characteristic avowedly revolutionary poetry (through disruptive practices exclusive use Creole), but rather immersion tradition keen interest contemporary “provincial” Anglophone poetic production. His tentative gestures identification, accompanied contrary motions distancing critical self-awareness, complicate deepen troubled encounter with Europe. In their engagement Welsh “Elsewhere” these poems ultimately participate transvaluation relationship between periphery, dynamics that marked most significant currents second part twentieth century.