Post-colonial Theory and The Tempest

Kamau BrathwaiteShakespeare’s The Tempest is a central work in post-colonial theory and in the field of Comparative Literature. This play is thought to be an early post-colonial work by some scholars. While it is debatable whether or not Shakespeare had intended to criticize the European seizure of the new lands to the West, the theme of colonialism is no doubt present in The Tempest. Many post-colonial theorists and literary critics tend to focus on Caliban in their discussion of these themes. Caliban has been tied to the West’s image of the native: bizarre in appearance, objectified and dehumanized, and one with nature. Also, he is weak, easily fooled and intoxicated by the European characters Stephano and Trinculo. A post-colonial reading of this

text is valuable because it examines the projection of the colonial experience back to Europe and reveals some of the early points of contention on the topic. Nevertheless, a reading like this becomes complicated since it is important not to implant modern notions into the early seventeenth century play without finding significant support from the text. Perhaps more important than labeling The Tempest as a work under the umbrella of post-colonial literary theory, however, is looking at the work within the field that it has inspired. Here at NYU we have a Professor of Comparative Literature, Kamau Brathwaite, who is a scholar of Sycorax. Shakespeare’s Algerian witch has acted as Brathwaite’s muse in his poetry and theory. Brathwaite and other post-colonial scholars have used Sycorax as a figure for the silenced African woman or indigenous cultures that lost their voice under colonial rule. Brathwaite teaches a graduate course every semester (I believe) entitled “Topics in Caribbean Literature: sycoraX aesthetics.”

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