Tangled Routes, Translation, and Adulteration in Derek Walcott’s Omeros

Abstract

This article proposes a reading of Derek Walcott’s Omeros (1990) which destabilises the notion of cultural transmission. It argues that the book-long poem questions the relevance of genealogy in the context of a Caribbean history placed under the sign of colonial erasure. In Omeros, Derek Walcott dismisses the patriarchal, linear transmission of an allegedly authentic heritage, while dramatising the persistence of imposed traditions. Ultimately, translation and adulteration provide alternative models of continuity.