The Making of Afro-Caribbean Consciousness and Identity in the Poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson, David Dabydeen, and Fred D’Aguiar

In the context of a diversified and pluralistic arena of contemporary literature embodying previously marginalized voices of region, ethnicity, gender, and class, black poets living in Britain developed a distinct branch of contemporary poetry. Having emerged from a struggle to give voice to marginalized groups in Britain, the poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson, David Dabydeen, and Fred D’Aguiar helped define national identity and explored racial oppression. Motivated by a sense of responsibility towards their communities, these poets undertook the task of transmitting black history to young blacks who risked losing ties to their roots. They also emphasized the necessity of fighting racism by constructing an awareness of Afro-Caribbean national identity while establishing black cultural heritage in contemporary British poetry. In this book, Turkish literary scholar Dilek Bulut Sarıkaya examines their works. Linton Kwesi Johnson’s Voices of the Living and the Dead (1974), Inglan is a Bitch (1980), and Tings an Times (1991) open the study, followed by David Dabydeen’s Slave Song (1984), Coolie Odyssey (1988), and Turner (1994) and, finally, Fred D’Aguiar’s Mama Dot (1985), Airy Hall (1989) and British Subjects (1993).