Castaway (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780822324218)

In Castaway Yvette Christians 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 Fer ao 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, Christians 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.


Author: Yvette Christiansë
ISBN-10: 0822324210
ISBN-13: 9780822324218
Publisher: Duke University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/02/1999
Pages: 128
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.46lbs
Size: 9.26h x 5.78w x 0.40d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/15/1999 pg. 73
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2000 pg. 79 - Recommended/Special Interest