Castaway

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book Castaway by Yvette Christiansë, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Yvette Christiansë ISBN: 9780822396208
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: November 2, 1999
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Yvette Christiansë
ISBN: 9780822396208
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: November 2, 1999
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In Castaway Yvette Christiansë presents an epic yet fragmented poetic story set off the coast of Africa on the island of St. Helena: Napoleon Bonaparte’s final place of exile, a port of call for the slave trade, and birthplace of the poet’s grandmother. Amid echoes of racialized identity and issues of displacement, the poems in Castaway speak with a multiplicity of voices—from Ferñao Lopez (the island’s first exile) and Napoleon to that of a contemporary black woman. Castaway is simultaneously a song of discovery, an anthem of conquest, and a tortured lamentation of exiles and slaves.
Instead of offering a linear narrative, Christiansë renders the poems as if they were emerging from the pages of imaginary books, documents now disrupted and scattered. An emperor’s point of view is juxtaposed with the perspectives of various explorers, sailors, and unknown slaves until finally they all open upon the book’s “castaway,” the authorial female voice that negotiates a way to write about love and desire after centuries of oppression and exploitation.
Daring and sophisticated, Castaway challenges and captivates the reader with not only its lyrical richness and conceptual depth but also its implicit and haunting reflections on diaspora and postcolonialism. It will be highly regarded by readers and writers of poetry and will appeal to those engaged with issues of race, gender, exile, multiculturalism, colonialism, and history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In Castaway Yvette Christiansë presents an epic yet fragmented poetic story set off the coast of Africa on the island of St. Helena: Napoleon Bonaparte’s final place of exile, a port of call for the slave trade, and birthplace of the poet’s grandmother. Amid echoes of racialized identity and issues of displacement, the poems in Castaway speak with a multiplicity of voices—from Ferñao Lopez (the island’s first exile) and Napoleon to that of a contemporary black woman. Castaway is simultaneously a song of discovery, an anthem of conquest, and a tortured lamentation of exiles and slaves.
Instead of offering a linear narrative, Christiansë renders the poems as if they were emerging from the pages of imaginary books, documents now disrupted and scattered. An emperor’s point of view is juxtaposed with the perspectives of various explorers, sailors, and unknown slaves until finally they all open upon the book’s “castaway,” the authorial female voice that negotiates a way to write about love and desire after centuries of oppression and exploitation.
Daring and sophisticated, Castaway challenges and captivates the reader with not only its lyrical richness and conceptual depth but also its implicit and haunting reflections on diaspora and postcolonialism. It will be highly regarded by readers and writers of poetry and will appeal to those engaged with issues of race, gender, exile, multiculturalism, colonialism, and history.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Frontiers of Capital by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Tacit Subjects by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Written in Stone by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Beyond Prejudice by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Hello, Hello Brazil by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book La Patria del Criollo by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Interventions into Modernist Cultures by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Congress and the Constitution by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book We Dream Together by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book A Language of Song by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Archives of Labor by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Transborder Lives by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Unequal Cures by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Inventing High and Low by Yvette Christiansë
Cover of the book Displacing Whiteness by Yvette Christiansë
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy